You're coming back home after a long, hard day. You've met some important people and entered notes about the meetings in your PDA. Now, you want to transfer the information to your PC. The traditional way to do this is to pull out the Hotsych cradle, connect the two together, and start the transfer…...

Consider this scenario instead - the moment you enter your room, you touch a button on your PDA, and the data gets transferred to your PC. NO physical connections, no need to start up synchronization software, not even the need to be near your PC. Wouldn't you like that? Say hello to

What Is Bluetooth?

• Bluetooth is a global de facto standard for wireless connectivity. Based on a low-cost, short-range radio link, Bluetooth cuts the cords that used to tie up digital devices.

• When two Bluetooth equipped devices come within 10 meters range of each other, they can establish a connection together. And because Bluetooth utilizes a radio-based link, it doesn't require a line-of-sight connection in order to communicate.

INTRODUCTION

The Bluetooth SIG• The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is an industry group, comprised of leaders in the telecommunications and computing industries that are driving development and promotion of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing it to market in a broad range of products.

•The SIG has over 2500 member companies worldwide.

• Bluetooth is an open standard. The Bluetooth standard is available royalty-free at the official Bluetooth website Bluetooth.com

Why Bluetooth? Bluetooth standard is aimed at achieving global acceptance such that any Bluetooth device, anywhere in the world, can connect to other Bluetooth devices in its proximity, regardless of brand. Bluetooth enabled electronic devices connect and communicate “wirelessly” via short-range, ad hoc networks called piconets. Each unit can simultaneously communicate with up to seven other units per piconet. Moreover, each unit can simultaneously belong to several piconets.

Ad hoc networking *These piconets are established dynamically and automatically as Bluetooth devices enter and leave the radio proximity.

*Since each Bluetooth device supports both point-to-point and point-to-multi-point connections, several piconets can be established and linked together ad hoc. The Bluetooth topology is best described as a multiple piconet structure.

In-home Bluetooth Network

Cordless PhoneRemote Speech recognitionCall by nameBuild shopping listsHome PBX

Personal display padShopping listsFast food orderingBook/News/Home PIM

Office LaptopConnect to office LANEmailHome Printer accessSurf from anywhereShare files

Main Home PC

Internet Service Pipe

3 cups flour3 cups flour1 cup grated chocolate1 cup grated chocolate1 cup sugar1 cup sugar1 stick butter1 stick butter1/2 cup chopped walnuts1/2 cup chopped walnutsminutes.minutes.

Fridge PadFamily CalendarRecipe DisplayBuild shopping listsVoice messagingIntercom

Family CarTrip Navigation downloadsDownload News/Entertainment

Bluetooth in Action

Bluetooth can give you a new kind of freedom. You might share information, synchronize data, access the Internet, integrate with LANs or even unlock your car - all by simply using your Bluetooth equipped mobile phone.

Bluetooth Features

Bluetooth uses a short-range (10 meters) radio link. The range can be increased to about 100 meters with boosters, which increase the power of the signals.

The gross data rate is about 1 Mbps Bluetooth uses the unlicensed ISM (Industrial,

Scientific and Medical) band (2.4 GHz). This makes Bluetooth-enabled products workable across the globe, eradicating compatibility issues.

Competing TechnologiesThere is no single competitor covering the entire concept of the Bluetooth wireless technology but in certain market segments other technologies exist.

IrDA

For cable replacement the infrared standard IrDA has been around for some years and is quite well known and widespread. IrDA is faster than the Bluetooth wireless technology but is limited to point-to-point connections and above all it requires a clear line-of-sight. In the past IrDA has had problems with incompatible standard implementations, a lesson that the Bluetooth SIG has learnt.

Wireless LAN

Wireless LANs based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. The technology is used to replace a wired LAN throughout a building. The transmission capacity is high and so is the number of simultaneous users. On the other hand, compared to Bluetooth wireless technology, it is more expensive and power consuming, and the hardware requires more space. It is therefore not suitable for small mobile devices.

Competing TechnologiesHome RF

The Home RF also uses the 2.4 GHz radio band and has many similarities to the Bluetooth wireless technology. Home RF can operate ad hoc networks (data only) or be under the control of a connection point coordinating the system and providing a gateway to the telephone network (data & voice). The hop frequency is 8 Hz while a Bluetooth link hops at 1600 Hz.

Ultra-Wideband Radio

Ultra-Wideband Radio (UWB) is a new radio technology still under development. Short pulses are transmitted in a broad frequency range. The capacity appears to be high while power consumption is expected to be low.

Peak Data Rate

Range Relative Cost

Voice network

support

Data network support

IEEE

802.11

2 Mbps

50m Medium Via IP TCP / IP

IrDA 16 Mbps

< 2m Low Via IP Via PPP

Bluetooth 1 Mbps

<10m Medium Via IP and cellular

Via PPP

Home RF 1.6 Mbps

50m Medium Via IP TCP / IP

IEEE 802.11a & 802.11b

Bluetooth

Time table Standards in 1998, Products in 2000

Standards in 2000,

Products in 2001/2002

Frequency band IEEE 802.11a-5GHz, IEEE 802.11b-2.4GHz

2.4 GHz

Speed 11 Mbps - 54 Mbps 1 – 2 Mbps

Distance coverage 802.11a- Upto 60 feet

802.11b- Upto 300 feet

Upto 30 feet

Market Penetration Quite widespread Just started in 2002

Interference Significant interference No interference

Cost Much more expensive Cheaper than WLANs

Security – How Much Is Too Much??

The Bluetooth system is intended to be used as a uniform interface to all of a person's information sources and will thus be expected to transfer sensitive personal data. Security of the data is thus an important issue.

Bluetooth devices are expected to be omnipresent and at some places the access to these devices by public users may have to be restricted. This calls for authentication procedures to be provided.

The scheme used by the Bluetooth standard to tackle these issues is referred to as the challenge response scheme.

The application may itself encrypt its data for added security. That can add to the safety of the data, but the most of the authentication is based on the link level security procedures.

The Dream

You enter a bus and your bus fare is automatically paid by your mobile phone

You could even use your mobile phone to control the locking and alarm on your car, as well as integrate it with the car's stereo so you can talk hands free while you are driving.