InfraRed

Standard Bodies

The initials IrDA stand for the Infrared Data Association. IrDA is a non-profit trade association with a membership of over 160 companies representing computer and telecommunications hardware, software, components and adapters.

Technical Details

Infra red data connection is a cordless technology using infrared light.  This is a standard created for networking personal area devices using Infra red light for data exchange. IrDA is an ad-hoc data transmission standard for point-to-point communication. Typical range is up to 1 meter depending on the presence of sunlight. Maximum speeds in networks employing IrDA are typically 16 Mbps. Security is high in infrared communication. Infrared is already available on personal devices like PC, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), printers etc. Many of the devices are already equipped with IrDA ports to enable communication.

The limitation in IrDA is the distance between the devices and clear line of sight requirement.

Infrared for Mobile Communication (IrMC) is a working group of IrDA addressing mobile communication using infra red technology.

Comparison of Bluetooth and IrDA

Though it seems Bluetooth and IrDA are competing technologies the fact is they are complementary technologies. The following table compares the two technologies:

Very high-speed infrared technologies are available for transferring large image files between cameras and PC etc.