Fun Fact
“Bluetooth” refers to Harald Blatland, the 10th-century Danish king who unified the Danes and Norwegians.
How Bluetooth Works
Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range communications system intended to replace the cables connecting portable and/or fixed electronic devices. The key features of Bluetooth wireless technology are robustness, low power, and low cost. Many features of the core specification are optional, allowing product differentiation.
The Bluetooth core system consists of an RF transceiver, baseband, and protocol stack. The system offers services that enable the connection of devices and the exchange of a variety of data classes between these devices.
About Bluetooth
-Bluetooth wireless technology is geared towards voice and data applications
-Bluetooth wireless technology operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum
-Bluetooth wireless technology can operate over a distance of 10 meters or 100 meters depending on the Bluetooth device class. The peak data rate with EDR is 3 Mbps
-Bluetooth wireless technology is able to penetrate solid objects
-Bluetooth technology is omni-directional and does not require line-of-sight positioning of connected devices
-The cost of Bluetooth chips is under $3
Bluetooth Security
Developers that use Bluetooth wireless technology in their products have several options for implementing security. And there are three modes of security for Bluetooth access between two devices.
•Security Mode 1: non-secure (Services that are open to all devices)
•Security Mode 2: service level enforced security (Services that require authentication only)
•Security Mode 3: link level enforced security(Services that require authorization and authentication)
***Problems with Bluetooth security, such as with cell phones, are the result of implementation issues. The encryption algorithm for Bluetooth is secure.***
Comparison with other technology
Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)
• Bluetooth technology costs a third of Wi-Fi to implement
• Bluetooth technology uses a fifth of the power of Wi-Fi
Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and Certified Wireless USB
• UWB technology for Personal Area Networks offers a unique combination of low power consumption (~1mW/Mbps) and high data throughput (up to 480 Mbps).
• While Wireless USB has initially utilized UWB technology, it is expected that the Bluetooth high speed solution will not suffer the same performance and interoperability issues due to the specification development and qualification process employed by the Bluetooth SIG (Bluetooth Special Interest Group)