Bluetooth Technology in Your Life Essay

Abstract

Since its appearance in the year 1998, Bluetooth has offered the globe a low power, short-range wireless link, which unites hundreds of gadgets existing in the personal area network space. This paper speculates on the topic of Bluetooth wireless technology.

It explains the applications of Bluetooth, describes its abilities for people in all spheres of life, including sport, security, healthcare, entertainment and so on. Clarification of troubles faced by users, when applying Bluetooth, and certain resolution for these problems are also provided in the essay.

Introduction

Recently, the wireless connectivity has become an active sphere of study as people have observed numerous administrative and industry ideas, study efforts and standard activities, which have aimed at allowing wireless and mobile networking approaches (Haartsen, Naghshineh, Inouye, Joeressen, & Allen, 1998). Consequently, nowadays, people have a varied set of wireless access technologies from satellite networks to many cellular systems (Haartsen et al., 1998).

Since its appearance in the year 1998, Bluetooth has offered the globe a low power, short-range wireless link, which will unite hundreds of gadgets existing in the personal area network space (Johnson 2004). This paper is meant to explain the applications of Bluetooth and describe its opportunities for people in all spheres of life, including sport, security, healthcare, and entertainment.

Bluetooth Technology

The Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology that is an international specification for short-range radio that creates a connection between electronic gadgets (Erasala & Yen, 2002). It has been created to substitute wire cables, such as between computer and peripherals, or mobile phone and hands-free headset (Guerin, Kim & Sarkar, 2002).

Organizations, which produce computers and other gadgets have understood that the huge amount of dissimilar connectors and cables involved in their goods make it extremely complicated for even experienced technicians to properly set up the entire system right the first time (Erasala & Yen, 2002). To make all these systems, computers, and electronic devices more user-friendly, there was a strong necessity for a better way for all gadgets to communicate with one another (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Moreover, it is a technology specification that defines how electronic devices may be connected with the help of low-power, short-range wireless links (Erasala & Yen, 2002). Bluetooth applies frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) communication in the 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band, in which unlicensed gadgets are enabled to communicate in the majority of states internationally (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

It should be mentioned that Bluetooth (Ericsson trademark) takes its name from Harald Bla˚tland (Bluetooth), a Danish king born in AD 908, who united his nation under Christianity (Erasala & Yen, 2002). An Ericsson-led conglomerate, comprising Intel, IBM, Nokia, and Toshiba, have evolved the Bluetooth technology (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

The other group, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), was then created to advance the technology (Erasala & Yen, 2002). It comprised of 1371 member firms in January 2000. The initial group declared in the year 2000 that the founding organizations plus 3Com, Microsoft, Lucent Technologies, and Motorola would create the Promoter Group of the Bluetooth SIG to lead the SIG’s efforts (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready

Bluetooth Smart (Sensor-Type Devices): Bluetooth Smart gadgets are, in fact, sensor-type devices, which are applied to gather a specific piece of information (Gupta, 2013). After gathering the data, the electronic mechanisms send it to the Bluetooth Smart Ready gadgets (Gupta, 2013).

Bluetooth Smart gadgets embrace only one mode LE radio and are expected to consume extremely low power (Gupta, 2013). The examples of these electronic devices are heart rate monitors, sports equipment, thermometers, and so on (Gupta, 2013). These gadgets gather a certain piece of data like heart rate or temperature and relay it to the Bluetooth Smart Ready mechanisms (Gupta, 2013). Bluetooth Smart label was created to brand qualified mechanisms to meet three major requirements:

• Conform to Bluetooth 4.0 or higher with GATT based architecture;
• Embrace single-mode LE radio;
• Apply GATT based architecture to facilitate certain functionality (Gupta, 2013).

Bluetooth Smart Ready (Hubs)

Bluetooth Smart Ready mechanisms are the gadgets receiving information sent from the conventional Bluetooth and Bluetooth Smart gadgets and passing it to the applications, which make use of those data (Gupta, 2013). The applications could be working on the devices themselves or running anywhere else on the web (Gupta, 2013).

These mechanisms realize the dual-mode radio and link to the BR/EDR as well as the Bluetooth Smart gadgets (Gupta, 2013). They have only one Bluetooth address, which is applied for both the BR/EDR and the LE radios (Gupta, 2013). The instances are tablets, phones, PCs, and so on.

Bluetooth Smart Ready label was evolved to brand qualified gadgets to come up to the following three requirements:

• Conform to Bluetooth 4.0 or higher with GATT based architecture;
• Embrace Dual-mode radio;
• Offer a means by which the user may select to update the functionality of a Bluetooth Smart mechanism on a Bluetooth Smart Ready mechanism. For instance, if a person purchases a new Bluetooth Smart electronic device, then a new software may be installed on the smartphone to communicate (Gupta, 2013).

