Mobile infra-red communications system can sustain eight different conversations simultaneously

Designed to give personnel freedom to roam from their base positions, the robustly constructed Azdec system consists of a compact base station, a number of fixed infra-red antennas and a choice of headsets.
The new 8-channel configuration allows up to eight completely independent conversations to take place simultaneously, with operators either speaking to each other or linking into a central communications system via the Azdec base station.

Using the optional split-ear facility, an operator can even listen to different channels on each side of the headset, which could be a particularly important feature in an ATC environment. Other suitable applications for the 8-channel system include naval short-range communications and high-security control rooms.

Employing low-level infra-red digital encoding technology, the Azdec system poses no health or EMC hazard and is completely immune to electromagnetic interference – even severe energy pulses. Since the envelope of reception is well defined and there are no radio-frequency emissions, it is impossible to detect the signals by any conventional method.