> Suppose that for the sake of miniaturization, I want to 
> receive a typical IR remote control signal (~35kHz carrier, 
> on/off modulated with minimum on/off times on the order of 
> 1ms) using a bare photodiode running into a PIC A-D converter 
> (or similar) and doing all the signal processing in software. 
>  It seems like that should be about possible.

I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the level of the received
signal would be far far below the quantisation noise of a 10-bit ADC,
even in the ideal (== not realistic) situation where the signal occupies
the full 10-bit range. Integrated IR receivers use AGC and bandpass
filters (both analog) which are far better suited for this kind of work.

Wouter van Ooijen

-- -------------------------------------------
Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
consultancy, development, PICmicro products
docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
 
 

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