(Post 21/10/2005)

If you are asked what is the most important invention of the 20th century, you will undoubtedly say “Computers”. In fact, computers have entered our lives to such an extent that we have started talking of computerized cars, telephones, refrigerators and even doors. You cannot imagine life without computers. However, setting up a computer system is a different story altogether. There are so many connections to be made that a novice can easily get confused with it.

The task becomes more tedious as the number of peripheral devices increases. If only we could eliminate the wires and still have the system working, surely everyone would wish for something like that. But where is the genie to make your wishes come true? Well, Bluetooth comes with a promise to do just that and more – eliminate all the cables (with the exception of the power cable of course).

The Bluetooth Technology was pioneered by Ericsson and promoted by a core team comprising of Intel, Nokia, IBM and Toshiba. This technology boasts of other technology giants like 3Com, Microsoft, Lucent, and Motorola as the new promoters. Ericsson formed a Special Interest Group whose members would embrace this new technology and work on it. Apart from the core members listed above, technology majors like Compaq, Dell, Axis Communication, Qualcomm and many others have adopted Bluetooth. Over 2100 companies across the world have adopted and agreed to work on Bluetooth. You can find the latest on Bluetooth at www.bluetooth.com, the official Bluetooth site. The core members have contributed to the technology by providing expertise in their field of competence.

Named after a Danish Viking and king Harald Blaatand “Bluetooth” II, Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology operating in the 2.4 Giga hertz ISM (Industrial Scientific Medical) band. The 2.4 GHz – 2.5 GHz band is a free band across the world with the exception of a few countries where parts of this band are used by the military and other specialized services. The microwave oven also operates in this band. Bluetooth is free from line of sight restrictions as required by infrared technologies. The signals can cross wall, bodies and other minor obstructions. The range of transmission is 10 meters, which can be extended to 100 meters. The gross data transfer rate is 1 Mbps. Power consumption in Bluetooth devices is minimal thereby extending battery life.

At least two Bluetooth enabled devices are required to establish a communication channel. Bluetooth devices in a range of 10 meters connect in an adhoc fashion to form a piconet (pi?ko?net). Multiple independent piconets in an area form a scatternet. Frequency hopping technique is used to avoid interference from other devices. The clock and hopping sequence of one device is used to synchronize all other devices in a piconet. The device whose clock and hopping sequence is used for this is called the master unit. Devices other than the master unit are known as slave units. A unique three-bit address, called the Mac address, is used to distinguish between units in a piconet. Some devices in a piconet are synchronized but remain with minimal activity. Such devices are said to be in sniff or parked mode. Up to seven devices can remain active in a piconet.

The technology can be incorporated in a variety of devices. Devices ranging from computers to PDA’s, cameras and cell phones can take advantage of this technology. One of the latest Bluetooth equipped devices is a pen. Characters written with this pen are identified automatically and transmitted to a computer. Among other promising applications is a hands free set for mobile phones. You can carry a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone in your pocket and still talk using the hands free set. Another implementation of Bluetooth is the automatic synchronizer. Imagine that you are on a scheduled business trip. One of the clients has cancelled the appointments. Your secretary makes changes to your schedule on her computer. This change is transmitted to your cell phone that updates your schedule on the laptop you are carrying with you. You are immediately updated about the change the next time you access your computer. Another interesting application is a Bluetooth enabled camera. With such a camera, you click a photograph miles away from your house. Using the Bluetooth technology, the camera transmits the photograph to your cell phone, which delivers the photograph to your family immediately on the computer. A cordless desktop is of course a wish come true. You just place the CPU, monitor, printer, mouse and keyboard together and they communicate with each other without any cable! The application of Bluetooth is limited only by ideas. Estimates predict 100 million mobile phones to be Bluetooth enabled by 2002. By the year 2005 there will be almost 650 million Bluetooth enabled devices !!!

So let us gear up and say yes to a cablefree world.

Rajeev Shukla
(Aptech Technology Group)