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What
is Bluetooth? Think of it as an eighteen-wheeler
screaming down the pike, carrying the future of
computing with it. The driver is friendly. You
can stick out your thumb and hitch a ride, or
be left in the dust. Bluetooth is a developing,
world wide, open, short-range radio specification
focused on communication between the Internet
and Net devices, plus it defines communication
protocols between devices and computers. To be
Bluetooth certified, a device must pass interoperability
testing by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group
(SIG), thus assuring that products meeting the
specification will be able to interact with all
other Bluetooth-certified products and with the
Internet. The five founding members of the Bluetooth
SIG are Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba.
On December 1, 1999, the founding members announced
that 3COM, Lucent, Microsoft, and Motorola have
joined the founders to form the Promoter Group
with the founding companies. To date, more than
1,200 companies have signed on. Picture the spaghetti
of wires connecting peripherals to a PC, and the
PC to the Net, and then imagine them gone. Nice
image, isn't it? The technology of Bluetooth is
centered around a 9mm x 9mm microchip, which functions
as a low cost and short range radio link. It provides
security for both stationary and mobile devices.
The basic function is to provide a standard wireless
technology to replace the multitude of propriety
cables currently linking computing devices. Better
than the image of the spaghetti-free computer
system is the ability of the radio technology
to network when away from traditional networking
structures, such as a business intranet. Even
better is the ability to network on an ad hoc
basis. For example, imagine being on a business
trip with a laptop and a phone. Bluetooth technology
allows interfacing the two. Then, picture meeting
a client and transferring files without cabling
or worrying about protocols. That is what Bluetooth
will do.
The
name game: whose teeth are blue?
After exhaustive research (and more importantly,
a friend who just happened on the information),
the etymology of the name Bluetooth can be reported
here. It comes from a tenth century Scandinavian
king, Harald Bluetooth, who managed to unite several
unruly kingdoms. Thus, Bluetooth is a reference
to the taming of a myriad of unruly competing
standards by defining one world-wide specification.
Overview
of Bluetooth characteristics
These are the features of the Bluetooth technology:
- It
separates the frequency band into hops. This
spread spectrum is used to hop from one channel
to another, which adds a strong layer of security.
- Up
to eight devices can be networked in a piconet.
- Signals
can be transmitted through walls and briefcases,
thus eliminating the need for line-of-sight.
- Devices
do not need to be pointed at each other, as
signals are omni-directional.
- Both
synchronous and asynchronous applications are
supported, making it easy to implement on a
variety of devices and for a variety of services,
such as voice and Internet.
- Governments
worldwide regulate it, so it is possible to
utilize the same standard wherever one travels.
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