EPC Technologies Online Marketing Blog

Advantages And Disadvantages of Bluetooth

Bluetooth has a lot to offer with an increasingly
difficult market place. Bluetooth helps to bring
with it the promise of freedom from the cables and
simplicity in networking that has yet to be matched
by LAN (Local Area Network).

In the key marketplace, of wireless and handheld
devices, the closest competitor to Bluetooth is
infrared. Infrared holds many key features,
although the line of sight it provides doesn’t go
through walls or through obstacles like that of the
Bluetooth technology.

Unlike infrared, Bluetooth isn’t a line of sight and
it provides ranges of up to 100 meters. Bluetooth
is also low power and low processing with an
overhead protocol. What this means, is that it’s
ideal for integration into small battery powered
devices. To put it short, the applications with
Bluetooth are virtually endless.

Disadvantages
Bluetooth has several positive features and one
would be extremely hard pressed to find downsides
when given the current competition. The only real
downsides are the data rate and security. Infrared
can have data rates of up to 4 MBps, which provides
very fast rates for data transfer, while Bluetooth
only offers 1 MBps.

For this very reason, infrared has yet to be
dispensed with completely and is considered by
many to be the complimentary technology to that
of Bluetooth. Infrared has inherent security due
to its line of sight.

The greater range and radio frequency (RF) of
Bluetooth make it much more open to interception and
attack. For this reason, security is a very key
aspect to the Bluetooth specification.

Although there are very few disadvantages, Bluetooth
still remains the best for short range wireless
technology. Those who have tried it love it, and
they know for a fact that Bluetooth will be
around for years to come.

Bluetooth Applications

With Bluetooth being very popular with wireless, it’s
no wonder there are many applications available for
the technology. Below, you’ll find the applications
for Bluetooth.

1. Wireless networking between laptops and desktop
computers, or desktops that are in a confined space
and little bandwidth is needed.

2. Peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and printers.

3. Cell phones with Bluetooth technology have been
sold in large numbers, as they are able to connect to
computers, PDAs (Personal Data Assistant), and various
other devices. The standard also includes the
support for more powerful and longer range devices.

4. The transfer of files, images and MP3, between
mobile phones.

5. Certain MP3 players and digital cameras to
transfer files to and from computers.

6. Bluetooth technology headsets for smart phones
and cell phones.

7. Data logging equipment that transmits data to
a computer via Bluetooth technology.

8. Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Revolution will
both use Bluetooth technology for their wireless
controllers.

For Bluetooth, there are literally hundreds of
different applications and devices available for you
to use or purchase. As you may already know,
Bluetooth is the most popular wireless technology
in the world. It’s very reliable, very dependable,
and very hard to crack into.

There are many other applications for Bluetooth in
development now, many of which plan to take the
wireless age to the next level. Video game systems
are using Bluetooth technology as well, for their
wireless controllers. This is great news for gaming
fans, as Bluetooth offers the best in wireless
data transmission.

If your curious about applications for Bluetooth
that are still in development, you can search on
the internet. You can find all sorts of information,
especially when it comes to Bluetooth. As the
future arrives, you can expect Bluetooth to bring
bigger and better things.

Using Bluetooth

The amazing technology of Bluetooth presents a great
way of exchanging data between two wireless devices.
Unlike telephones, there are no wires or messy
leads to worry about. You can enjoy wireless
communications with short distances of up to thirty
feet.

Bluetooth also offers interoperability, meaning that
you can use your portable Bluetooth device to connect
with existing Bluetooth points. This way, you won’t
have to carry a data lead or CDs of drivers around
with you everywhere you go. You can enjoy the best
of wireless without having to worry about installing
your software.

With today’s Bluetooth, you can use your PDA and cell
phone to surf the net or check emails as you travel.
If you are in the business field, this can be very
beneficial, especially if you like to check your
email throughout the day. Bluetooth will enable you
to check your email no matter where you are - which
is great news for those who like to travel.

Bluetooth will also enable to you to transfer files
as well, such as MP3 and photo to and from your mobile
device. Bluetooth dominates the world of short range
wireless, enabling you to do more than you may
have thought possible.

