Thanks to everyone for their replies.

I think RS-232 is a valid comparison, although the more troubling
thing about IRDA is that it needs not only an IC or two but also the
optical components, so it isn't just a matter of a single IC like an
RS-232 level converter. My gut feeling therefore is that RS-232 will
outlive IRDA.

You heard correctly that I must be able to deal with 1 centimeter of
dust. This is because the two halves of the link are one above the
other so that the TX side is part of a horizontal surface and will
collect dust. Yes, I also only need unidirectional comms.

This is in an environment where several of these devices could be in
close proximity to each other and there cannot be crosstalk between
them - which is why I am opting for optical instead of RF.

Sean


On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 12:45 PM, Oli Glaser <oli.glaser@talktalk.net> wrote=
:
> On 03/06/2011 16:17, Sean Breheny wrote:
>> What is your opinion? Is IRDA going to be around for at least 5 more
>> years or is it disappearing quickly?
>>
>
> I think it has obviously become far less popular, with the advent of
> bluetooth and stuff.
> However, I don't think it will disappear altogether for quite some time,
> there are still plenty of applications that are more suited to an easily
> implemented, cheap, line of sight solution (for which RF would be overkil=
l)
> Even if it did disappear, as noted I'm sure you could quite easily
> conjure up your own. I doubt very much this would be needed though - I
> know it's not quite the same , but look at e.g. RS232, USB, SPI, I2C
> etc, has been around for ages but it is still reasonably common and ICs
> available.
> Hard to be certain, but I'm betting on it being good for a while (as
> long as remotes use the technology anyway..)
> I think I would go for it.
>
>
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