IR port is universal. Infrared for a smartphone: determining how to use

Samsung Galaxy S6.

You can easily find the technical characteristics of each of them, and you can also look at reviews and comparisons on YouTube. But you can be sure that each of these flagships supports infrared technology.

IR Applications

The advantage of an open operating system is that third-party manufacturers can absolutely easily develop and offer their own applications to work with the device's hardware. The infrared port was no exception, so now you can find many programs in the Google Play Market, the essence of which is to use the universal remote control on your smartphone via the infrared port.

You definitely need one of these third party applications, if you want, for example, to connect to some rare TV model, or a smart lighting system.

ASmart Remote IR - the best on this moment third-party application for infrared. It is universal, so you can easily pick up codes and connect to your air conditioner, remotely control the operation of a webcam, projector, and so on.

In addition to this application, the AnyMote Universal Remote program behaves quite well. In it, you can combine control buttons on one screen various devices, creating your universal remote. Agree, it makes life much easier. With such an application, the loss of a standard remote control, or its failure, will no longer be an urgent problem. A special IFTTT service in this application will help you create multi-level action scenarios. This means that pressing one button will be able to solve several of your daily tasks at once. The application supports almost 900 thousand devices to connect.

What if the smartphone has already been bought, but you want an infrared port

Of course, such a problem could hardly go unnoticed. Therefore, the Chinese are in full swing to produce external accessories for mobile devices that connect via USB, or even through the headphone jack! Owners of iOS devices can also enjoy this scenario, because external infrared ports have also been developed for their operating system.

Summing up

In our time, equipping a smartphone with an infrared port is unlikely to be something surprising, and its usefulness is doubtful if you use household appliances a little. One thing is for sure - determine for yourself whether this function should be decisive for you when buying, or not, and then look at the presence of an infrared port in the phone. After all, it’s definitely not worth overpaying for the opportunity for the sake of the opportunity, but knowing that how to use the infrared port, you can greatly simplify your life.

The Chinese company Xiaomi continues to occupy a leading position in many criteria and constantly pleases the public with interesting innovations, one of which is a built-in infrared port. Controlling household appliances using a smartphone is very simple and convenient, so many are wondering how to turn on the infrared port on Xiaomi phone and where is it located?

Navigation

What is infrared

The infrared port (infrared port) is a kind of remote control that almost all modern appliances. At the same time, there are no wires, the need to change batteries, and individual charging is also not required.

With IrDA, you can:

• Turn on / off the TV, change channels, adjust the volume, record programs.
• Change the intensity of the conditioner and the flow of the jet.
• Work with DVD player, camera, portable speakers and even kitchen appliances.

Forever you can forget about a bunch of extra remotes, about the fear of losing them, about faulty or worn buttons. Most popular electronics brands are supported, starting fromSamsung and endingAsus. Thus, remote control will bring only pleasure and comfort.

Where is the infrared port on the phone

It should be noted right away that IrDA is not present on all Xiaomi smartphones, which we will discuss below. Apart from official specifications and settings, you can simply visually determine the presence this port, which is much faster.

It is usually located near the headphone output (always at the top of the phone) and looks like a medium-sized black circle. Larger than the headphone compartment, but smaller than the main compartment.

Xiaomi smartphones with infrared

List updated 08/17/19

IrDA is not present in all models, but the list is still extensive and includes both budget and flagship models:

• Redmi Note 2;
• The entire line of Redmi 3;
• The entire line of Redmi 4;
• The entire line of Redmi 5;
• The entire line of Redmi 6;
• Redmi 7, Redmi Note 7;
• Redmi S2;
• Mi 4;
• The entire line of Mi 5;
• Mi 6;
• Mi 9, Mi 9 SE;
• Mi A1, Mi A2, Mi A2 Lite, Mi A3.
• Mi Max 2, Mi Max 3;
• Mi Note 3;
• Pocophone F1;

If your model is not on the list, then it can act as a remote control via a Wi-Fi connection, but it will only be effective in relation to TVs from Mi TV and Mi Box set-top boxes.

First IR port setup

Now we proceed to the most important and basic - how exactly to use the "mobile remote control". This will require a special application - Mi Remote, which we partially talked about in the article "".

