Nokia 61xx IRDA

The IrDA specification and it's supplements can be described as a construction set and divided into two levels of services. The base level service allows two IrDA devices to detect each other's presence and lock in. The equivalent of plugging in a cable to connect two devices. This link can then be used by higher level services and IrDA describes a number of them.  One of these higher level services is a printer service. Use a standard parallel printer cable and there's a separate line for the printer to signal to the computer that it's out of paper. This signal is replaced in the IrDA printing service by a message the printer can send to the computer. The printing service is defined in such a way that it looks just like a normal printer. So that you don't have to take special measures in your computer application to print via IrDA. 

There's also a higher level service for file transfer allowing you to shuttle files between devices. This one is more complicated, and a bit of a mess, because manufacturers wanted to have their earlier proprietary transfer mechanisms incorporated into the IrDA standard.  Nokia has implemented the base level service plus the high level printing service in the 61xx. This makes the 61xx IrDA compliant as printing works according the specification. While Nokia did not implement the file transfer service, and a number of others, as these are of no use. References to "full IrDA compliance" are therefore a bit silly. Though you can't blame people for not digging into all the IrDA documents. 

Now, you may ask "What about a high level GSM data communication service then?". Well ... there's no such thing within the IrDA documents. There is a new IrDA document called "Specifications for Ir Mobile Communications (IrMC)" which was accepted last September. However, IrMC deals with the exchange of: phone book or contact diary information, calendar information, alphanumeric messages, and  device information.  To which it adds object control interfaces for call control and the transfer of voice streams. Thus nothing about such data communication tasks a sending/receiving fax and e-mail or browsing the world wide web. In other words, the IrDA standard is incomplete when it comes to GSM phones.

However, this doesn't mean that it's impossible to build a phone that allows full data communication via IrDA. The Ericsson SH888 and Nokia 8810 prove that. There are two high level IrDA services you can use. One that allows a device to behave itself as if it is a modem. Plus a service that allows the Internet TCP/IP protocol to be run over IrDA. You're not finished then. It's all very well to behave as if you are a modem but you have to act as a modem as well. Not that there's signals to modulate and demodulate as GSM is a digital network. What you need to be is the intermediary between the computer and the GSM network. Translating computer data streams into GSM streams and vice versa. This is what all those PCMCIA data cards do and the SH888 and 8810 have the data card electronics and firmware built into the phone.

There you have the items distinguishing the 6110 (and the others) from the 8810.

1) There's no GSM data adapter built into the 61xx, and,

2) It therefore doesn't have the additionally required IrDA services implemented.   The 61xx belongs to the class of "data ready" phones that rely on an external GSM data adapter. Such adapters are in PC-Cards (PCMCIA) or, in the form of software, in the Nokia Cellular Data Suite. While the SH888 and 8810 belong to
the class of "data phones".

Thanks to Rolf Brunsting for this information.