It is said that communication is the key to any good relationship. The same is true for an embedded design. Poor communication ability can spell disaster for an application. Before you start on your next project, check out the communication solutions in this month’s features. These authors share the engineering lessons they learned along the way, providing you with valuable tips that may help you improve your designs.

We decided to start off with something fun. We have a great project for those of you who spend more time working on your home entertainment system than actually using it. By using a PC-based multimedia system, you can turn your living room into a state-of-the-art entertainment center. But, now you have to use a keyboard to control it. For physicists Sergio and Guido Torrioli, the keyboard wasn’t an annoyance, but a challenge to overcome. They built a programmable IR receiver to control the system remotely. After you read about this PIC16F84A-based project, you’ll be ready to upgrade your home entertainment system (p. 10).

Our next project gets you ready to work with Bluetooth. We have good news for those of you who have shied away from using Bluetooth because you assumed it would be too complicated. In "Simple Bluetooth Integration," Anders Rosvall assures us that integrating Bluetooth in embedded applications is easier than it looks (p. 22). In this two-part series, Anders explains how simple integration has become and provides an application you can work with.

When considering which communication protocol to implement, I²C is definitely a popular choice. But, it does present obstacles. Fortunately, Anton Kruger has solved a common dilemma of working with I²C (p. 52). Although he was always able to find a variety of resources for I²C master devices, there were few options to choose from when he wanted to create slave devices. He found that most solutions to build a slave device came with a host of problems. However, we’re pleased to report that Anders worked out an effective alternative to the usual methods. The Atmel ATtiny and ATmega processors offer a fresh solution that eliminates the typical pitfalls associated with converting sensors into slaves. The Atmel processors feature built-in hardware for I²C communication, known as the universal serial interface (USI). Using the USI, it’s easy to create your own I²C slave.

In addition to these communication projects, Ingo Cyliax is back this month with an article on how to enhance your embedded applications by going wireless. By adding an Ethernet-to-Wi-Fi bridge, you can easily convert an Ethernet-based application to a wireless one. With countless low-cost components to choose from, going wireless with Wi-Fi gives you the freedom of choice and won’t break the bank, either. Turn to page 32 to learn more about this simple and cost-effective solution.