Glossary and terms

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Here we explain and define some of the used terms. In most cases (but not all!), this correspond to established usage in the Internet, e.g. in the JP1 forum. It should also be pointed out that in some cases, in particular when comparing previous programs to my own, the assessment may be considered subjective.

AMX Beacon
Arduino
Capturing
CCF (signal format)
Ir signal format. Not to be confused with the ccf file format of the Pronto Classic remotes! Often called "hex" or "Pronto". Normally given as a sequence of four-digit hexadecimal numbers. For the meaning, see TODO. Is a very popular format, e.g. for the exchange over internet forums.
ccf file format
Not to be confused with the CCF signal format! Configuration file format for the Pronto Classic. File extension ccf. Can be edited by the ProntoEdit program. Has been completely reverse engineered, and the open-source program Tonto is able both to interactivelly edit them, as well as non-interactivelly through an API. IrScrutinizer can import and export ccf files, using the said API.
Consumer IR (CIR)
Consumer IR deals with IR control of various devices. Wikipedia article. Not to be confused with IRDA.
Cleansed signal
Given a capured IR sequence, using the repeat finder, the analyzer removes all occurances of the repeat sequence but one, and replaces numerically close durations to one value.
Command
Here, an IR signal with a name, like "Play".
CVS (comma separated values)
Primitive data base format, one record consisting of one line, the entries separated from one another by a comma (,) (or sometimes another character). File extension .csv. Can be read directly by a spreadsheet program.
Decode
Given an IrSequence or an IrSignal, a decode is a protocol, together with parameter values, that are compatible with the given IrSequence/IrSignal, i.e. could be that protocol/parameters. Note that the determination is governed by numerical uncertainties, so that small deviations from the perfect signal are accepted. Furthermore, one signal/sequence may have none. one, or more decodes.
DecodeIR
Shared library for the decoding of IrSequences. Originally written by John Fine, used by several widely spread programs.
Device Number
See protocol parameters.
Device Type
Class of components, like TV, VCR, Satellite receiver, etc.
Duty Cycle
The percentage of the time the the modulation pulse is on. Typically slightly less than 50%.
Ending sequence
See IrSignal.
ExchangeIR
Library for IR signal analysis and exchange by Graham Dixon. Licensed under the GPL3 license. For the present project, the interesting parts are the Analyzer, the repeat finder, and functions for the UEI learned format. These parts has been translated to Java by myself: API documentation, source.
Flash
Period of time when the IR light is "on", or flashed with the selected modulation frequency. See IrSequence.
Gap
Period of time when the IR light is off. See IrSequence.
Generating, sometimes called rendering
The process of evaluating an IrProtocol for a particular parameter value, rendering an IrSignal.
Girr (Generic IR Remote)
A general XML-based exchange formats for IR Signals. Really a container format that can contain any of the CCF, raw format, protocol/parameter format, as well as other text formats like Global Caché sendir and UEI learned format. For a full description, see the full documentation.
Global Caché
http://www.globalcache.com/
IR (Infrared light)
According to Wikipedia, infrared light are light (electromagnetic radiation) of wavelength between 700nm and 1mm. For control of consumer electronics (CIR), according to Wikipedia, wavelengths around 870 nm and 930-950 nm (latter preferred), in comparision to IrDA (850-900nm) are used. Almost always generated by an IR LED.
IrpMaster
A program and API library for rendering IRP protocols version 2. See its documentation. Comes with a powerful (but slightly hard to use) command line interface. For GUI usage, see IrMaster of IrScrutinizer.
(IR) Protocol
An algorithm for turning a number of parameters into an IR signal. It defines the necessary parameters and their allowed values. In almost all protocols, the most frequently changing parameter is called "F" (function number). Almost all protocols have a "device number" called "D". Many protocols have a "sub-device" number, called "S". A few protocols have a toggle parameter, in general called "T", and being persistant. A protocol may also have other parameters, with "arbitrary" names.
IRP Notation
Compact, slightly cryptical, notation for defining an IrProtocol. Defined here.
IrScope
Program that accompanies the IrWidget, also by Kevin Timmerman. An alternative is IrScrutinizer.
Ir Sequence
Sequence of time duration, in general in expressed microseconds, together with a modulation frequency. The even numbered entries normally denote times when the IR light is on (modulated), called "flashes", the other denote off-periods "gaps".
Ir Signal
Consists of three IR sequences, called
  1. start sequence (or "intro", or "beginning sequence"), sent exactly once at the beginning of the transmission of the IR signal,
  2. repeat sequence, sent "while the button is held down", i.e. zero or more times during the transmission of the IR signal (although some protoocols may require at least one copy to be transmitted),
  3. ending sequence, sent exactly once at the end of the transmission of the IR signal, "when the button has been released". Only present in a few protocols.
Any of these (but not all) can be empty.
