Tech Files
Infrared to the Rescue
Picture this: You’re kicking back on the couch with your notebook computer propped on your lap, finishing a letter to your mom, who still hasn’t discovered the convenience of e-mail. Suddenly, you realize that the mailman will arrive any minute—you’d better hurry with that letter!
You tote your notebook into the other room, where your printer is located, only to discover that the printer cable has fallen behind the desk. As you crawl under the desk, hit your head while retrieving the cable, and fumble with the plug, you think to yourself, “There has to be an easier way to connect my notebook to this printer!” Well, there is—enter the world of infrared communication.
A growing number of modern computers and peripheral devices use infrared light—the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum just below visible light—for wireless serial data communication. You probably already use this technology in your daily life, when you pick up a remote control to change the channel on the TV or to start a tape in the VCR.
In the computer world, infrared communication can be used to create a wireless connection between a computer and various devices—such as another computer, a printer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, or even a cell phone—at speeds up to 4 Mbps. The infrared communication standards used today throughout the industry were created by an organization called the Infrared Data Association (IrDA).
OK, this all sounds great—but how do you use this technology? Well,
first you need to determine whether your computer is capable of infrared communication.
This feature is typically integrated into modern notebooks; you can also install
an external infrared communication device on a desktop computer. A notebook
with infrared communication capabilities will have a red or black glossy “window” on
the rear or side of the computer, as shown below.
The device you intend to connect to your computer must also have infrared communication capabilities—after all, it takes two to tango! Once you’ve determined that the device is “infra-ready,” you’ll need to verify that its infrared capability is enabled.
On Windows 9x and later systems, you do this by opening the Device Manager and checking the device list. Your device may be listed under the heading of Infrared Devices, or possibly under the Ports heading. If the device does not appear in Device Manager, then you must enable it in CMOS—or, if it’s an external device, you may need to run the Setup program that came with the device.
Once enabled, the infrared “eye” will be looking for any infrared device that comes within range. To initiate communications between the computer and another infrared-capable device, the infrared eyes of the two devices must have an unobstructed view of each other and be within a range of three feet. The connection should be made automatically.
The extent of what you can accomplish with this connection will depend on the software you use to make the connection. For instance, Nokia offers a free software suite that allows you to use infrared to transfer data, such as your phone directory, from a Nokia cellular phone to Microsoft Outlook Express on your computer.
So if you use a laptop PC, and you’d like the convenience of wireless data transfer without the cost and hassles of a wireless network, infrared may be the answer for you! It’s relatively fast—and getting faster—and since most notebooks and devices such as printers already have infrared capabilities built in, you may already have everything you need to make it work.