Bluetooth
A wireless personal area network (PAN) technology from the Bluetooth Special Interest
Group (www.bluetooth.com) founded in 1998 by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba.
Bluetooth is an open standard for short-range transmission of digital voice and data
between mobile devices (laptops, PDAs, phones) and desktop devices. It supports
point-to-point and multipoint applications.
Bluetooth provides up to 720 Kbps data transfer within a range of 10 meters and up to 100
meters with a power boost. Unlike IrDA, which requires that devices be aimed at each other
(line of sight), Bluetooth uses omnidirectional radio waves that can transmit through
walls and other non-metal barriers. Bluetooth transmits in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band and
uses a frequency hopping spread spectrum technique that changes its signal 1600 times per
second. If there is interference from other devices, the transmission does not stop, but
its speed is downgraded.
The name Bluetooth comes from King Harald Blatan (Bluetooth) of Denmark. In the 10th
century, he began to Christianize the country. Ericsson (Scandinavian company) was the
first to develop this specification