Hardware and Software

Bluetooth technology embraces both the hardware and the software elements. The radio emits and obtains data through the antenna and the air boundary. The chip embraces a digital signal microprocessor, which is an element of the baseband (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

The major tasks of the baseband are piconet and device control, such as frequency-hopping sequence selection and timing, connection creation, modes of operation and secure operation, and medium access functions like packet types, polling, packet processing and link types (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

These hardware parts are applied for:

• Host controller, which is a computer to control the higher-level code;
• Link control processor, which runs as a minimum at the inferior layer of a stack. It can be mixed with the host controller in fixed applications;
• Baseband controller, which is a block to monitor RF transceiver;
• RF front end consisting of antenna filter and transmit or receive switch;
• RF transceiver comprising RF synthesizer, clock recovery, filter, VCO, mixers, and data detector;
• An antenna that can be either internal or exterior, built-in on the PCB, or an OEM third-party element (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

The software comprises the protocol stack. Broadcom offers WIDCOMM Bluetooth software for built-in systems, Windows, and Windows-CE. All WIDCOMM software offers mere incorporation, strong diagnostics, and the shortest time to market (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Network Architecture

The connection among Bluetooth electronic devices is usually peer-to-peer with every device recognized as equal (Erasala & Yen, 2002). Nevertheless, when two or more gadgets connect into a tiny ad hoc network piconet, one of them works as a master, and the others are slaves during the entire connection (Erasala & Yen, 2002). All the gadgets are synchronized to the hopping sequence and master’s clock.

Piconet begins with two linked gadgets, for instance, a portable computer and a phone, and can be increased to embrace up to eight electronic devices (Erasala & Yen, 2002). People have an option of setting up the Bluetooth gadgets to automatically link to another Bluetooth gadget when it is within range (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Bluetooth also enables setting up automatic information synchronization between gadgets, such as music, videos, and so on (Erasala & Yen, 2002). Because Bluetooth supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links, piconets may be united together into scatter nets, which embrace two or more piconets linked together by one device (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Bluetooth and its Numerous Opportunities

Bluetooth technology provides the homeowners with the best way to control lights, household appliances, monitor temperature, window and door locks, security systems, and many other units (Bluetooth, the official site). Due to Bluetooth technology, it is possible to control everything in the house, from the baby’s room temperature to household security.

Daily tasks may be simplified with alerts sent to a home computer or smartphone. Also, Bluetooth technology offers homeowners an opportunity to use energy more efficiently. This system provides secure wireless communication, which guarantees precise control of electricity meters, home heating, and devices – so users reduce costs when appliances are not used (Bluetooth, the official site).

Today, home is the center of the digital world, and Bluetooth technology makes it far more comfortable than it was before (Guerin, Kim & Sarkar, 2002). Wireless technology and devices make easier to listen to music, play games, watch television and keep all the members of the family entertained (Guerin, Kim & Sarkar, 2002).

Current home entertainment atmosphere is filled with wireless technology, much of it with complicated control options that 99% of people have no idea how to install or use (Erasala & Yen, 2002). Complicated links among gadgets make it complicated to obtain entire benefit from a synchronized home entertainment system (Erasala & Yen, 2002). Beginning with the entire control over the home, Bluetooth technology allows achieving consumer satisfaction (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Due to Bluetooth, people adjust their music library to their preferences. Bluetooth provides music players with the capability to wirelessly stream music to other connected gadgets equipped with the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, embracing speakers, car stereo systems, headphones, PCs, phones, and other players (Bluetooth, the official site).

Some companies are even inserting the technology into a motorcycle, bicycle, snowboard, and other helmets, which have integrated headphones (Bluetooth, the official site). The most popular Bluetooth technology music use case is that of applying wireless headphones or speakers to listen to songs on a phone or an MP3 player (Bluetooth, the official site).

Obviously, due to the number of gadgets in the house, the problem of interference increases. Baby monitors, cordless phones, and garage door openers can interfere with one another (Bluetooth, the official site). One of the methods Bluetooth gadgets prevent interference is by sending really weak signals (1 mW) (Bluetooth, the official site).

The low power restricts the range of a gadget to nearly 10 m, lessening the chances of interference between itself and other gadgets (Bluetooth, the official site). Nevertheless, the low power is strong enough to go through the walls, hence, making it practical for controlling a few devices in the house.

Even with several devices in one room, it is doubtful that they will be on one frequency as that of a spread-spectrum frequency-hopping approach applied by Bluetooth at the same time (Erasala & Yen, 2002). As transmitters modify frequency 1600 times each second, gadgets have an opportunity to use restricted part of the radio spectrum (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Moreover, as each transmitter applies spread-spectrum transmitting repeatedly, the possibility of interference is greatly lessened (Erasala & Yen, 2002). The same approach lows the risk that portable phones or baby monitors can interrupt Bluetooth gadgets as any interference on a certain frequency will last just a fraction of a second (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Bluetooth technology also helps drivers drive safely. Nearly 11% of drivers are talking over the phone in a car, making it the most usual secondary task humans perform while driving (Bluetooth, the official site). However, they have to be responsible for any consequences when they use phones while driving. Drivers should stay focused on the road. Bluetooth technology allows drivers to have hands on the wheel while talking.