One of the best things to Bluetooth and something
everyone loves is the wireless headset. Bluetooth
offers wire free headsets for your cell phone or
computer, which is great for those who like to walk
around or talk on the phone in the car, without
having to worry about your hands getting in the way.

To make things even better, you can use a Bluetooth
GPS device for satellite navigation on your PDA,
laptop, or mobile. If you travel - this can be
really great to have.

Bluetooth Glossary

Below, you’ll find a list of the most used terms in
Bluetooth technology. They can serve as a look up,
or to help you learn more about Bluetooth terms in
general.

2 in 1 handset
The situation where a subscriber’s handset is acting
as a remote handset to a base unit that provides a
network connection.

3G
Third generation, referring to the next generation
of digital phone technology.

802.11 WLAN
A wireless LAN specification defined by the IEEE.

Access code
Each base band packet will start with an access code,
which can be one of 3 types - CAC, DAC, and IAC.

ACK
Acknowledge.

ACL
Asynchronous Connectionless Link. This is one of the
two types of data links that are defined for Bluetooth.

ACO
Authenticated Ciphering Offset.

Active mode
During the active mode, the unit will actively
participate on the channel. The master will schedule
the transmission based on traffic demands from the
different slaves.

AP
Access point.

Authentification
The process of verifying who is at the opposite end
of the link.

Authentification device
A device whose identity has been verified during the
lifetime of the current link based on the
authentification procedure.

Baseband
This describes the specification of the digital
signal processing aspect of the hardware - the
controller - which carries out the baseband
protocols.

BB
Abreviation of baseband.

BD
Bluetooth device.

BER
Bit Error Rate.

The above is more of an intro to the terms that are
used with Bluetooth. Bluetooth currently has hundreds
of devices, making it the best wireless solution in
the world. With more coming out every day, you can
bet that Bluetooth will be around for many years to
come.

If you are new to Bluetooth, the terms used can be
very helpful. There are hundreds of glossary terms
that apply to Bluetooth, many of which describe
shortcuts to common terms. You can learn a lot by
reading over the meanings, especially if you have
never used Bluetooth technology before.

Those of you who have experience with Bluetooth,
can look over the glossary of terms to brush up
on your knowledge or just check out what an unfamiliar
term actually means. Nothing is complicated with
the meanings, although they make take some getting
used to.

Once you have been around Bluetooth for a while,
you’ll find yourself right at home with the terms
and meanings to the technology. All you need to do
is play around with it, and read books or manuals
whenever you get the chance. Before you know it,
you’ll be a professional in the vast world of
Bluetooth wireless.

Bluetooth Definition

Bluetooth is a specification for the use of low
power radio communications to wireless phones,
computers, and other network wireless devices over
short distances. The name Bluetooth is actually
borrowed from Harald Bluetooth, a Denmark king
more than 1,000 years ago.

The technology of Bluetooth was primarily designed
to support simple wireless networking of devices
and peripherals, which includes cell phones, PDAs,
and wireless headsets. The wireless signals that
are transmitted by Bluetooth cover short distances
of up to 30 feet, generally communicating less
than 1 MPps (Mega Byte per second).

The networks of Bluetooth feature dynamic topology
called PAN or a piconet. The piconets contain a
minumum of two and a maximum of eight peer devices.
The devices will communicate using protocols that
are part of the specification.

Even though the Bluetooth standard will utilize
the same 2.4 GHz range as 802.11b and 802.11g,
the technology isn’t suitable for a Wi-Fi
replacement. When compared to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
is much slower, limited in range, and actually
supports less devices.

For short range devices, Bluetooth is rapidly
becoming the best. The technology is more popular
with cell phones, as Bluetooth headsets are the
way to go these days. To use Bluetooth, your
cell phone will need to have it enabled, or an
infared device somewhere on the phone.

Upcoming devices are utilizing Bluetooth as well,
such as PS3 and the Nintendo Revolution. The
wireless controllers will be Bluetooth enabled,
which will give players the cutting edge.

If you own a cell phone or other wireless device,
you should look into Bluetooth. The technology
is nothing short of spectacular, making it
something that will be around for years and
years to come. As technology gets bigger and
bigger, you can expect Bluetooth to advance
as well.