I want to replace wired a serial data line with an IR link. Anybody know where you can purchase a two way IR link? It would be communicating between a PIC based controller and PC… to eventually be replaced by a custom remote control supporting RS-232 communications with the PIC / Controller.
Thanks!
For reasons of non-line-of-sight and range, serial port data is more commonly, done with low power RF, such as the wireless serial port extension sold by Digi/Maxstream as XBee series 1, and sold by SFE here. There are many others.
bi-directional serial on IR is most often done using the IrDA as in laptop PCs and in PDAs. But it is now unpopular. Two-way IR serial data is a real PITA.
Microchip has a couple of complete irda solutions
kmeagher:
Microchip has a couple of complete irda solutions
IRda is super complex.
Better to use RC5. You can buy IR to serial or IR to USB converters for about $50 or less. Or make one from code such as is on AVRfreaks.net; the “TWIRP” project there is one such homebrew.