The application is freely available for download at Google Play. Its main advantages:

• Simple and clear interface;
• Russian language support.
• Support for a large number of brands.

Let's get started with infrared:

1. We go into the application, we immediately see White screen with orange or blue highlights.
2. The software first asks you to select a remote control. It is the device you want to control. Click on plus.
3. A list of available electronics is displayed: TVs, players, fans, set-top boxes, etc. Choose what you need.
4. The next step: identify the manufacturer. For example, if you need to control TV from LG, we find this company in the list. The choice is wide: there are both modern titans of the world market, and slightly forgotten firms of past years, which have gone by the wayside in terms of popularity and sales.
5. When all the data is specified, we direct the port to the projector and first test the buttons, as indicated in the prompts on the screen. If everything was configured correctly, the reading of information is successful.
6. Now you can use your smartphone as a remote control. All the necessary functional buttons are displayed on the phone screen.
7. Did not work out? Then we re-enter the data about the technique in a special window and carefully check.

Unfortunately, it may be that your electronics simply do not support the ability to control using a Xiaomi device.

Video instruction

Hardware implementation

The hardware implementation, as a rule, is a pair of a transmitter, in the form of an LED, and a receiver, in the form of a photodiode, located on each side of the communication line. The presence of both a transmitter and a receiver on each side is necessary for the use of guaranteed data delivery protocols.

In some cases, for example, when used in consoles remote control household appliances, one of the parties can be equipped only with a transmitter and the other with a receiver only.

Sometimes devices are equipped with several receivers, which allows you to simultaneously communicate with several devices. The use of a single transmitter is possible due to the fact that logical layer protocols require only a small return traffic to ensure guaranteed data delivery.

Having multiple transmitters is much less common.

Most optical sensors used in photo and video cameras have a sensitivity range much wider than the visible part of the spectrum. Due to this, a working infrared transmitter can be seen on the screen or photograph as a bright spot.

Capabilities

AT Everyday life we constantly encounter IR ports every day.

The remote control sends commands to the TV or VCR using IrDA. Now IR ports are still equipped with most mobile phones, laptops and PDAs. Some printers and digital cameras are equipped with infrared ports. Most desktop PCs, in contrast, do not have an infrared port in the standard system configuration, and they require an IR adapter that connects to the computer via a COM port or to a special connector on the motherboard.

Via infrared, protocol high level- IrOBEX can, for example, send a mobile phone or a computer that also has an infrared port. The same protocol allows you to organize data synchronization.

The IrCOMM protocol allows the use mobile phone like a wireless modem.

The IrLAN protocol allows you to connect devices to a local network, like software.

IrPHY

IrPHY (Infrared Physical Layer Specification)- represents the lowest level mandatory protocol among the IrDA specifications. Corresponds to the physical layer of the OSI network model

The main characteristics of the IrPHY specification are as follows:

• Range: at least one meter. HAMID
• Minimum supported deviation from the axis of the receiver/transmitter: not less than 15°.
• Data transfer rate: from 2.4 kbps to 16 Mbps (100 Mbps version is under development).
• Modulation: unmodulated signal, no carrier.
• Wavelength: 850 to 880 nanometers.
• Data transfer mode: half duplex.

It is interesting that the specification does not define the maximum allowable values ​​for parameters such as range or deviation from the axis, however, the typical location of devices for organizing the connection implies a distance of 5 to 50 centimeters, on the same axis. Devices with one-way communication (such as a remote control and a TV) typically support a range of at least 10 meters.

The use of the half-duplex mode is motivated by the fact that, when trying to simultaneously receive and transmit data, the radiation of your own transmitter will greatly interfere with the reception of a signal from the remote transmitter, which makes the implementation of the full-duplex mode very difficult and impractical.

Data rates are divided into several subranges - SIR, MIR, FIR, VFIR, UFIR, each of which is characterized not only different speeds but also using different code schemes. Which, in fact, makes faster data transfer possible.

