Bluetooth 8

BLUETOOTH

Author: Asharani P. Mirazkar

Vijaylaxmi A. Horakeri

Abstract

Bluetooth Technology Overview

Bluetooth is a Radio Frequency (RF) specification for short-range, point-to-point
and point-to-multi-point voice and data transfer. Bluetooth will enable users to connect to
a wide range of computing and telecommunications devices without the need for
proprietary cables that often fall short in terms of ease-of-use. The technology represents
an opportunity for the industry to deliver wireless solutions that are ubiquitous across a
broad range of devices. The strength and direction of the underlying Bluetooth standard
will ensure that all solutions meet stringent expectations for ease-of-use and
interoperability.
Bluetooth, named for Denmark's first Christian king and not a dire dental
condition, is the name of a technology specification for small form factor, low-cost,
short-range radio links between PCs, handhelds, mobile phones, and other computing and
electronic devices. The Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) is an industry group
consisting of leaders in the telecommunications and computing industries that are driving
development of the technology and bringing it to market. Over 2000 companies have
executed the Bluetooth adopter’s agreement and are members of the Bluetooth SIG.
Bluetooth technology provides a 10-meter personal bubble that supports
simultaneous transmission of both voice and data for multiple devices.
Bluetooth wireless technology is designed to be as secure as a wire with up to
128-bit public/private key authentication, and streaming cipher up to 64-bit based on A5
security. The encryption strength can be very robust which is good for establishing a
secure link, but there may be export problems when shipping from the US. Different
hardware with smaller encryption key lengths may be required to meet US export
controls.
One of the goals of the Bluetooth SIG is to make wireless connections easy and
simple to use. To ensure the best possible customer Bluetooth experience as well as
interoperability with other Bluetooth devices, the Bluetooth SIG is developed a logo
program, which validates compliance with the published Bluetooth specification as well
as interoperability with other Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth devices that successfully
complete the Bluetooth testing criteria have the right to bear the official Bluetooth logo.

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 Bluetooth 8

THE BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY

Introduction

Bluetooth is a global standard for wireless connectivity. Bluetooth is based on a

short-range radio. Designwise three main goals of Bluetooth were small size,low cost
and low power consumption. Bluetooth technology facilitates the replacement of the
cables normally used to connect one device to another, with one universal short-range
radio link. For example, Bluetooth radio technology built into both the mobile telephone
and the laptop could replace the traditional (serial) cable used today to connect these
devices. Printers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), desktop computers, fax machines,
keyboards, joysticks, mice or any other digital device can be part of the Bluetooth
system.
Beyond facilitating the replacement of cables, Bluetooth technology can also act
as a universal medium to bridge the existing data networks; a peripheral interface for
existing devices; and a mechanism to form small private adhoc groupings of connected
devices away from fixed network infrastructures.
Two Bluetooth devices can talk to each other when they come within a range of
10 meters to each other. Due to their dependence on a radio link, as opposed to alternate
technology such as an infrared connection, Bluetooth devices do not require a line-of-
sight connection in order to communicate. Therefore, a laptop could print information
on a printer in the adjoining room, or the microwave in the kitchen could send a
message to the mobile phone in the living room indicating that the meal is ready.
The idea that resulted in Bluetooth technology arose in 1994. Ericsson Mobile
Communication initiated a study to investigate the feasibility of a low-power, low cost
radio interface between mobile phones and their accessories. The aim of the study was
to eliminate cables between mobile phones and PC cards, handsets and desktop
devices, etc.
In February 1998, Ericsson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel formed a Special
Interest Group (SIG). The group contained two market leaders in mobile telephony, two
in laptop computing and one in digital signal processor technology.

