Hewlett-Packard Co claims to have the industry’s first low-cost serial infra-red transceiver module that meets the Infra-red Data Association’s serial infra-red standard – not too hard, since the company’s hardware for infra-red is the association’s standard, having been chosen by the organisation last year. And manufacturers that want to build machines meeting the standard have to license the technology from Hewlett-Packard. The 870nm infra-red transceiver module sends data at 115.2Kbps over distances of up to three feet – faster than many asynchronous serial communications links used today, the company claims, pointing out that the latest V.34 specifications for asynchronous modems operating over dial up telephone lines cover speeds of 28.8Kbps, and Integrated Services Digital Network adaptors typically transmit data at 57.6Kbps. The physical-layer standard specifies point-to-point standards of operation from half an inch to three feet at a maximum data rate of 115.2Kbps, over a plus or minus 15o minimum and a plus or minus 30o maximum viewing angle. The HSDL-1000 serial infra-red transceiver module will interface directly with National Semiconductor Corp’s PC87334VJG Super input-output controller chip, and requires only a single series resistor and four capacitors. The transceiver module, which is 8mm by 13mm and contains integrated optics, combines an infra-red light-emitting diode and photodiode detector with a chip that provides light emitting diode driver amplifier, photodiode transimpedance amplifier, comparitor and bias network functions. The transceiver module draws 0.8mA for the electronics and an average total of 251.5mA when transmitting data. It is specified for operation in sunlight at levels of up to 10Kilo-lux, and incandescent or fluorescent lighting of up to 1Kilo-lux. The HSDL-1000 is $5.00 in sample quantities, now.
