Infrared (IR) Communication

Light Spectrum

Microwaves Visible X-Rays Gamma

Radio (RF) Infrared (IR) Ultraviolet Rays

Freq.
(Hz)
109 1012 1014 1015 1017 1020
$ FCC

 Implementation costs rise significantly around 1-10 GHz. (But

one important exception is IR at around 500 THz ; very
inexpensive.)
 Signals above 100 GHz cannot penetrate walls
 Most signals below 300 GHz are regulated by the FCC

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 2/44

 How do you Transmit with IR

 No conductor
– Signal spreads from origin
– Signal strength decreases with distance
 Can’t use amplitude
– Too much noise from other IR sources (lights, people, etc.)
 Can’t use sign (no +/-)

 Solution: Modulation
– Send pulses of light to represent binary information

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 3/44

 Modulation Schemes

 SIR - Serial Infrared

– 2400bps to 115,200bps
– SIR modem is simple and low-cost
 SDLC-based MIR
– 576Kbps and 1.152Mbps
– guarantees a minimal occurrence rate of light pulses
 FIR - Fast Infrared
– 4Mbps
– power usage constant (always the same)

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 4/44

 SIR - Serial Infrared Modulation

 1.6us (or 3/16 bit interval) pulse of light for each

‘0’ in a standard asynchronous data stream
– Inverse of serial RS-232 where signal is held high, then pulled
down for zeros
 Stream consists of a start bit, N data bits, and 1
stop bit (serial packet)

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 5/44

 SDLC-based MIR

 A data stream ‘0’ is coded for by the presence of

an optical pulse 1/4 of the bit interval in duration
(217ns for 1.152Mbps)
 The SDLC protocol, with its zero-insertion bit-
stuffing approach, guarantees a minimal
occurrence rate of zeroes (and therefore light
pulses) in the data stream
 This also ensures
synchronization between a
transmitter and receiver
can be maintained
throughout a packet

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 6/44

 FIR - Fast Infrared

 More Ethernet-like in its framing

– a packet is made up of a preamble, start of frame delimiter
(SFD) and a data payload.
 Utilizes 1:4 Pulse Position Modulation (PPM)
– each pair of bits in the data stream are represented by a pulse
of light emitted in one of 4 available slot positions which
comprise a 4PPM symbol
 PPM always requires a pulse
for each slot, so power
usage is independent of the
data

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 7/44

 IR Communication Protocols

 To use IR hardware easily, we build up layers of

protocol that get us farther away from the
implementation each step.
 Common Protocols:
– Serial IR
– IrDA

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 8/44

 Differences between Waves and Wire

 Distance/$$$
– Wave transmissions are much more expensive than wire
 Speed
– Wire is a very simple and highly controllable medium which
allows for much higher transfer rates
 Limitations
– IR:
• Line of Sight - IR can not travel through opaque objects, so transceivers
must be able to see each other. For many commercial products they must be
within 15º of each other.
• Signal Power - even though we can not see IR, making the signal too strong
can easily blind us
– RF:
• FCC Regulation
• Interference with objects and other RF waves

CSE 477 Winter 1999 Introduction 9/44