About Bluetooth

This Bluetooth technology achieves its goal by embedding small, inexpensive,

short-range radio transceivers into the devices that are available today, either directly or
through an adapter such as a PC Card. The radio operates on the globally available
unlicensed radio band, 2.4 GHz, and supports data speeds of up to 723.2 Kbps.
Bluetooth can also support up to three voice channels. The Bluetooth specification targets
very low power consumption (less than 100 mW) in the active state.
The Bluetooth radio is designed to operate in a noisy radio frequency environment. It
uses a fast acknowledgement and frequency hopping scheme to make the link robust.
Bluetooth radio modules avoid interference from other signals by hopping to a new

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Bluetooth 8

frequency after transmitting or receiving a packet.

Compared with other systems operating in the same frequency band, the
Bluetooth radio typically hops faster and uses shorter packets. This makes the Bluetooth
radio more robust than other systems. Short packages and fast hopping also limit the
impact of domestic and professional microwave ovens, which also operate in the 2.4 GHz
radio band.
The bluetooth system consists of a radio unit,link control unit,support unit for
link management and host terminal interface functions. The host controller
interface(HCI) provides the means for a host device to access the Bluetooth hardware
capabilities. For eg, a laptop or a personal computer can be a host device and the PC card
inserted in the PC is the bluetooth device. All commands from host to the Bluetooth
module and events from module to the host got through the HCI interface.

2.4GHz Bluetooth Bluetooth PC

Bluetooth Link Link
Radio Controller Manager
and I/O MOBILE

Network topology

The Bluetooth system supports both point-to-point and point-to-multi-point

connections. Several Piconets 1 can be established and linked together in an adhoc
manner. Each such Piconet is identified by a different frequency hopping sequence. All
users participating on the same Piconet are synchronized to this hopping sequence.

The Piconet

Bluetooth devices can interact with one or more other Bluetooth devices in
several different ways. The simplest scheme is when only two devices are involved. This
is referred to as point-to-point. One of the devices acts as the master and the other as a
slave. This adhoc network is referred to as a Piconet.
As a matter of fact, a
Piconet is any such Bluetooth
2
network with one master 2 and one or 1
more slaves. A diagram of a Piconet 1
is provided in the adjoining figure. In
the case of multiple slaves, the 3
2
communication topology is referred 4
to as point-to-multipoint. In this
case, the channel (and bandwidth) is
shared among all the devices in the
Piconet. There can be up to seven active slaves in a Piconet. Each of the active slaves

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Bluetooth 8

has an assigned 3-bit Active Member address. There can be additional slaves, which
remain synchronized to the master, but do not have an Active Member address. These
slaves are not active and are referred to as parked. For the case of both active and
parked units, all channel access is regulated by the master. A parked device has an 8-bit
Parked Member Address, thus limiting the number of parked members to 256. A parked
device remains synchronized to the master clock and can quickly become active and
begin communicating in the Piconet.

1. A Piconet is a collection of devices connected via Bluetooth technology in an adhoc

fashion. A Piconet
starts with two connected devices, such as a portable PC and cellular phone, and may
grow to eight
connected devices. All Bluetooth devices are peer units and have identical
implementations. However, when
establishing a Piconet, one unit will act as a master and the other(s) as slave(s) for the
duration of the Piconet
connection.
2. By definition, the Bluetooth unit that initiates the connection (to one or more slave
units) represents the
master. The names ‘master’ and ‘slave’ only refer to the protocol on the channel: the
Bluetooth units
themselves are identical; that is, any unit can become a master of a Piconet. Once a
Piconet has been
established, master-slave roles can be exchanged.
1
The Scatternet

When two Piconets are close to each other, they have overlapping coverage areas.
This scenario is provided for in the Bluetooth specification and is referred to as a
scatternet. A typical example: one might have a Piconet consisting of the mobile phone
and the PC in one’s cubicle, while the person in the neighboring cubicle may have a
Piconet consisting of a mobile phone, headset, and business card scanner.
Slaves in one Piconet can participate in another Piconet as either a master or slave. This
is accomplished through time division multiplexing. In a scatternet, the two (or more)
Piconets are not synchronized in either time or frequency. Each of the Piconets operates
in its own frequency-hopping channel while any devices in multiple Piconets participate
at the appropriate time via time division multiplexing. In the previous example, the
person in cubicle #1 may use the neighbour’s business card scanner on mutually agreed
upon terms.

