hf/rf ZONE Products for the week of October 28, 2002
Agilent Technologies says . . .
HSDL-3208: Smallest Infrared Transceiver For Next-Gen.
Ultra-Thin PDAs and Cell Phones
Breakthrough 1.6-mm Package Opens Up IR Connectivity
Agilent Technologies Inc. introduced the industry's smallest, low power serial infrared transceiver. The Agilent HSDL-3208 transceiver is enclosed in a breakthrough 1.6 mm package and provides optimum characteristics for slim portable information appliances such as 2.5G and 3G wireless handsets, PDAs and e-wallets. It features an extended link distance up to 50 cm and is ideally suited for Infrared for Financial Messaging (IrFM) "point and pay" applications.
"Agilent's new, smaller IR transceiver makes it easier to incorporate IrFM capability into any portable device," said Kee Hane Ngoh, operations manager of Agilent's Infrared Products Operation. "The IrFM point and pay profile is designed to enable users to perform wireless financial transactions between a mobile device such as a cell phone or PDA and a point-of-sale terminal or ATM equipped with an IR port. It supports the use of most financial instruments, including credit and debit cards, while providing digital receipts. The application is already in trials in Japan and Korea, and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where students can use the infrared port on their mobile phones to make purchases on campus."
The Agilent HSDL-3208 meets the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) IrDA-IrMC version 1.4 specification for low power serial infrared mode at 2.4 kb/s to 115 Kb/s data rates.- The transceiver can also operate at an extended link distances of up to 50 cm, exceeding the Infrared Data Association low-power link specification of 20 cm to 30 cm.
The HSDL-3208 is ideal for power-sensitive handheld devices, providing
low shutdown current of 1 nanoamperes (nA) to help extend battery life.
It provides guaranteed temperature performance at a supply voltage ranging
from 2.7 V to 3.6 V, and over a temperature range of -25 C to +85 C. Other
features include excellent EMI performance, even without a shield, and LED
stuck-high protection to eliminate the need for shutting down and resetting
the handheld device. The transceiver is supplied in the industry's smallest
profile package at 1.6 mm (height) by 7.0 mm (width) by 2.8 mm (depth).
It is IEC 825-Class 1 eye safe.
analogZONE Says . . .
The HSDL-3208 is not looking to be the hero for distance performance in IrDA applications, but it is right up there in the battle for low-power links that are coming to the fore in applications that are over short distances, but which are secure because of it. You would not want to use standard IrDA systems to access your ATM, and you certainly wouldn't want to use an RF system of any kind. The point and pay profile of IrFM will certainly become a popular system eliminating, as it will, the necessity of carrying a physical card.
But although there are other solutions, this is the smallest complete solution that I have seen. It is, literally, a supply and ground, data in, and data out product in a 7.00 mm wide, 2.8 mm deep, 1.60 mm high package complete with receive PIN diode and transmitting LED. Quite remarkable.
Recommended supply voltage is between 2.7 and 3.6 V and can typically continue to operate with a greater than 100 mV p-p ripple on the rail. The LED current pulse amplitude is a typical 50 mA and receive data rates can be across the full range of 9. kbit/s to 115.2 kbit/s. The minimum viewing angle for both receive and transmit is 30 degrees. In idle the quiescent is a typical 100 µA while complete shutdown of the transceiver (and PIN diode, even exposed to large ambient light sources) takes the quiescent to a typical 1 nA.
The 50 cm path performance claimed allows for the light loss associated with cosmetic windows over the diodes, and LED stuck-high protection is included.
This will be one of the first products looked at by OEMs designing IrDA or IrFM capability into the smallest handhelds and PDAs/smart phones. Apart from the financial transaction world most people will be able to allow for a half-meter path for their portable printers and digital cameras. It is not likely to find homes in game controllers and domestic appliance control.
The HSDL-3208 is in production and will be priced at less than $2 in
high volume.