A few years ago I first heard of the name Bluetooth . Along with the interesting name, a “futuristic” scenario was embossed in my memory whereby a cell phone would communicate with one’s fridge at home and then notify the owner that the milk-supply was running low. This may seem a little far-fetched but it may very well be a reality and a standard in a few decades. Bluetooth’s primary purpose is to enable short-range wireless voice and data communications anywhere in the world. The way Bluetooth actually works by allowing users to connect to a wide range of telecommunication and computer devices without cables, namely mobile phones, portable computers, personal handheld devices, as well as connection to the Internet (bluetooth.com, ‘how it works’). In the following, I will fur

Bluetooth is a technology that incorporates advanced microchips and radio transceivers to create a wireless network between electronic devices. Not only is Bluetooth wireless, but it is also automatic. This means that any Bluetooth device can communicate with another Bluetooth device by automatically recognizing all the devices in the vicinity. For example, the process of configuring one’s scanner or printer will be much easier and in most cases totally automatic. For instance, your Bluetooth wireless headset will work with your Bluetooth mobile phone as well as your laptop. In many parts of the world the telecommunications are highly regulated. The radio frequency spectrum often requires a license, in fact my Panasonic 2.4GHz phone has a sticker on the back that says “Caution: The base unit may be installed indoors, otherwise, a license is required!”. However, Bluetooth technology works at 2.4GHz radio frequency band which is globally available and license-free. So, devices that have a Bluetooth chip can be used anywhere in the world and without the need for modifications. This band is divided into 1MHz-spaced channels where the data is transmitted in packets one after another and every new packet is sent through a different frequency. This is called FHSS – Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum. If a packet transmission is compromised on one channel then the re-transmission will always occur on a new, hopefully clean channel with each Bluetooth time slot per packet is equal to 625 microseconds. Along with frequency hopping the interference with other Bluetooth devices is prevented by a Personal-area Network (PAN) or piconet (Franklin, ‘Avoiding Interference’). In addition every Bluetooth device has an address assigned to it which is used in forming the piconet. Each address is unique and part of certain initially established piconets. If another Bluetooth device happens to be on the same frequency channel, the signal will be ignored since it’s not part of the same network. There are up to 1600 hops per second so when the device interferes with another on the same frequency it will only occur for a fraction of a second. The Bluetooth design allows for a Master device to simultaneously control up to 7 active Slave devices in a piconet (http://www.bluetooth.com/dev/specifications.asp). A Master of one piconet can be a Slave in another, known as a scatternet allowing for up to 10 piconets to be connected. The Master can also send a command to park or unpark the slave and while one Slave is parked another one can be utilized through swapping active and parked Slaves allowing for up to 255 to be connected (bluetooth.com/pdf/Bluetooth_11_Specifications_Book.pdf, page 117). Networks typically communicate either in one direction at a time called asynchronous communic

Some topics in this essay:
Bray Sturman, Miller Bisdikian, Network PAN, , PC’s PDA’s, Bluetooth Infrared, Ideally Bluetooth, Spread Spectrum, Cahners In-Stat, Miller Michael, bluetooth technology, mobile phone, bray sturman page, bray sturman, sturman page, mobile phones, bluetooth device, digital cameras, muller page, frequency hopping, electronic devices, miller bisdikian page, ‘how bluetooth works’, bluetooth products available, bluetooth design allows,