Frequency Hopping

Bluetooth technology uses a frequency hopping technique, which means that

every packet is transmitted on a different frequency. In most countries, 79 channels can
be used. With a fast hop rate (1600 hops per second), good interference protection is

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Bluetooth 8

achieved. Another benefit is a short packet length. If some other device is jamming the
transmission of a packet, the packet is resent in another
frequency determined by the frequency scheme of the master. Note that this case only
refers to situations where there are two or more simultaneous
active piconets or a non-Bluetooth device using the same frequency in range. The error
correction algorithms are used to correct the fault caused by jammed transmissions

625µs

f(k) f(k+1) f(k+2) f(k+3) f(k+4) f(k+5) f(k+6)

200µs

f(k) f(k+3) f(k+4)

f(k) f(k+5) f(k+6)

Figure 4. Three-slot and five-slot long packets reduce overhead compared to one-slot packets. 220 s switching time
after the packet is needed for changing the frequency.

Subsequent time slots are used for transmitting and receiving. The nominal slot
length is 625 s . A packet nominally covers a single slot, but can be extended to cover
three or five slots, as depicted in Figure 4. In multi-slot packets the frequency remains the
same until the entire packet is sent. When using a multi-slot packet, the data rate is higher
because the header and a 220 s long switching time after the packet are needed only
once in each packet. On the other hand, the robustness is reduced: in a crowded
environment the long packets will more probably be lost.

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Bluetooth 8

The Bluetooth Clock

Every Bluetooth unit has an internal system clock, which determines the timing
and hopping of the transceiver. The Bluetooth clock is derived from a free running native
clock, which is never adjusted and is never turned off. For synchronization with other
units, only offsets are used. These offsets, when added to the native clock, provide
temporary Bluetooth clocks, which are mutually synchronized. The Bluetooth clock has
no relation to the time of day and can therefore be initialized to any value. The Bluetooth
clock provides the heart beat of the Bluetooth transceiver. Its resolution is at least half the
TX or RX slot length, or 312.5 s. The Bluetooth clock has a cycle of about a day. If the
clock is implemented with a counter, a 28-bit counter is required that wraps around at 2
28 -1. The LSB ticks in units of 312.5 s, giving a clock rate of 3.2 KHz.

Applications

Home
The Three-in-one Phone
With Bluetooth support, one handset will be able to provide multiple functionality. When
at home, the phone functions as a cordless phone, connected to the fixed line. When on
the move, it functions as a mobile phone connected to the mobile network. Additionally,
when the phone comes within range of another mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth
technology, it functions as a walkie-talkie.

The Internet Bridge

An extension of this model could be a mobile computer that allows surfing the Internet
irrespective of the location of the user, and regardless of whether the user is cordlessly
connected through a mobile phone (cellular) or through a wireline connection (e.g.
PSTN, ISDN, LAN, xDSL).

Smart Home
Homes equipped with Bluetooth devices may be able to recognise the arrival of its
bonafide residents and unlock the door on their arrival. The device will also adjust heat
to a preset temperature. While this is happening, the data from the individual’s PDA
may be exchanged with the home electronic board, and the family calendar is updated
to reflect the scheduled activities in the office.

Office
The Automatic Synchronizer
The Bluetooth technology will also allow automatic synchronization of the desktop,
mobile computer, PDAs and the mobile phone. For instance, as soon as one enters
his/her office the address list and calendar in the PDA will automatically be updated to
agree with the one in the desktop, or vice versa.

