News and New Products

IrDA gets faster, grows into new applications

By Bill Schweber -- EDN, 7/12/2005

RF wireless, in the form of Bluetooth, WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), UWB (ultrawideband), and RFID is getting lots of attention. However, basic IrDA (Infrared Data Association) is still an appropriate, cost-effective link for many applications, especially with its simple protocol, lack of setup complications, well-defined functions, low power, and low cost. Because an insufficient data rate can impede its acceptance in some applications, Vishay's latest IrDA transceivers support the 4-Mbps FIR (fast-infrared) specification, and the company will soon support the 16-Mbps VFIR (very-fast-infrared) with a device and an associated controller.

Typical applications are transfer of high-resolution camera-phone photos; transfer between mobile peripherals, such as MP3 devices; and in-home multimedia systems. According to Jim Toal, marketing manager at Vishay, "FIR is coming back into notebooks in Japan." Furthermore, according to Heinz Nather, PhD, Vishay's vice president of the Sensors and IRDC Division, the device lets users transfer a 329-kbyte, 1280×960-pixel image in 1.5 seconds using FIR, 25 seconds faster than SIR (standard infrared) at 115 kbps.

The TFBS6711 and TFBS6712 FIR transceivers, which have different I/O voltages to match different system-interface requirements, measure 6×3 mm with 1.9-mm height and operate from 2.4 to 3.6V supplies (Picture). They support 4- Mbps transfer over 50-cm paths and conventional RC (remote-control) signals at 6.5m, through the use of IR emitters that closely match the wavelength of these ubiquitous RC receivers. Shutdown current is 0.01 μA, and idle supply current is 1.7 mA. The devices sell for $2 (OEM quantities).

Vishay Intertechnology Inc, www.vishay.com.