--- title: The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols description: Infrared communication protocols remain widely used despite being overlooked, covering remote controls, data transfer, and device pairing. The NEC, Sony SIRC,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-fascinating-world-of-irda-and-other-infrared-protocols-xl7bnzc41 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols | daily.dev og:description: Infrared communication protocols remain widely used despite being overlooked, covering remote controls, data transfer, and device pairing. The NEC, Sony SIRC,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-fascinating-world-of-irda-and-other-infrared-protocols-xl7bnzc41 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/XL7BnzC41.png og:image:alt: The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Infrared communication protocols remain widely used despite being overlooked, covering remote controls, data transfer, and device pairing. The NEC, Sony SIRC, and Philips RC-5 protocols run on a 38 kHz carrier for TV remotes, using pulse distance or Manchester encoding. IrDA, the broader data standard, ranges from SIR at 115 kbit/s up to Giga-IR at 512 Mbit/s to 1 Gbit/s, with a range of up to two meters. Power meters commonly used IrDA-SIR, though DLMS/COSEM (IEC 62056) is now more common. The Nintendo 3DS used IrDA-SIR for its expansion features, with the Circle Pad Pro using a 96000 baud rate. DIY options include the ESP32's built-in IrDA UART mode, the MCP2120 encoder/decoder IC, and the Vishay TFDU4101 transceiver. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the maximum data rate supported by the IrDA standard? The fastest IrDA tier, called Giga-IR, supports 512 Mbit/s up to 1 Gbit/s. Other IrDA speed tiers include SIR at 115 kbit/s, MIR at 1 Mbit/s, FIR at 4 Mbit/s, VFIR at 16 Mb/s, and UFIR at 96 Mbit/s, letting designers pick a speed matching power and bandwidth needs. _Comparing wireless options for a low-power embedded design? daily.dev surfaces protocol deep dives like this one._ ### What IR protocol does the Nintendo 3DS use for its Circle Pad Pro accessory? The Nintendo 3DS uses IrDA-SIR for its infrared expansion port, which the Circle Pad Pro accessory communicates over at a 96000 baud rate. The same IR port was also used to add external NFC reader support to older 3DS models that lacked the New 3DS's built-in NFC hardware. _Digging into retro console hardware internals? daily.dev collects hands-on protocol and hardware teardowns like this._ ### What chip can I use to add IrDA support to a microcontroller's UART? The MCP2120 is a dedicated IrDA encoder/decoder IC that adds IrDA-SIR support to any UART interface that does not natively implement the protocol. Alternatively, the Vishay TFDU4101 integrates the full IrDA transceiver, including the IR elements, into a single package, and some MCUs like Espressif's ESP32 support IrDA directly as a UART mode. _Prototyping an embedded IR interface? daily.dev gathers component picks and protocol notes like these for makers._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [IrDA](https://daily.dev/posts/irda-to4gkmvve) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The origins of the IrDA infrared communications standard](https://daily.dev/posts/the-origins-of-the-irda-infrared-communications-standard-xjci86kpd) · Adafruit Blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Reverse-Engineering The Tamagotchi IR Connection](https://daily.dev/posts/reverse-engineering-the-tamagotchi-ir-connection-8bzck9kxz) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Home Assistant just made every infrared device in your house controllable, and you probably already own them](https://daily.dev/posts/home-assistant-just-made-every-infrared-device-in-your-house-controllable-and-you-probably-already--rbdbcjzr1) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#embedded](https://daily.dev/tags/embedded) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-fascinating-world-of-irda-and-other-infrared-protocols-xl7bnzc41) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The Fascinating World Of IrDA And Other Infrared Protocols","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-fascinating-world-of-irda-and-other-infrared-protocols-xl7bnzc41","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-fascinating-world-of-irda-and-other-infrared-protocols-xl7bnzc41"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T14:41:30.977Z","dateModified":"2026-10-26T14:42:06.379Z","description":"Infrared communication protocols remain widely used despite being overlooked, covering remote controls, data transfer, and device pairing. 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Other IrDA speed tiers include SIR at 115 kbit/s, MIR at 1 Mbit/s, FIR at 4 Mbit/s, VFIR at 16 Mb/s, and UFIR at 96 Mbit/s, letting designers pick a speed matching power and bandwidth needs. Comparing wireless options for a low-power embedded design? daily.dev surfaces protocol deep dives like this one."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What IR protocol does the Nintendo 3DS use for its Circle Pad Pro accessory?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Nintendo 3DS uses IrDA-SIR for its infrared expansion port, which the Circle Pad Pro accessory communicates over at a 96000 baud rate. The same IR port was also used to add external NFC reader support to older 3DS models that lacked the New 3DS's built-in NFC hardware. 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