Monday, January 14, 2002		Article

Career cavities in Bluetooth
Sumesh Raizada

ALMOST everyday, we come across news of an advanced microprocessor chip, hardware device or new software, getting introduced in the market. By the time existing product gets established, its own modified version or that of competitor comes into the market making the previous one obsolete. The situation becomes difficult when hardware manufacturers or software companies located at different parts of the world come out with the products having different specifications. This makes these products incompatible in countries or regions where the specifications like supply voltage, radio bandwidth frequency or government regulations are different. Thus, even if a product has immense utility or applications, it remains confined to a particular region. Apart from these, hardware manufacturer provide proprietary or specialised connecting cables making it mandatory for a user to keep different connecting devices for various hardware equipment.

This problem was sorted out to some extent when a Special Interest Group was formed in the late '90s to determine a uniform specification standard for wireless communication, data synchronisation and networking between computing and communication devices. The key members were Ericsson, Nokia, Toshiba, Motorola, Lucent, IBM, 3Com, Intel, Compaq, Dell and Microsoft, besides several others companies throughout the world. This is basically a low power, low cost radio interface for communication between PCs, mobile phones, Internet or other portable devices. Being a newly introduced concept, there are presently few qualified and trained professionals in this field, however, as more software, telecom and hardware companies are getting involved, there is a tremendous potential for career in Bluetooth application and product development.

Bluetooth wireless technology specification has been designed to enable wireless communication between mobile devices or between mobile and stationary devices. Instead of communication cables, Bluetooth uses a radio link for connecting the devices. Because of this it has found its application in almost every sphere of life, say entertainment, communication, computing and e-commerce, surveillance, transport and hotel industry. A person using a digital camera can now transfer its images on to the PC without physically connecting it through a cable, or a business executive, while travelling can check his e-mails on a palmtop PC, digitally connected through a mobile phone. Thus a user has advantage of mobility even while carrying out his computing or other related tasks. Bluetooth works on a tiny radio receiver that is embedded into a handheld device like mobile phone, Palmtop PC, etc. The receiver operates on a standard ISM band that is uniform all over the world, except in few countries like Spain.

Besides, eliminating the connecting and communication cables, Bluetooth technology also helps in developing a small virtual network between Bluetooth-enabled devices. Thus multiple users in a particular area can remain connected with each other and share data among themselves through a wireless network called Piconets, which consists of two to eight devices. In a piconet, there is a master device and remaining slave devices. Scatternet is two or more independent, non-synchronised piconets. The Bluetooth-enabled devices can also operate in a noisy environment because of their frequency hopping scheme and provide a stable signal connectivity between devices.

Bluetooth technology operates on various wireless standards for voice or data transmission. Some of these specifications are Piano, IrDA, IEEE 802, DECT (Direct enhanced cordless telecommunication), etc. The system mainly operates on a Radio unit, Baseband unit, Software stack and Application software. The radio unit is a receiver that activates the link between Bluetooth devices. The normal operating range of these devices is between 10 cm to 10 meters. However, the same may be extended up to 100 meters by increasing transmitting power. The baseband unit consists of hardware component having a memory and a processing unit working as an interface between radio unit and the host device. The baseband unit is responsible for maintaining connectivity between Bluetooth devices. The software stack is a driver software that enables interface between application level software and baseband unit, while application software maintains interface between a user and a device.

Bluetooth devices normally remain in a standby mode, in which unconnected devices listen to messages periodically. This is called scanning and is further categorised as page scan and inquiry scan. Page scan is a state in which actual connection between Bluetooth devices is made, inquiry scan is a state in which search for other devices in the connectivity range is made.

There are two types of links provided by a Bluetooth device. These are Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO) for audio as well as data transmission and Asynchronous Connectionless (ACL) that are used for only data transmission. Bluetooth wireless technology also supports voice transmission between devices with the help of voice coding system. There are three security modes, which are called non-secure, service and link level modes. Authentication and encryption procedures are used to establish connection and data transmission between valid users. The link manager is the software within the Bluetooth device, which implements protocols for link setup, link authentication, and link configuration. The services provided by the link manager includes, data transmission and receiving, requesting a remote device name, Inquiring for a remote device link address, negotiating and setting up the connection and link mode, authentication.

Almost all leading names in the field of IT are presently developing products based on this technology. The products include mobile phones, digital cordless phones, Notebook and desktop PCs, Handheld PCs and palm-top computers, digital cameras, automotive, industrial and medical components, etc. Intel has recently developed a new processor for the application, Motorola is coming out with a range of Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone, Philips has developed a device for digital audio signals, Compaq is enabling its hand-held and pocket PCs with Bluetooth devices, Ericsson has developed Bluetooth Headset which connects to mobile phone by a radio link instead of a cable.

Some of the recently developed Bluetooth devices are ANOTO pen, which is the tool that in coordination with the ANOTO patterned paper, enables a user to transmit, store and transfer data anywhere in the world. Then there is Q-Zone, which is a new technology that allows persons and organisations to control interruptions to their environments from cellular phones, pagers, and other portable electronic devices. Q-Zone uses Bluetooth, to create quiet zones within conference rooms, movie theatres, churches, restaurants, and other public spaces. There is a Bluetooth Car Kit, which provides an interface to the car and to the Bluetooth-equipped phone.

Those interested in getting further information on Bluetooth wireless technology can log on to web sites of respective SIG members, bluetooth.com or to AnywhereYouGo.com.

Apart from countries like USA, Sweden, Finland, Japan, etc., where Bluetooth enabled devices are in extensive use, there is also a vast scope in India too. Multinationals are opening their subsidiaries or joint ventures for developing hardware or software products suitable for Bluetooth applications. Professionals in these organizations work as System Engineer or software developer. The desired qualifications are graduate or post graduate in engineering, MCA, etc. These professionals are also employed in the hardware maintenance and installation of Bluetooth devices.