SIR

"Serial Infrared (SIR) uses the same baud rates as found in the RS232 serial connection specification (COM port), namely 9.6 kbps, 19.2 kbps, 38.4 kbps, 57.6 kbps, 115.2 kbps. The coincidence of supported speeds is not accidental, and makes it quite easy to implement COM IrDA adapters.

As a rule, the lowest available speed for devices is exactly 9600 bps and it is this that is used to transmit search, alert and pairing signals.

MIR

MIR - Medium Infrared- Supports data rates of 0.576 Mbps and 1.152 Mbps.

Although MIR is not an official term for IrDA, the fact that the coding scheme used for these rates is different from both SIR and FIR makes this term quite convenient and common.

FIR

Fast Infrared- an obsolete IrDA specification term previously used to refer to devices supporting data rates from 9600 bps to 4 Mbps, which includes both SIR and MIR.

Nowadays, as a rule, the term FIR is used to refer to the actual speed of 4 Mbps.

Some sources use the term FIR to refer to all speeds above SIR.

VFIR

Very Fast Infrared is a term used to denote support for transmission rates up to 16 Mbps.

While specification details are still under development, 16 Mbps is currently the highest IrDA data rate supported by commercial devices.

For example, the TFDU8108 infrared transmitter supports all data rates from 9.6 kbps to 16 Mbps.

UFIR

Ultra Fast Infrared- is under development, expected to support speeds up to 100 Mbps.

IrLAP

Infrared Link Access Protocol - a mandatory second-layer protocol, located on top of IrPHY, corresponds to the link layer of the OSI network model.

IrLAP is responsible for:

• Access control.
• Search for nearby devices.
• Establishing and maintaining a bidirectional connection.
• Distribution of primary and secondary roles among devices.

IrLAP divides all communicating devices into one Primary and the rest (one or more) Secondaries. The Primary device controls all Secondaries and can transmit data to them without "permission". The Secondary device can only send data upon request from the Primary.

IrLMP

Infrared Link Management Protocol- obligatory protocol of the third level. Corresponds to the network layer of the OSI network model.

Consists of two sublevels - LM-MUX (Link Management Multiplexer) and LM-IAS (Link Management Information Access Service).

LM-MUX is responsible for:

• separation of the data stream into different communication channels.
• change of Primary/Secondary devices.

LM-IAS is responsible for:

• publishing a list of available services.
• access of client devices to published services.

IrCOMM

Tiny TP

IrOBEX

IrLAN

IrSimple

IrFM

Other short range wireless interfaces

• Wibree

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

• Chirchik (river)
• Cent (disambiguation)

Technical Translator's Handbook

infrared interface- Interface used for wireless connection devices (printer, mouse, keyboard, etc.) that have an infrared port. Topics Information Technology in general EN infrared interface … Technical Translator's Handbook

IR port- External IR port in Siemens CXT70 IrDA Infrared Data Association, IR port, infrared port a group of standards that describes the protocols for the physical and logical level of data transfer using the infrared range of light waves in ... Wikipedia

IR port- External IR port in the Siemens CXT70 IrDA Infrared Data Association, IR port, Infrared port is a group of standards that describes the protocols for the physical and logical level of data transfer using the infrared range of light waves in ... Wikipedia Wikipedia

On the Internet, you can find a lot of reviews in which users are skeptical about the desire of manufacturers to "resurrect" the infrared technology. Modern smartphones are able to transmit information in many different ways and at the highest speeds. With such opportunities, it’s just stupid to return to the “Stone Age” mobile technologies when you had to hold the phones port to port and wait for the data exchange to complete at 9 kbps.

However, now manufacturers equip gadgets with infrared ports not so that users have additional features for data transfer. The infrared port in 2017 has a completely different function. What is this function, we will tell in this article.

The infrared port in a modern gadget allows remotely manage digital and consumer electronics. Thanks to the infrared sensor, a smartphone can successfully perform the functions of, say, a television remote control. However, the matter is not limited to the TV: IR ports mobile devices compatible with any technique - be it a refrigerator, washing machine, even . Smartphone can be turned into universal remote "for everything", sending specialized controls to the trash.

You can send commands to some TV models via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but this is inconvenient. The connection between the smartphone and the TV is constantly “breaking”.

