Talking about the Application and Prospect of Infrared Transmission in Smart Home

Infrared transmission technology is a technology that uses infrared as a carrier for data transmission. In everyday life, infrared transmission technology is everywhere, the most typical of which is televisions, air conditioners and other household appliances that are controlled by infrared remote controllers. With the advancement of science and technology and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, people’s requirements for home intelligence have also become higher and higher. Light control, background music, and security alarms have gradually begun to turn to intelligent control. This article mainly introduces the application of infrared transmission technology in smart home control system, and briefly analyzes the prospect of this technology.

Since 1800 British astronomer F. W. After Herschel discovered infrared radiation, the development of infrared transmission technology has been experienced for more than two centuries. In recent decades, in addition to infrared transmission technologies, emerging wireless transmission technologies such as RF, Wifi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee have emerged. Why is infrared transmission technology still able to occupy a place in the field of home control? First of all, we analyze from a technical point of view why the infrared transmission technology is enduring.

First, infrared transmission technology features:

1. Good stability:

Using analog transmission methods, unlike digital technologies such as Bluetooth and RF radio, digital signals are transmitted, so there is almost no similar signal to interfere with it.

2. Strong privacy:

Due to the short wavelength of infrared light, the diffraction capability of obstacles is poor, so it is suitable for short-range wireless communication. Because of this, infrared transmissions are very private. For example, when we use infrared remote controls in our homes, neighbors’ home appliances will not be affected by control.

3. low cost:

Infrared transmission technology is very mature, and the upstream and downstream industry chains are also highly developed. Compared with wireless transmission technologies such as Bluetooth and Wifi, there are obvious advantages in terms of cost.

Although there are still some defects in infrared transmission technology, such as short transmission distance and small communication angle, the above advantages make it always have a certain degree of competitiveness. Not only the home appliance manufacturers have always been persistent, infrared transmission has also been widely used in today's smart home. Next, we look at its application in the smart home control system.

Second, the application of infrared transmission in the smart home control system Smart home system is the use of integrated cabling technology, network communications technology, security technology, automatic control technology, audio and video technology to lighting, curtains, household appliances, alarm equipment, etc., integration, Achieve unified management and intelligent control. Infrared transmission technology can play multiple roles at the same time in such a control system, which can play a key role.

1. Remote Control Functions Infrared remote controls have been used in people's daily lives for many years. Traditional infrared remote controllers are generally controlled for individual appliances. For example, televisions are used to control televisions and air conditioners are used to control air conditioners. Most people's homes have two, three, or even more remote controls. But with the advent of smart home control systems, we already do not need so many remote controls. We only need a remote control to control all of our home's electrical equipment. Using integrated wiring technology, together with the relevant communication protocols, all the lamps, curtains, various types of household appliances and alarm devices in the home can be integrated into a unified system, and then they can be operated through a remote Controller or a control panel. In addition, it can also be used in conjunction with the smart home system context function to control multiple devices at the same time with the simplest operation. For example, after returning home from work, you just need to pick up the infrared remote controller and click “Night Mode” to automatically close the curtains, turn on the living room lighting, turn on the TV, air conditioning, and stereo, and set the home alarm equipment to the home mode. Prevent false alarms. This eliminates the cumbersome operation of appliances and equipment one by one, and you can get a good mood by simply pressing the remote control.

2. Infrared detection Infrared detection technology is divided into active infrared detection and passive infrared detection, both of which have different applications in smart homes. Active infrared detection is to send one or more modulated parallel infrared beams through an infrared emitter, which is received by an infrared receiver and converted into a digital signal and sent to the alarm controller. If an obstacle occurs in the transmission range, it will Trigger alarm. Active infrared detection has a wide range of applications in home alarm systems. For example, infrared transmitters and receivers are installed at both ends of the balcony. As soon as someone crosses over the balcony, an alarm signal will be triggered to allow the owner to be alert at the first time.

Passive infrared detectors use infrared pyroelectric sensors to determine the presence of people in the area by the change in infrared energy in the corresponding area. Because the human body's infrared energy and the environment are different, when the person passes the detection area, the detector senses the change of the infrared energy, and then it will provide the feedback signal to the system. In conjunction with the linkage function of the smart home, people can come and go, Destruction function. For example, a passive infrared detector is installed on the top of the bathroom door. When the owner comes into the night and enters the bathroom, the light will automatically turn on. After leaving the bathroom, the light will automatically turn off, which is convenient and can achieve the effect of power saving.

3. Other applications Infrared transmission is a wireless communication technology that can also be applied to data transmission between home appliances, such as audio transmission. The biggest advantage of wireless infrared technology is the large bandwidth, even more than the other three mainstream wireless technologies, which means that the use of infrared wireless audio products can be used to transmit large-capacity audio signals without compression, can meet the higher rate format run. The domestic multimedia speaker leader manufacturer Edifier released an infrared power amplifier-Ramble in 2008. Because it adopts infrared transmission, no data line is needed, and it can be installed anywhere in the room, such as a wall or a ceiling, which is quite convenient. It will not affect the aesthetics of the interior decoration due to the bare wire exposed on the wall.

Third, the prospect of infrared transmission technology due to its mature technology, good stability, privacy, and relatively low cost, in the smart home control system has been widely used. Although it has some technical bottlenecks and defects, such as short transmission distances and small communication angles, other wireless communication technologies have not yet reached the level of perfection. Therefore, in the very long period of time, the infrared transmission technology will still be smart. Home control systems occupy a place, coexist with wireless technologies such as RF, Wifi, and Zigbee, and contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in the home.