IR REMOTE SENSING BEYOND OBSTACLE 1) INTRODUCTION

1.1 Objective of the project 1.2 Communication System 1.3 Thesis Outline

2) REMOTE SENSING
2.1 Theory a) General Information About IR Signal b) IR to RF Conversion & Transmission 2.2 Working Principle 2.3 Equipments & Their Characteristics a) Sensor b) BJT c) Antenna d) AND Gate e) 555 Timer IC f) IR LED g) Anacom 1-1 Trainer Module

3 REMOTE SENSING SYSTEM

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Block Diagram 3.3 Internal Architecture 3.4 Results 3.5 Problems

4 CONCLUSIONS
4.1 Aspects 4.2 Limitation 4.3 Comparison 4.4 Future Prospect

APPENDIX

Acknowledgment
We wish to express our profound indebtedness and undoubted gratitude to Prof. Dr. Quamrul Huda, Professor of Dept. of EEE, BUET. His sincere guidance, friendly supervision, constant encouragement and active support during the entire level for the continuous and completion of the project. Our deepest regard and profound indebtedness to Md. Mahabub Sattar, lecturer, Dept. of EEE, BUET, for his interest and invaluable advice. He presented new ideas and solutions to different problems that arose at different levels of the Project work. Our thanks also goes to the Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ali Chowdhury, Dean, Faculty of EEE, BUET, in charge of the Power Electronics Lab for permitting us to work on his lab frequently and independently. Sincere thanks to Mr. Sanaullah for his continuous support. Its a pleasure to thank the Telecommunication Lab for their kind cooperation. Special thanks to all the classmates for their cooperation.

Abstract
The IR signal generator is the conventional handset used for TV remote control with the working frequency varying from 40-50 kHz. The carrier was produced from 555 timer IC. This provided robustness, stability and easy frequency control that are necessary. The carrier signal was used to modulate the signal coming from sensor. The device was efficient at frequency of 45.2 kHz. From modulation, we initially used digital modulation technique using ANACOM-1 TRAINER MODULE. The modulated output was fed to CE amplifier. The amplifier was used to produce sufficient amplification so as to drive the antenna. The RF signal transmitted to the demodulator part of the module where the RF signal was received by another antenna. It was then filtered, amplified and demodulated to recover the original signal. On a different procedure, the signal was detected by the sensor which was directly transmitted through wire after 2-Stage amplification. The amplified signal was modulated with a carrier signal of 45.2 kHz using an AND gate that when applied to IR LED reproduce the original remote signal. The power supply for the whole unit was provided from a variable dc source of two different values of 5 volts and 10 volts. The 10 volts was used for 555 timer IC and 5 volts for the other elements.

The last stage of the transmitter was supposed to be an antenna able to transmit RF signal beyond obstacle but due to shortage of power of the signal it was transmitted through wire. At the receiver end, the carrier signal together with the amplified signal from sensor reproduce the pulse train required for driving IR LED which was applied to the appliance. The complete project was tested for different remote signals of varying frequency and found to work satisfactory enough.

Introduction

Communication system
With the advent of communication technology, human civilization had a great leap in its development. Till today this technology has got enormous achievements. Telecommunication requires transmission of information from one place to another. Basic concept behind telecommunication is that information is first converted to electrical signal which after transferring to another place is again reconverted back to information. Transmission of this information signal to a distant place is done by using electromagnetic wave. For this transmission, information signal is superimposed (modulated) on an electromagnetic wave called carrier. This modulated carrier is then transmitted to the destination, where information is recovered (demodulated) from the carrier. The carrier electromagnetic waves are designated by its location in the frequency spectrum.