An infrared port alone is not enough for remote control of equipment - the user will have to install it on a smartphone special program(if it is not loaded by the manufacturer). Luckily, most of these apps are free.

Mobile applications for infrared

Many programs for the infrared port of a smartphone are specialized. That is, for example, to remotely control the TV, you need a program TV Remote Panasonic. To control the air conditioner from the same smartphone, you will have to download another application - it is called " Universal remote Galaxy” and is distributed on a reimbursable basis (cost - 219 rubles).

It is convenient and profitable to have equipment from one manufacturer in the house - there is no need to litter the memory of the mobile device with numerous utilities for the IR transmitter.

If the user still has appliances of different brands, he should try some of the universal applications. However, you should not expect from them the same clear work that specialized programs guarantee.

What utilities for the infrared port are worthy of attention?

ZaZaRemote

Application ZaZaRemote supports over 6 thousand devices household appliances various manufacturers and includes 250,000 remote controls. Fantastic numbers - especially when you consider that this program for the Android OS is available on Google Play for free.

Application ZaZaRemote boasts not only outstanding compatibility, but also a convenient minimalist design. All models of household appliances that can be controlled using the program are divided into categories - it will take the owner of the gadget just a couple of minutes to find the necessary device in the catalog. A curious feature of the application is that it allows group remotes by room- this feature will be useful for the user who has "brought" all his numerous home appliances into the program.

"In appendage" to the application developers ZaZaRemote offer a special dongle that can turn even a smartphone that does not have an infrared port into a remote control. However, if the gadget is already equipped with an infrared sensor, buy additional devices to nothing.

Control It

With Android app Control It can be completely controlled different devices- not only TVs, but also split systems, radio tape recorders, DVD players. An interesting feature of the program is that it allows you to select in the catalog not a device that is controlled by the remote control, and the remote itself!

Alas, this is convenient only if you know or remember how the desired remote looks. AT otherwise you have to turn to the "trial and error" method, which requires a reliable and high-speed Internet connection. Each remote through the utility Control It loaded into the memory of the mobile device separately– the size of one file can be up to 15 MB.

How many remotes are contained in the application database, the developers do not specify. But the creators of the application take the responsibility to constantly supplement the database at the request of users. If the owner of the gadget found a remote control in any store that is not presented in Control It, he can take a picture of the device and send the picture to the developer's mail. The missing control device will be added to the database within a few days.

The application is paid, but it also has a free version. Owner free version programs can work simultaneously with only 3 remotes and besides having to endure annoying ads.

Sure Universal Remote

Price: Free

Sure Universal Remote is a fairly recent application (released in 2016), but the army of its fans already has over 10 million people. The program has a good average rating on Google Play (something that IR applications usually cannot boast of) and many positive feedback from satisfied users.

Smartphone with infrared port and app Sure Universal Remote able to replace remotes for TVs, air conditioners, DVD players, projectors, even cleaning robots. The only device that the program will not be able to handle is digital camera ; The problem is that there are no universal remote controls for cameras. Separate "plus" Sure Universal Remote deserves a Wi-Fi mode that allows you to send photos and videos from your smartphone to a TV with a Smart TV function.

Among the disadvantages of the application Sure Universal Remote can be attributed a large number of advertising and impressive weight - the program takes up almost 100 MB of memory.

If the smartphone does not have an infrared port: is it worth buying additional accessories?

By itself, the IR application "does not make the weather"; it is pointless to install it on a gadget that is not equipped with an infrared sensor. now there are not so few - another thing is that most of them are produced by Chinese manufacturers of the "middle hand" (, LeTV), which Russian users continue to be quite wary of. What should a buyer who wants to purchase a premium model from a well-known manufacturer and be able to use it as a remote control do?

The answer is simple: need to buy an IR transmitter(or TV dongle). Such devices are quite primitive, compact and cost mere pennies, but they effectively solve the problem of the lack of an infrared port on a smartphone. There are two types of IR transmitters:

• For 3.5mm audio jack.
• For USB port.

