Issue 139 February 2002
What Good is IrD, Eh?
Part 2: Wireless Communication

Continuing Education

Please be aware that column limitations allow me to only brush over some of the more important points of the IrDA standard. I invite you to visit the IrDA web site for access to all of the documentation standards in PDF format. The web site contains a wealth of knowledge far beyond publishing the actual standards. It is this kind of thorough support that often makes the difference when you need to decide which peripherals or protocols to support.

I expect to see a demand for more peripherals of this kind to be developed when more designers become comfortable using this approach to add IrDA communications to their widgets. The MCP2150 is a great example of using today’s technology to empower you with the ability to quickly implement IrDA without having to clear the hurdle of complete protocol understanding. It is this kind advancement that directly influences how a standard will be accepted and ultimately used. Beam me up, Scotty.