Short for
Infrared Data Association, a group of
device manufacturers that developed a
standard for transmitting
data via infrared light waves. Increasingly,
computers and other devices (such as
printers) come with IrDA
ports. This enables you to transfer data from one device to another without any cables. For example, if both your
laptop computer and printer have IrDA ports, you can simply put your computer in front of the printer and
output a
document, without needing to connect the two with a cable.
IrDA ports support roughly the same transmission rates as traditional parallel ports. The only restrictions on their use is that the two devices must be within a few feet of each other and there must be a clear line of sight between them.