This is a great opportunity to answer and make calls without even touching the phone (Bluetooth, the official site). Some have so-called voice recognition. Hence, there is no need to touch the phone, making the technology hands-free. Moreover, the majority of automobiles today offer a Bluetooth hands-free system as a standard or an optional application (Bluetooth, the official site).

Bluetooth in the Sphere of Healthcare

Bluetooth has already become the de facto standard for health and fitness gadgets (Hunn, 2009). Whether that is a defibrillator, a heart rate belt, a weight scale, a glucose meter, or a Wii Fit Balance Board, companies have been enthusiastic in opting Bluetooth to resolve their connectivity matters (Hunn, 2009).

In total, more than 20 million Bluetooth health and fitness gadgets have been sold from hundreds of dissimilar companies (Hunn, 2009). That success may be explained by the numerous benefits, which other wireless technologies cannot provide (Hunn, 2009). These advantages are:

• Nearly no interference;
• The leader in the class security;
• Low power consumption;
• A RANDZ license-free regime;
• Low cost;
• Support from more than 11,000 member firms (Hunn, 2009).

The low energy will enable a new generation of battery-powered health and fitness gadgets to link directly to Internet applications (Hunn, 2009). With the help of the power of the scale and customer reach of the mobile networks and handset producers, Bluetooth has the potential to bring health monitoring to the entire world (Hunn, 2009).

By facilitating the link to the web as well as using the ubiquity of phones and the web, it will also give developers (doctors, researchers, or enthusiasts within support groups) the chance to develop software and Internet applications, which help people be healthier (Hunn, 2009). It is a way to global, tied healthcare.

Bluetooth Security

Because radio signals may be simply interrupted, Bluetooth gadgets offer the included security technology, embracing encryption and authentication to avert eavesdropping or fixing the source of messages (Erasala & Yen, 2002). As for the authentication, it is applied to decide if the sender or receiver is authorized, and the encryption assists in preventing eavesdropping on the signal (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Additionally, the power output of the chip is reduced so that the signal is transmitted within the smallest possible range. Furthermore, the signal frequency hops at 1600 hops/s, making it extremely complicated to connect (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

It should be mentioned that there are three major security characteristics. A challenge-response to authentication averts fixing the source of messages and undesired access to critical information and functions (Erasala & Yen, 2002). The stream cipher for encryption prevents eavesdropping and preserves connection isolation, and session keys, which may be modified at any time during a link (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

The following devices are used in security algorithms:

• The Bluetooth gadget address (BD_ADDR/48 bits);
• Private user key (128 bits);
• A random number (128 bits) (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Moreover, frequency hopping and restricted transmission range also assist in averting eavesdropping (Erasala & Yen, 2002). There are also dissimilar security degrees for gadgets and services. For electronic gadgets, there are two basic degrees, ‘‘trusted device” and ‘‘untrusted device” (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

The trusted device has unlimited access to all the possible services. For services, three security degrees are created: services needing authorization and authentication, services requiring authentication only, and services open to all the electronic gadgets (Erasala & Yen, 2002).

Conclusion

To sum up, this paper explained the applications of Bluetooth and described its opportunities for people in all spheres of life, including sport, security, healthcare, and entertainment. Hence, Bluetooth is an inexpensive, low power, and radiofrequency technology for short-range communications.

It may be applied to substitute the cables linking portable/fixed electronic gadgets, create ad-hoc networks, or offer significant data access points. Also, Bluetooth helps people drive safe, monitor their health, secure their houses, and entertain comfortably without the need to think about different cables.

References

Bluetooth, the official site. Web.

Erasala, N., & Yen, D. (2002). Bluetooth technology: a strategic analysis of its role in global 3G wireless communication era. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 24 3, 193–206. Web.

Guerin, R., Kim, E., & Sarkar, S. (2002). Bluetooth Technology Key Challenges and Initial Research. Web.

Gupta, N. (2013). Inside Bluetooth Low Energy. Boston: Artech House.

Haartsen, J., Naghshineh, M., Inouye, J., Joeressen, O., & Allen, W. (1998). Bluetooth: Vision, Goals, and Architecture. Mobile Computing and Communications Review, 1(2), 1-8. Web.

Hunn, N. (2009). Bluetooth – The Wireless Ecosystem for Health, Fitness and Assisted Living. Web.

Johnson, D. (2004). Hardware and software implications of creating Bluetooth Scatternet devices. In 7th AFRICON Conference in Africa: roceedings of a conference held 17. 2004 at Gaborone, (vol. 1, pp. 211-215). Web.