|
DEFINITION Bluetooth is a radio frequency it operates in the 2.4GHz band. It
is designed to be an inexpensive wireless personal networking system for portable
devices such as laptops, PDA`s (Personal digital assistants), mobile phones
and headsets. A device has to be Bluetooth enabled (i.e. contain a Bluetooth
chip) to be able to use a Bluetooth connection.
| HISTORY |
| Bluetooth
was first developed in Sweden, by Ericsson in 1994. The name comes
from King Harald "bluetooth" Blatand who ruled part of Scandinavia
in 960AD. He helped unite his part of the world and the idea is Bluetooth
will unite the mobile world. |
|
| RANGE |
| There
are 3 different power classes of Bluetooth. At 2.4GHz Bluetooth is
not a line of sight connection so it can be used through walls and
floors but the power is so low it is unlikely to do so if class 3! |
|
| Class
3 The lowest power, the max. range of this is 10m (30 feet) |
| This
what is used for headsets. |
|
| Class
2 Max range is about 50m (150ft) |
| Class
1 Max range is about 100m (300ft) |
|
| These
ranges can be affected by environmental conditions i.e. furniture,
walls, people so ranges can easily be reduced. The time slots can also
be occupied by DECT phones!! (Correct me if I am wrong!) |
|
| SPEED |
| Bluetooth
is faster than an ISDN connection but slower than a IR (infra red)
connection used on a laptop - a normal Bluetooth connection is about
the same speed as a home broadband connection. |
|
| SECURITY |
| It is
not true that all Bluetooth devices can connect to any other device
allowing the information on it to be browsed through. This cannot be
done without the user setting the device to do so. Bluetooth has various
security levels of authentication including pin code entry and up to
128-bit encryption. |
|
| PROFILES |
| Bluetooth
consists of a number of different profiles, which allow different devices
to communicate and exchange files, audio etc. Each device needs to
have a specific profile to allow communication with another device
with that profile e.g. a mobile phone needs the headset profile to
be able to use a Bluetooth headset. |
|
| Bluetooth
and WiFi |
| One key
difference between Bluetooth and other wireless technologies is that
it's designed as a short-range, low cost low power device. Bluetooth
is designed to let smaller, personal devices communicate wirelessly
getting rid of "cable clutter" by eliminating the wires. |
|
| In comparison,
802.11 (also called WiFi) is a long-rangeand allows connectivity to
a large network. WiFI 802.11 is popular in many companies, and even
in public locations known as "hotspots". |
|
