IrDA Application Development

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Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3

4/8/2010

Windows Mobile supports an Infrared Data Association (IrDA)-compliant stack that enables two IR devices to communicate with each other. The IrDA specifies standards for hardware specifications and software protocols.

Windows Mobile devices have three options for implementing IR communications:

  • Raw infrared (raw IR)
  • IrCOMM
  • Infrared Sockets (IrSock)

Windows Mobile supports socket-based infrared communications called Infrared Sockets (IrSock) by using IrDA Protocols. Applications implement Infrared Sockets in the same way as conventional Winsock, although several Winsock functions are used differently with IrDA than with TCP/IP.

Conventional Winsock name service is best suited to fixed networks, in which the group of devices that can accept a socket connection is relatively static. Conversely, IrDA is designed to handle browsing for resources within range. It works in an extemporary manner, and devices disconnect and connect frequently as they move in and out of range.

Because of these differences, IrSock does not use the conventional Winsock name service functions. Instead, name service is incorporated into the communication stream.

Addressing is based on Logical Service Access Point Selectors (LSAP-SELs), numbered from 1 through 127. Because of the small range of values available, it is usually better not to bind sockets directly to an LSAP-SEL. Instead, the Information Access Service (IAS) provides means for dynamic selection of LSAP-SELs.

  • To use IAS, a server application binds a socket to an IAS service name. The client application uses the service name when using the connect function. Neither application must be notified of the LSAP-SEL assigned by the IAS.

In This Section

  • Infrared Communications
    Provides links to topics that contain information about IrDA implementation in Windows Mobile.

See Also

Other Resources

Infrared Communications