Sunday, November 2, 2008

Who created bluetooth

Bluetooth history

Bluetooth takes its name from a character in history called Harald Bluetooth. He was born in 910AD and the Bluetooth concept takes his name because in 940AD he had the ability to Unite two warring countries, Denmark and Norway. The founders of Bluetooth took the name of Harald Bluetooth because of the way he united two countries together and in the same way Bluetooth unites two dissimilar components. Mobile phones, computers, printers, headsets etc can be connected wirelessly using Bluetooth technology.

Ericsson Mobile Communications had the first idea of finding a low cost, low power interface. First explorations took place in 1994 to wirelessly connect computers to mobile phones. A group of like minded companies joined forces in 1998 to form and association called the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) in Lund Switzerland. Coming from different backgrounds the group included market leaders in laptop manufacturing, the cell phone industry and digital signal processing. Included in this group where Motorola, Nokia, Intel, Toshiba, Agere, Ericsson, IBM, and Microsoft. These companies now promote development and research into the technology of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth specifications where developed by Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson two employees of Ericsson Mobile Platforms. Enabling various components from different industries to Connect Bluetooth technology was developed in Scandanavia. Based on a frequency hopping spread spectrum it is a wireless technology that combines and simplifies multiple forms of communication into a common secure available radio signal.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group made a firm commitment to have Bluetooth technology installed in various devices and by 2002 Bluetooth technology was installed in PC’s, notebooks, desktop computers and over 100 million mobile phones had the technology as well as millions of other communications devices.

Bluetooth definition?

Operating on a short-range radio frequency it is a wireless communications network. When connected to various devices such as mobile phones and computers it provides a way of exchanging information as well and the Bluetooth technology can be used on any other apparatus that is provided with it’s built in features. Due to its very low power it is medically safe to use, the information it carries using short wave radio and narrow bandwidth know as ISM is scientifically sound and very secure.

Devices have to be compatible and anyone wanting to use it will have to have Bluetooth profiles to be able to connect to one another. Once the profiles are enabled you should be able to use such things as hands free headsets with mobile phones, and wireless networking and communications which use printers, keyboards and a mouse.

Versions of Bluetooth

Improved features and more benefits have seen Bluetooth improve and change since version 1.Introduced in 1998 and like most other new technologies had many teething problems. The lack of devices able to communicate with each other was one of the problems.

Version 1.1 saw great improvements and it became a truly operable product with devices being able to communicate properly.

Version 1.2 had many new features, great extra benefits and vast improvement with voice quality, backward compatibility and was in general a better all round product.

Version2.0 saw more improvements and features and now version 3.0 has a Bluetooth master able to communicate with several devices, and at any given time, the slave can become the master. Master devices use there ability and can swiftly switch from one device to another.

Wi-Fi is another wireless operating system and although it has a superior operating range it uses a different technology. The difference is Bluetooth technology is a lot cheaper as the Wi-Fi hardware is much more expensive. One big advantage Bluetooth has is its ease of setting it up between many devices, its better security and its automated system. Wi-Fi is more complicated to set up and needs to have devices configured to set up shared resources which are more for Ethernet networking. Wi-Fi is better suited for operating larger networks while Bluetooth has more power and better connections. 

For operating Bluetooth on a computer it requires Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher. If you run an Apple computer it has been supported by Bluetooth technology since 2002. Nearly all computers now have Bluetooth installed but if not then if your computer has Windows XP with Service pack 2 then a device called a dongle can be purchased. The dongle device allows various devices to communicate with your computer.

The future of Bluetooth is bright and it has become the world wide wireless standard system. Bluetooth technology will see many improvements in the future such as audio and video data at a higher quality, an alternate MAC PHY, which enables transporting of Bluetooth profile data. Automatic configuration will be carried out by using Topology Management, and broadcast channelling, which will enable Bluetooth in other devises. Manufacturers are now jumping on the bandwagon and using Bluetooth technology and as more components use it the technology will grow. While other technology may go Bluetooth is here for the long term.

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