IrDA(TM) (Infrared Data Association) is an industry standard for
wireless, infrared communication between devices. IrDA speeds range
from 9600 bps to 4 Mbps, and IrDA can be used by many modern devices
including laptops, LAN adapters, PDAs, printers, and mobile phones.

The Linux-IrDA project is a GPL'd implementation, written from
scratch, of the IrDA protocols. Supported IrDA protocols include
IrLAP, IrLMP, IrIAP, IrTTP, IrLPT, IrLAN, IrCOMM and IrOBEX.

The irda-utils package contains a collection of programs that enable
the use of IrDA protocols. Most IrDA features are implemented in the
kernel, so IrDA support must be enabled in the kernel before any IrDA
tools or programs can be used. Some configuration outside the kernel
is required, however, and some IrDA features, like IrOBEX, are
actually implemented outside the kernel.