Recommendation of Infrared Communication
At the Opening of ICSA Homepage　−　Greetings from the Chairman

The amount of the subscribers of cellular phone exceeds over 60 millions in Japan and that of internet through cellular phone for example i-mode exceeds over 20 millions.  There are many needs of telephone and internet with wireless method. Cellular phone and internet communication are realized by the radio wave.  The radio wave is the finite resource and the study has been continued in order to avoid the interference and use it commonly, the purpose of the study is to minimize the zone, divide the sector, limit the occupied frequency band by band-compression code, transmit the high speed signal by high efficiency modulation method and develop the new frequency band.

The wireless communication with infrared not radio wave is worthy of note.  Infrared is now widely used for the controller of television, video recorder, tape recorder and air conditioner etc.  It is used for the data communication between personal computers based on IrDA protocol and is also used for the earphone of simultaneous translation.  The new application is the data collection of game machines because of the strong tolerance against the electric interference. ICSA (Infrared Communication Systems Association) is working for the development, the standardization and the promotion of infrared communication systems for example 10Mbps Ethernet type Infrared LAN and is also working for the development, the standardization and the promotion of high speed infrared links for internet data communication by the cooperation with OBN(Metropolitan Optical Beam Network Promotion Council). Infrared has the inconvenient characteristics comparing to radio wave for example not to reach the rear side, not to pass through the wall and to be scattered by fog, rain and snow.

But infrared is suitable for wireless LAN because it is shielded by wall and curtain, does not leak to the neighboring rooms and has the wide frequency band in order to make the high speed wideband communication possible.   The characteristics to be shielded by wall and curtain easily is worthy of note as TEMPEST technology in order to avoid the leakage of computer information.  And it is also suitable for the best-effort type communication for example internet communication if there is not fog, rain or snow.

Infrared is now much attractive because it can be used without restriction if it is controlled in order not to interfere with other systems and not to be emitted too strongly for the eye-safety, though this situation may be reconsidered when infrared communication system is much popularized and wave-length is restricted in future.

Chairman, Mitsutoshi Hatori Infrared Communication Systems Association