Sharla Chang

Todd deFluiter

ENGR 357L

LAB 15: IR Communictaion

Introduction
The purpose of this lab was to explore infrared (IR) communications with a goal of
transmitting an audio signal from a source to a speaker via an IR link.
Lab Procedure & Analysis
The overall idea of this lab was to have an audio signal passed into a voltage controlled
oscillator (VCO), which would then be sent to an IR emitter, sending pulses picked up by its
receiving counterpart. From here, the signal should go to a phase-locked loop (PLL), which we
should demodulate the transmitted signal, giving us our original audio signal, which if (most
likely) desired, could then be amplified, and then output to a loudspeaker.
For the VCO (as well as the PLL), the center frequency needed to be picked to choose
capacitors and resistors. This was done with the help of Figure 5 in the datasheet of the
CD4046BC Micropower Phase Lock Loop. Initially, we planned for a 15V power supply with a
10k resistor, giving us a center frequency of f0 = 200kHz.
For the IR part of the circuit, to limit the current and to avoid breaking our IR emitters
and receivers, we put a 51 resistor in series with the emitter and used the IR receiver with a
110 resistor to make a voltage divider. Up to this point, our signal was being sent across the IR
link, and could be read on the oscilloscope. This signal, shown below, was being sent to the PLL,

Figure 1: Output of IR receiver being sent to PLL

which should demodulate the signal, which could then be sent to a loudspeaker. Unfortunately,
the PLL stage of our IR communication circuit failed to operate properly

Sharla Chang
Todd deFluiter

ENGR 357L

LAB 15: IR Communictaion

Conclusion
In the process of doing this lab, we were successful in getting our signal across the IR
link, however had issues with demodulating it with the PLL. In further working on this lab, we
might decide to bias our PLL as our signal was offset by about 3V. Another possibility would be
to use 5V as a power supply throughout the entire circuit. The problem with this, however, leads
to a reduced signal that is even harder to work with.