RC-5 - Protocol Details

Protocol Details

The basics of the protocol are well known. The handset contains a keypad and a transmitter integrated circuit (IC) driving an IR LED. The command data is a Manchester coded bitstream modulating a 36 kHz carrier. (Often the carrier used is 38 kHz or 40 kHz, apparently due to misinformation about the actual protocol.) The IR signal from the transmitter is detected by a specialized IC with an integral photo-diode, and is amplified, filtered, and demodulated so that the receiving device can act upon the received command. RC-5 only provides a one-way link, with information traveling from the handset to the receiving unit.

The command comprises 14 bits:

• A start bit, which is always logic 1 and allows the receiving IC to set the proper gain.
• A field bit, which denotes whether the command sent is in the lower field (logic 1 = 0 to 63 decimal) or the upper field (logic 0 = 64 to 127 decimal). The field bit was added later by Philips when it was realized that 64 commands per device were insufficient. Previously, the field bit was combined with the start bit. Many devices still use this original system.
• A control bit, which toggles with each button press. This allows the receiving device to distinguish between two successive button presses (such as "1", "1" for "11") as opposed to the user simply holding down the button and the repeating commands being interrupted by a person walking by, for example.
• A five-bit system address, that selects one of 32 possible systems.
• A six-bit command, that (in conjunction with the field bit) represents one of the 128 possible RC-5 commands.

The 36 kHz carrier frequency was chosen to render the system immune to interference from TV scan lines. Since the repetition of the 36 kHz carrier is 27.778 μs and the duty factor is 25%, the carrier pulse duration is 6.944 μs. Since the high half of each symbol (bit) of the RC-5 code word contains 32 carrier pulses, the symbol period is 64 x 27.778 μs = 1.778 ms, and the 14 symbols (bits) of a complete RC-5 code word takes 24.889 ms to transmit. The code word is repeated every 113.778 ms (4096 / 36 kHz) as long as a key remains pressed. (Again, please note that these timings are not strictly followed by all manufacturers, due to a lack of widespread distribution of accurate information on the RC-5 protocol.)