Infrared Transmission Media Essay

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Infrared Transmission Media - Essay Assignment 2
Purpose of the Infrared Transmission Media To start off, let us establish what infrared transmission is in the context of networking. Infrared transmission is merely an alternative means of wireless communication of electronic devices. The most common method of wireless transmission is radio waves, which is what your wireless router operates on. Infrared transmission is the same concept as your radio wave transmission but operates much differently. We use infrared transmission media every day of our lives without considering the fact that we are. This is because infrared technology is very commonly used in remote controls for garage doors and televisions due to its low cost and lack of licensing …show more content…

Reasoning as to why infrared light is used as opposed to visible light is derived from the fact that visible light is much more susceptible to interference. Thus, we end up with the infrared light spectrum, which is the most reliable spectrum of light that can be used for unguided network communication. When multiple devices are setup to use a direct infrared connection, they communicate via their infrared devices emitting pulses of light towards each other. Most every day devices which rely on infrared transmission such as garage door openers and television remotes use these pulses or flashes in specific combinations to signify different commands. Computers, though, cannot use this method under normal circumstances due to the way binary code operates. This is due to the fact that if each pulse is a 1 then the absence of a pulse would be a 0, thus one can see where many problems can arise. To solve this, there is a protocol which infrared transmission operates known as IrDA (Infrared Data Association) which regulates how infrared devices communicate. The methods of connection which were just spoken of are referred to as direct connections, there is another way to connect infrared devices though. This alternative is known as diffuse technology where a special access point diffuses infrared light in such a way as to …show more content…

Not to get too technical, but the first advantage that infrared technology has over its competitors is that the infrared light spectrum has one of the widest bandwidths. This means that it can theoretically be extremely fast with very large amounts of data if set up correctly. That proper setup being either in short distances outside at night or for a LAN network within a number of adjacent rooms. If setup properly, an infrared connection can be extremely reliable if nothing passes through its transmission path. If the area you wish to construct a network in fits within the guidelines, then a extremely poignant advantage is the low cost associated with infrared

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