Herbert Retail Limited
18 Rookwood Way
Haverhill
Suffolk
CB9 8PD
Tel: +44 (0)1440 711 400
Fax: +44 (0)1440 710 469
Email: click here
Infrared Communication - A proven technology which is growing in popularity
IR technology is a mature and fast growing technology. Since 1970 infrared communication has been widely used for the purpose of short-range bi-directional communication. The main advantages for this technology are that it is global and does not need a site-licence. It is a stable scaleable high-speed communication method and the cost for the performance is low. IR communication is limited within walls, which means that information is secured within a room or within a building, and interoperation between IR-equipment is simplified by the limitation of propagation.
In different applications, IR technology has been chosen due to these advantages. There are hundreds of millions of remote controls in use with IR. Since 1994 over 50 million electronic devices incorporate an IrDA infrared port to support wireless connections. Examples of these devices are notebooks, palm PCs, printers, digital cameras cellular phones etc. The principle of diffuse IR was shown by IBM in 1979 (IBM Rueschlikon Labs - Switzerland) and thanks to IrDA [Infrared Data Association] infrared technology standardization is growing.
Our ESL system uses a diffuse IR link, this means that it is not necessary for the transmitter and the receiver to have line of sight, the signal will be reflected off all surfaces in the surroundings and the received signal is from those reflections. The IR receivers operate close to theoretical maximum sensitivity. Like the eye they can see very low "light levels". For example, a person hiding under a bed would still notice if someone turned off the lights. Here the light might experience many tens of bounces before it reaches the eye. In the same way the modulated IR signal floods the area and reaches the sensitive IR receiver.
Technical benefits which are in favour of IR communication method for ESL communications:
- IR is a proven and stable communication method and therefore can be considered future proof.
- IR provides a truly wireless and flexible system.
- IR allows high speed data communication.
- IR is licence free and can be used worldwide.
Hardware and Infrastructure
The infrastructure consists of controlling units (termed Base Stations) and bi-directional transmitters and receivers (termed Transceivers). The base stations are connected to the server via a standard Ethernet network or via a serial link. The base stations communicate with the transceivers via a twisted pair cable network. The transceivers communicate with the electronic labels using a wireless infrared two-way connection.
Transceivers - TRX:
The transceivers are equipped with both receiving and sending diodes communicating with the ESLs via infrared signals. The transceivers each cover an area of 100 square metres in order to maximize their usage and reach.
Base Stations: Depending on the store's size and its layout we offer different kind of base stations connecting the transceivers and electronic labels with the store's back-office system and the Server.
For more information, please contact us