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Bluetooth 8

The Interactive Conference

In meetings and conferences, one can transfer selected documents instantly with
selected participants, and exchange electronic business cards automatically, without any
wired connections.
In another similar application, one can access one’s PDA to send the presentation to the
electronic whiteboard. The minutes of the meeting are also recorded on a PDA and
wirelessly transferred to other participants before they leave the meeting.

Travelers
Automatic Check-in
The Bluetooth enabled mobile phone or the PDA can present the electronic ticket to the
airline system without one having to go through the queue at the check-in counters.
The airline's on-line system performs the identification via the ID-tag feature built into
the mobile phone or the PDA and confirms the reserved seat.
In the airport waiting lounge, kiosks could be equipped with Bluetooth-enabled Internet
ports. Via these ports, one could connect the Bluetooth-enabled laptops, PDAs, and
other devices to access the office or home-based servers via the airline server. The
airlines may also provide free Internet voice call using voice-over IP.

HomeRF
The HomeRF Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP) system is designed to carry both
voice and data traffic and to inter-operate with the Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN) and the Internet. Like Bluetooth, it also operates in the 2.4 GHz band and uses a
digital frequency hopping spread spectrum radio. The SWAP technology was derived
from extensions of existing cordless telephone (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone or
DECT ) and wireless LAN technology to enable a new class of home cordless services.
SWAP supports both a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) service to provide
delivery of interactive voice and other time-critical services, and a CSMA/CA (Carrier
Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) service for delivery of high-speed packet
data.
The HomeRF devices operate in a frequency-hopping network with a hop frequency of
50 hops/s. The typical power consumption of these devices is about 100mW. The data
rates supported are 1 Mbps or 2 Mbps, depending on the modulation techniques used.
The typical use of this technology is within the home, and the network can support up
to 127 devices. The HomeRF network can support upto 6 full duplex voice channels. It
also has provision for data security and compression. Each HomeRF device has a 48-bit
node ID that allows concurrent operation of multiple co-located networks.

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Bluetooth 8

Summary

In the future, Bluetooth is likely to be the standard in tens of millions of mobile

phones, PCs, laptops and a whole range of other electronic devices. It is also poised to
provide a flexible mechanism for adhoc networking of devices. As a result, the market is
going to demand new innovative applications, value-added services, end-to-end solutions
and much more. The possibilities opened up really are limitless, and because the radio
frequency used is globally available, Bluetooth can offer fast and secure access to
wireless connectivity all over the world. With such a potential, Bluetooth is likely to
become the fastest adopted technology in history.
The Bluetooth technology is likely to coexist with other wireless technologies,
namely IrDA and HomeRF. IrDA already has an installed base of millions of devices
(mobile phones, PDAs, etc.) However, it has the limitation of line-of-sight
communication, which is not so in the case of Bluetooth and HomeRF. On the other
hand, due to the highly directional nature of the transmission (of the IR beam), IrDA is
less prone to interference from similar devices in adjoining areas.
In association with other industry initiatives, such as WAP (Wireless Application
Protocol) and Symbian, Bluetooth will have tremendous effects on everyday life.
Bluetooth is one of the key technologies that can make the mobile information society
possible, blurring the boundaries between the home, the office, and the outside world.

References
1. Specification of the Bluetooth System v 1.0 B, Volume 1, Core. Bluetooth Special
Interest Group, December 1999
2. Specification of the Bluetooth System v 1.0 B, Volume 2, Profiles, Bluetooth Special
Interest Group, December 1999
3. IrDA Object Exchange Protocol, IrOBEX, Version 1.2, Infrared Data Association,
March 1999
4. A Wireless Connectivity Technologies Comparison, Infrared and Radio Frequency,
Infrared Data Association, September 1998
5. The Official Bluetooth Site, http://www.bluetooth.com
6. http://www.intel.com/mobile/bluetooth/
7. HomeRF Working Group Site, http://www.homerf.org/

B. V. Bhoomaraddi college of Engineering and Technology.