Abstract: An automatic and adaptive threshold setting circuit for an IR receiver is capable of operating over a broad range of frequencies and power levels. The adaptive threshold circuit allows a very sensitive threshold in environments where little sunlight or other ambient light reaches the receiver, but which will increase the threshold of the receiver when large amounts of ambient light fall on the photo diode. The circuit senses the current flowing through the reverse biased IR photo detector due to ambient light levels. This current measurement is used to adjust the sensitivity of the receiver.