Jack dongles have a number of advantages: firstly, they are cheaper Secondly, they are universal and suitable even for. Buying a transmitter for a USB port is unprofitable - after all, not all devices have a microUSB connector. There are Lightning, 30Pin, Type-C connectors - which means that a USB dongle for an Android device on an iPhone will no longer work.

Climbing through the catalogs of Chinese online stores, you can find many infrared transmitters. Quite often in the vastness of the network there are photos of such a positive dongle.

The manufacturer of this transmitter is the Chinese company VBESTLIFE. According to the manufacturer, the dongle is compatible with all household and digital devices, suitable for iPhone and Android smartphones, has an incredible high quality. This is confirmed by a large number of positive ratings on (with a complete absence of negative ones). The cost of the transmitter from VBESTLIFE is only 100 rubles and a few kopecks. As of the date of writing the article, the dongle is delivered to Russia is free.

Company MVpower offers a very stylish IR transmitter for iPhone - made of metal and equipped with a blue light bulb.

The cost of this accessory is only 65 rubles. Moreover, the low price of the IR transmitter from Jetting does not at all indicate its mediocre quality. On AliExpress, the product has 96.2% positive reviews - an indicator almost outstanding. There is no free delivery of the dongle, however, the shipping costs 30 rubles - such a waste is unlikely to have a significant impact on the well-being of the customer.

Conclusion

The infrared port on a smartphone allows you to remotely control appliances in the house. To take advantage of this opportunity, the owner of the gadget needs to download and install on his mobile device one of special applications. The best known universal IR program is ZaZaRemote.

If the smartphone does not have an infrared port, do not despair. Can be purchased from one of the Chinese trading floors IR transmitter. This tiny device will cost only 100-200 rubles and at the same time it will become a full-fledged alternative to the built-in infrared port of the gadget.

In the smartphone models of the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, released in the last 2-3 years, there is a built-in IrDA (infrared port), which performs partly very even important function. If 15 years ago this device was used to transfer data, then modern technologies use infrared radiation to control other equipment via a smartphone. The article describes the procedure on how to enable the infrared port on Xiaomi and then use it to control various equipment.

Once again, it is worth saying that IrDA on the phones of a Chinese manufacturer performs the only function of controlling other equipment, replacing, in fact, the remote control. It is impossible to transfer data, as it was before, through IrDA.

To date, an IR port has been installed on the following models from Xiaomi: Mi4, Mi4C, Mi5, Redmi Note 2, Redmi Note 3 (Pro), Redmi 3 (S). Other smartphones from a Chinese manufacturer may also perform the functions remote control through wifi connection, but you can only control TVs on the MiTV platform and MiBox set-top boxes from Xiaomi. However, let's move on to the main point, where we will describe the features of working with the infrared port in Xiaomi smartphones.

Mi Remote and remote control

To use, for example, an infrared port on Xiaomi Mi4, you will need the Mi Remote program. With its help, you can control: TVs, air conditioners, media players, as well as the above devices from Xiaomi. Now let's look at how to enable and then correctly configure the software we need.

Mi Remote is completely free software, which is most often pre-installed by the manufacturer at the firmware stage. If for some reason this program missing, you can download it on Google Play. It should be said right away that when entering Mi Remote in the search, the user will not see this name directly, but the list will be headed by a program with a name from Chinese characters, under which the name of the developer “Xiaomi.Inc” will be visible.

You need to download exactly the described application and are not afraid of the Chinese language, because after installation and opening, the user will see a Russian-language interface. If the program opened in another language, you can always find it on the Internet in Russian.

Algorithm for working with Mi Remote

Now consider how to use the downloaded application:

If everything is done correctly, the result will be a control panel displayed on the screen with the main function buttons. If this does not happen, you need to check the correctness of the choice of the device model, for which you can enter data about your equipment in a special window. It is quite possible that the selected projector/TV/player is simply not supported by this software.

Outcome

Replacing a conventional remote control is quite simple if you have the "smartest" smartphone from Xiaomi at your disposal. Who would have thought that the infrared port would gain a second life and be used to organize remote control of a variety of types of equipment. Now most of the media and household appliances can be connected using a single smartphone with built-in IrDA.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video instruction on setting up the mi remote program.

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