FlexiPanel IR Infrared glue for micros and PDAs (1)

Published:2011/7/27 4:13:00 Author:Amy From:SeekIC

By Jan Buifing and Luc Lemmens

IrDA sure looks like an attractive medium for conveying data across small distances. Unfortunately, the associated hardware gener­ally causes sour faces, and is not just ’playing’ hard to get. Those days are over.

Paris-based Hoptroff sarl (in the UK: Flexipanel Ltd.) recently announced the release of an IrDA module (also called ‘irGUI module’ or ‘Flexipanel’) designed for easy connection to microcon­troller circuits. This triggered our curiosity and within days a sample of the module arrived in the post along with a hefty information pack.

We were not disappointed. To begin with, free software is available for devices such as handhelds, mobile phones and (portable) com­puters. In the case of micro­controllers, the FlexiPanel module allows user access to any of these remote devices using a single, sim­ple I2C interface.

As we write this, the module should be available as a one-off, as well as software for PocketPC handhelds. Product distribution has been arranged with Parallax Inc. (and its European dis­tributors such as Milford Instruments). A tentative price of USS 80 has been given for the module, US$ 25 for the chip set and USS 6-8 for licensing. According to Richard Hoptroff, software for Palm devices, Nokia and Ericsson mobile phones and Windows laptops is sched­uled for release later this year. A Bluetooth version is also under development and we hope to report on its release some time in the near future.

Applications

Applications for the FlexiPanel IR module broad­ly fall into two categories: The first category is ‘big guns’ comprising handhelds, mobile phones etc. that can employ the generic Virtual Control Panel (VCP) soft­ware that’s available free of charge from Hoptroff. On the device, a graphical user interface (irGUI) provides the link to the VCP In this way, the irGUI acts as the IrDA server and the VCP as the IrDA client. To connect low-volume (100’s) and medium-volume (lOOO’s) products to VCPs, manufacturers should use an irGUI module or a chipset which will manage the user interface. VCP tech­nology licensing is recom­mended for bulk volume products (10,000’s and up) with help available from Hoptroff with the implementation on he host controller.

The second category is much more interesting to the occa­sional user and lab worker as is comprises a multitude of individual microcontrollers and development systems for which tailored software needs to be written. In prin­ciple, any MCU or MCU sys­tem may be used as long as it talks and understands I2C (this will include many Elektor Electronics microcon­troller boards). Fortunately, Hoptroff have made the com­plete communications proto­col for ‘FlexiPanel’ freely available as part of an impressive and neatly organ­ised 70+-page datasheet (which is too modest, ‘docu­mentation set’ would have been a more apt description). FlexiPanel allows electronic products to create an opera­tor interface on remote devices such as handhelds (PDAs), mobile phones and other computers, using an infrared link. The remote device asks the product what controls it wants displayed and then it displays them. The operator reads the dis­play and modifies the con­trols as required, sending any changes back to the product. The Flexipanel documenta­tion, then, goes into great depths, discussing every­thing from product ordering and suggested product development methods down to the nitty-gritty of the (fairly complex) command syntax, not forgetting the hardware specification of the two avail­able FlexiPanel core proces­sors. Towards the end of the manual, lots of example pro­grams are found for functions including the Message box, file control, calibration, test, array control, password con­trol and many more. All this should allow microcontroller enthusiasts to slap together their own irDA interface fairly easily on just about any MCU system sporting I2C connec­tivity.

Our conclusion is that Hoptroff have not only released a module that avoids many pitfalls associ­ated with irDA hardware construction, but also a good amount of software to back up the product.

Reprinted Url Of This Article: http://www.seekic.com/blog/project_solutions/2011/07/27/FlexiPanel_IR_Infrared_glue_for_micros_and_PDAs.html

Print this Page | Comments | Reading(474)