Europe : Agilent Technologies introduced the industry's fastest low-power infrared (IR) transceivers that offer IrDA (Infrared Data Association)-compliant data transmission at up to 4 Mb/s and enable mobile phones and PDAs to function as universal IR remote controls for televisions, VCRs, DVDs and other home appliances. A 4 Mb/s data rate means that Agilent's HSDL-3020 and HSDL-3021 transceivers can transfer a 640 x 480-pixel photo in approximately 0.7 second, and a 329 MB 1280 x 960-pixel image in approximately 2.3 seconds. Such speeds are becoming critical as the newest camera-phone designs now permit applications such as downloading pictures directly to photo-quality printers.

The HSDL-3021 transceiver provides a remote control distance of up to eight meters (approximately 26 feet) and the HSDL-3020 up to 14 meters (approximately 46 feet). Both transceivers provide an IrDA link distance of up to 50 cm (approximately 20 inches) from 9.6 kb/s to 4.0 Mb/s, and compatibility with Agilent's universal remote control software. Both also feature a separate 875 nm-wavelength infrared LED for IrDA data transmission and 940 nm LED for IR remote control; however, the HSDL-3020 comes with an enhanced three-lens optical package for optimized IrDA and remote control performance. Package dimensions for the HSDL-3020 are 2.5 mm high x 10.4 mm wide x 2.95 mm long. Dimensions for the HSDL-3021 are 2.5 mm x 8mm x 3 mm.

Both units feature low power operation, with a logic input/output interface operating at only 1.8 V, shutdown currents of only 10 microamps, and standby current of 0.1 mA. The transceivers can be used for IrDA and remote control applications without additional external components for multiplexing. The HSDL-3020 and HSDL-3021 are fully compliant with IrDA Physical Layer specification version 1.4 low power from 9.6 kb/s to 4.0 Mb/s (FIR). Both versions provide LED stuck-high protection and are capable of operating with power sources ranging from 2.4 V to 3.6 V. All Agilent IR transceivers are IEC 825-Class 1 Eye Safety compliant.