IrToy
IrTrans
IrWidget
Modulation frequency
During the "on" periods, the IR light is not just constantly on, but "flashed" on and off at a frequency called the modulation frequency, typically between 36kHz to 40kHz, in some cases higher (up to 56kHz), or much higher (455kHz, Bang & Olufsen equipment). This reduces noise sensitivity and power consumption, and also allows higher currents throught the IR LED (that thus does not have to be able to survive the high current continuously). Also see Duty cycle.
Toggle
Persistant variable in an IrProtocol, in general toggling between 0 and 1, between different invocations. I.e., if the first invocation has the toggle value 0, all even invocations will have the value 1 of the toggle, all even the value 0, independent of the number of repeat sequences. Also see protocol parameters.
Persistant variable
A persistant variable in an Ir protocol may, but need not, be given a value before generating. If not, it retains its value from previous invocation, or, for the first invocation, has a default value.
Raw IR sequence/signal
A raw Ir Sequence is a sequence of (in general) measured on-off durations. It may or may not have one or many decodes, but these are considered to be secondary; its is defined by its numeric time durations. Often written with signs: a "+" indicates a flash, a "-" indicates a gap.
Parametric IR signal
An Ir Signal given as a protocol and a parameter assignment to its parameters. Of course, a renderer may compute the numerical Ir Sequences, but these are considered secondary, it is defined by its protocol and parameters values.
MakeHex
A successor to IrpMaster. Adheres to an earlier version ("Version 1") of the IRP Notation. Neither a GUI nor a command line interface are present; the parameters are given to the program by editing the data base files. A Java version exists, which has a command line interface, available here.
Java
Protocol Parameters
See IR Protocol.
Original Button Code
Synonym for function number.
Function Number
See protocol parameters.
Subdevice Number
See protocol parameters.
scrutinize
To examine in detail with careful or critical attention.
IrDA
IrDA is a method for data exchange between PCs and portable devices. It is no longer to be considered as state-or-the-art, and has been almost completely replaced by Bluetooth and WiFi. Many devices with IrDA hardware is still around, but it is, with few exceptions, unsuitable for consumer IR.
IR LED (light emitting diode)
Semiconductor component capable of sending light with the desired IR wavelength. A typical representative is the Osram SFH 4512.
Start sequence
See IrSignal.
Repeat sequence
See IrSignal.
Pronto frequency code
The second number in the CCF representation. For f in Herz, this is the four-digit hexadecimal number given as 1000000/(f*0.241246). It can be conveniently computed by the Time/Frequency Calculator in IrScrutinizer, available under the Tools menu.
UEI learned format
Pronto Classic
Family of advanced touch-screen remote controls. Manufactured by Philips 19xx-19yy. TODO. Consists of the models TS1000, TSU2000, TSU6000, RC5000, RC5000i, RC5200, RC9200, RU890, RU940, RU970, USR5, RAV2K, RAV2KZ1. Configurable/programmable by a GUI program "ProntoEdit", as well as the open-source program Tonto.
Pronto New Generaton
Later generation of Pronto touch screen programmable remotes. Uses the pcf format as their configurations. Can be read by ProntoEditNG.
Pronto Professional (*.xcf configuration files)
Later generation of Pronto touch screen programmable remotes. Uses the xcf format as their configurations. Consists of the models TSU9800, TSU9600, TSW9500, TSU9400, TSU9300, TSU9200, TSU9500 (Philips) and RC9001 (Marantz).
pcf file format
Like the xcf format, this is a ZIP file containig an XML file with the real payload, and a number of icon files. Unfortunataly, the enclosed IR signals are in the PCF format, thus possible to decrypt only by the ProntoEditNG program.
xcf configuration file
Configuration file format for the Pronto Professional line of remotes. Consists of a ZIP file containing one configuration file in XML-format, as well as a number of supplementary icon images. The XML file is very easy to understand (for programmers!), and can contain IR signals in different formats, like CCF format (usable!) and PCF format (encrypted, thus not usable).
PCF
Ir signal format, not to be confused with the pcf file format of the Pronto NG remotes! This is a proprietary and encrypted form of IR signals. As fas as I am aware, it is presently not known how to decode this representation.
ProntoEdit
Windows program for programming the Pronto remotes. Exists in different versions for different Pronto series. Available for download at RemoteCentral.
protocols.ini
Repeat finder
Class in ExchangeIr (function in the original version) that from an IR sequence numerically tries to identify the intro-, repeat-, and ending sequence that has generated the impit sequence.
RemoteMaster
rmdu file
JP1
LIRC
Mode2 (LIRC) format/program
Remote
A collection of commands with unique names.
properties (of an interactive program)
The part of the program's state saved between sessions for each user; saved to disk.
sendir (Global Caché) format
TVS (tab separated values)
Primitive data base format, on record consisting of one line, the entries separated from one another by a tab character (ASCII character 9). File extension .tsv (or other). Can be read directly by a spreadsheet program.
XML
wave file format
XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations)
XSLT is an XML language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents, HTML-pages, or plain text. See the Wikipedia article. The programs here use only XSLT version 1.0.