Band name Band number Frequency

VLF 4

LF 5

MF 6

HF 7

VHF 8

UHF 9

SHF 10

EHF 11

3kHz

30 kHz

300 kHz

3 MHz

30 MHz 300MHz 3 GHz 30GHz

300 GHz

The electromagnetic wave can be transmitted either through guided channel such as wire or waveguide or through unguided atmosphere or free space. When information is modulated on the carrier it occupies certain band of frequency around the carrier called transmission bandwidth. Amount of information transmitted per unit time is called transmission bandwidth. Transmission bandwidth is directly proportional to the information rate and on the other hand available transmission bandwidth increases with the increase of carrier frequency. With the development of telecommunication technology demand for higher and higher information rate was felt and hence the higher the bands were called for. When it was very difficult to meet the growing demand by RF spectra, development of technology made it possible to utilize another spectrum called optical spectra and thus a wide window for information transmission channel was open to mankind. Optical communication system utilizes the infra red portion of the optical spectra.
3 Cosmic rays 22 10^-8 10^ rays 3 Gamma 20 X10^ rays 3 18 X10^ rays 3 10^ 16 1 UV 3 14 10^2 infra 10^ red 3 12 10^-2 10^-2 (m) radio 10^ waves

10^-6 10^-4 10^-2

Restriction of RF communication

1. Frequency use restriction 2. Susceptibility to noise 3. Interference from the near frequencies bands 4. Use of Antenna Because of its random use, the RF spectrums happen to be the most crowded. While designing any RF transmitter, this frequency concentration is to be kept in mind. Some bands are just banned to be further used. Noise is a dangerous design limitation for RF transmission and reception. As the circuit gets clumsier, it becomes more susceptible to noise. Some noise work over the whole of the RF band while some are confined to a definite frequency band. Motors running all around produce interfering radio frequency waves.

IR remote control
General info
With most pieces of consumer electronics, from camcorders to stereo equipment, an infrared remote control is usually always included.Video and audio apparatus, computers and also lighting installationsnowadays often operate on infra-red remote control.

The carrier frequencyof such infra-red signals is typically in the order of around 36 kHz. The control codes are sent in serial format modulated to that36 kHz carrier frequecy (usally by turning the carrier on and off).There are many different coding systems in use, and generallydifferent manufacturers use different codes and different datarates for transmission.

"IR" stands for infrared. Infrared light is invisible since its frequency is below that of visible red. Otherwise, it is like any other light source, operating under the same laws of physics. In most cases, the IR signals are produced by an LED source.

TV remotes send commands only one way, in a low-speed burst for distances of up to 30 feet. They use directed IR with LEDs that have a moderate cone angle to

improve ease-of-use characteristics. The IR signal sent out by those devices is generally modulated to around38 kHz carrier using amplitude shift keying (carrier on or off). The data rate send is generally in ra range of 100-2000 bps.

There are some IR systems which use other frequencies and other modulation systems.IR transmit and receive systems are inexpensive and are generally reliable. However, Many existing IR systems modulate the IR light at around 3640 kHz (this is the frequency of the IR carrier and should not to be confused with the actual frequency of the IR light itself).

The possibility of interference ismore likely around the 40 kHz frequency. One way to limit interference is to use higher IR carrier frequencies. Some IR systems now use carrier frequencies into the megahertz region.Generally infrared remote controls are a 32-40 kHz modulated square wave for communication. This square wave is then send to IR transmitter (IR LED). The carried frequency is amplitude modulated by the data, usually full on/off type modulation. The data rate is typically in 50-1000 bit/s range depending on the system used.

Usually the tranmitter part is constructed so that the transmitter oscillator which

is driving the infrared transmitter LED canbe turned on/off by applying a TTL voltage on the modulationcontrol input (the signal that goes here is usually serial datafrom remote control keyboard decoding IC.

. On the receiver side a photodiode takes up the signal. The integrated circuit inside a typical receiving chip is sensitive only around a specific frequency in the 32-40 kHz range. The output is the demodulated digital input, just what was used to drive the transmitter. Usually this kind of receivers work so that when the IR carrier is present, this output is high. When no carrier is detected, the output is low.

