The physical layer of the ISO/OSI model is the hardware. Hardware in the physical layer converts electrical signals into binary code, which is passed to the data-link layer. A Windows CE–based device can include the following hardware:
For more information on communicating using serial ports, see Serial Communications. For more information on infrared communications, see Serial Communications and Windows Sockets.
Wireless Services for Windows CE supports multiple service inputs to a Windows CE–based device using wireless hardware—typically a PC Card radio device. The wireless hardware device may be limited to receiving signals or transmitting a simple acknowldgement, or it may be a fully bidirectional device. For more information, see Wireless Services.