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Bluetooth - Beautiful and Simple Wireless Technology

By: John Hacking

    In 1994, a team of researcher from Ericsson Mobile, led by Dr. Jaap Haartsen and Dr. Sven Mattisson, did a feasibility study on low power wireless connectivity to eliminate cable, which later developed into Bluetooth technology in September 1998 by Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba were the founding members of SIG.

Technical Detail

Bluetooth uses short-range radio frequency (RF) technology to transmit voice and data that varies from 2.402 GHz. to 2.480 GHz, a frequency range reserved for medical, industrial and scientific devices. The effective range of the device is around 10 meters, whereas the high-powered Bluetooth will enable range of 100m. It is very unlike for interference from other radio frequency (RF) devices, because of the following reasons:

* It switches frequencies at the rate of 1600hops/sec.
* Data packets are very small.

Each Bluetooth enabled devices can communicate with up to seven other devices within its transmission radius.

Power consumption in Bluetooth is low as compared to the other devices such as Wi-Fi. Bluetooth radios draw 0.3mA in stand by mode and 30mA during the data transmission.

Bluetooth version 1.2 used to transmit 1 Mbit/s, whereas it increases significantly up to 3 Mbps in version 2.0. According to the new specification, Bluetooth 3.0 will adopt ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology. This will allow for a very fast data transfer of up to 480 Mbit/s.

How does it Work?
The electronic conversation happens automatically between the Bluetooth enabled devices that come within their range. Once the network is established and conversation takes place they create a Personal-Area Network (PAN), commonly known as Piconet. If you have several Bluetooth enabled components, e.g. mobile phone, personal computer, mouse and printer, each of them form their own Piconet. All of the devices have their own range of addresses. When a computer is turned on, it sends signals to the other devices requesting responses with an address. Since mobile phone has that address, it responds and establishes a network. Even though it receives signals from the other systems, it ignores it, as it does not belong to the same network. As we have discussed earlier, it is very unlikely that two networks will have the same frequency at the same time.

Bluetooth Applications
The applications of Bluetooth include:

* Wireless networking between computers

* Wireless communication between computer input and output devices

* Internet access computers and PDA using mobile phones

* Wireless control and communication between mobile phone and hands free headset.

Security

Wherever wireless connection is concerned, security is a major issue. Bluetooth operates on three different security models:

* Model 1: No security required, i.e. No Authorization or Authentication is required

* Model 2: Provide security in the Service Level once the channel is established, i.e. No Authorization is required, only Authentication is required

* Model 3: Provide security in the link level, before the channel is established, i.e. Both Authorization and Authentication are required.

While using Bluetooth if the user enables 'non-discoverable' mode, he will avoid connecting with other Bluetooth devices. There are three major threats involved using this technology:

* Bluejacking: Allow one Bluetooth user to send business card to other Bluetooth user within 10m. of radius

* Bluebugging: Allow hackers to access other's phone remotely and its feature.

* Car Whisper: Allow hackers to send audio to others and receive audio from others.

Using devices at home is a good way to avoid security breachs in public.

Conclusion

Bluetooth technology is already widely using in the industry as it has the ability to handle both voice and data transmission simultaneously. It is allowing the end users to enjoy a variety of technology innovation such as wireless printing and fax, hands-free headset, and synchronizing mobile and laptop. Future of the Bluetooth technology lies in providing quality of service, enabling high quality audio and video data transfer, providing greater bandwidth and greater distance in a highly secure environment.