This type of circuits can usually transmit a 1-3 kHz digital signal through infra light. When trying to receive IR signals, leave demodulation to one of the special IC's/modules ment for this and deal with the data only.The free air IR data transmission, IR remote control aswell as the most optoelectronic sensors and lightbarrier systems work with a wavelength between870nm and 950nm.

The system described above is not the only one IR remote system in use, it is just the most commonly used one. Asystem that use unmodalated signals of a one kHz or 100 kHz (and several other frequencies)

exist as well.

Limitations to IR transmission
interference from other IR sources can be a minor issue. Interference can come from IR remote controls, IR audio systems (these broadcast an IR signal continuously) or other IR sources. Interference can also be caused by other light sources such as fluorescent lights (the ballast can cause IR interference). Sometimes some electronic ballasts powered light can cause interferenceproblems. In order to avoidany interference with this kind of equipment, the operating frequencyof all electronic ballasts has to be chosen so that problemsin the 36 kHz frequency area are out of the question. The range of IR transmitter is another limitation. IR signals are not known for long distance operation, as all light waves gets scattered as the distance increases. So, only way transmit as IR signal is by transferring it to RF on microwave frequency or using guiding wires, as in optical fiber.

Objective of this project

1. To build a low cost and useful circuit to capture the IR signal from a remote control and transmit longer distance through RF. In doing so, we can get the signal transmitted across physical obstacles. 2. IR signals are used in various fields like IR cameras, spectroscopy and numerous other applications. The ability to transmit this signal effectively longer distance should mean a leap ahead.

Brief introduction to Remote Sensing Beyond Obstacles

Remote sensing devices are mainly used to detect the remote signals which are flashes of Infra red rays. The wavelength of Infra red ray varies from 8000Angstrom to 0.04 cm. The ray contains heat energy more than light energy. The conventional sources of IR are the Sun, extremely heated solid metals and IR lamps etc. Usually sued for cooking, heating and medication. More profound use, now-a-days, is for communication purpose. But the limitations of such transmission are evoked by long distance and opaque obstacles. Different types of sensors such as photo transistors, photo diodes and IR sensors of different characteristics are available. They transform the IR flashing into a pulse train of pulse width modulated signals. Each of these pulses is actually group of spikes integrated in the form of pulses. Different buttons of the handsets produces different pulse width modulated digital signals. Some sensors can cover a wide range of frequencies while others are limited of narrower bandwidth. The sensors possess a definite range of angles within which it can detect signals. The output of the sensors may be sine wave or pulse train. To transform the detected IR signal certain amplifications are necessary to feed the antenna that can transmit the signal beyond obstacles and to a desired distance. But due to power limitation the signal could not be transmitted through antenna. Moreover, recovery of original signal by RF antenna introduced inseparable noise which could not be reproduced after amplification and filtration.

An alternative was direct transmission through wires just after amplification stages. Since the pulse trains are actually integrated narrow spikes of frequency around 45.2kHz, it was necessary to introduce a carrier signal of the same frequency through an AND gate. Finally the output from AND gate was applied to the IR LED positioned in front of the appliance. Thus at low expense of power and economy, the limitation of distance and obstacles are overcome.

Present status and Future development

We had a limited time to work on this project. Working practically needs thorough involvement, checking-rechecking, supply of components needed along with proper counseling. Although we had a well-equipped lab support, we found it really hard to find out what we can use. The project had to be as cheap as possible. Nevertheless, we tried out a few things and at last were half successful.

Presently, we can transmit the remote signal through a pair of wires up to 15 feet and can make it work. We would be very pleased to complete the actual idea of transmission through RF. But our knowledge on that was, frankly speaking just not of any practical value. The size of the circuit is, to the best of our knowledge, the minimum. It cost only about $3. We are in search of suitable circuitry for the Radio transceiver and fulfill our work objective. A critical analysis of the circuit would be our next endeavor. To minimize the circuit, to improve its capability in terms of range and flexibility and with some outstanding idea may be someday, the work can become worthy of representation.