The Bluetooth Report 2002

The low-cost, mobile wireless solution has been highly anticipated by many within the industry since its inception around five years ago. Rapid development resulted in a working protocol that was touted for rapid growth in cellular handsets, Personal Digital Assistants, laptops, and other devices. However, the last twelve months has seen Bluetooth forced to regroup, as a number of damaging interoperability failures and high-profile disagreements among SIG members has generated negative publicity.

Research leader for Visiongain, Ben Thacker, thinks that these delays have dropped Bluetooth off many company's radars: "Bluetooth, like so many mobile technologies, was too much promised too quickly. Manufacturers couldn't guarantee interoperability, and developers couldn't create reliable applications. The 1.1 specification has seen several improvements in Bluetooth's stability, but the resulting delay in marketable devices has seen competing solutions gain ground." "WiFi 802.11 isn't as mobile as Bluetooth, and is far more expensive, but it's out there now, and business users are noticing it. When travellers can already log on to a WLAN at 10Mbps, their interest in Bluetooth will wane when they hear that it's less than a tenth of the speed."

Does this spell Bluetooth's demise? "Not at all," says Thacker, "because Bluetooth is just too useful. No wireless networking solution is as flexible or as mobile as Bluetooth, and the applications it enhances are so varied that it has a very broad base in the market." According to Visiongain, Bluetooth has failed to make itself central to these applications. "Current Bluetooth designs tend to be add-ons and extensions to existing devices. Bluetooth needs to be integrated into mobile applications, like gaming, file-swapping, and synchronization. When users realize how important Bluetooth is to Personal Area Networking, it'll be a staple of mobile devices."

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Section A - Bluetooth, the enabler of PANs


Chapter 1 - The Bluetooth Basics


1.1Bluetooth - Cutting the cord


1.2The Bluetooth market - is there a need?


1.3A brief history of Bluetooth


Chapter 2 - Bluetooth in 2001


2.1Bringing the technology to market


Graph 1 - Projected global Bluetooth shipments 2001-2005


2.2Setbacks and divisions


2.3Coping with the competition


Graph 2 - Survey: What will be the price per unit for the inclusion of


Bluetooth within a device by the end of 2001?

Section B - Examining Bluetooth's architecture


Chapter 3 - Bluetooth's structure


3.1 The essentials of Bluetooth 1.0b


3.2 A Bluetooth piconet


3.2.1 Masters and slaves


Diagram 1 - Simple piconet


Diagram 2 - Complex piconet


3.2.2 Frequency hopping


3.3 Initializing a connection


3.4 Power modes


Table 1 - Bluetooth Power classes


3.5 Slave modes


Diagram 3 - Slave states


Chapter 4 - Protocols and profiles


4.1Addresses


Diagram 4 - Structure of a Bluetooth BD_ADDR


4.2Clocks


4.3Data transmission packets


4.3.1 Access codes


Diagram 5 - Access code structure


4.3.1.1 Type definitions


Table 2 - Segment 1 types


Table 3 - Segment 2 types


Table 4 - Segment 3 types


Table 5 - Segment 4 types


Table 6 - Data speed capabilities


4.3.1.2 Common types


4.3.1.3 SCO types


4.3.1.4 ACL types


Diagram 6 - Packet transmissions over a Bluetooth


piconet


4.3.1.5 The FHS packet


4.3.2 Multi-packet transmissions over a Bluetooth


piconet


4.3.3 Byte ordering


4.4Links


Table 7 - SCO/ACL comparison


4.5Protocol Stack


Diagram 7 - Bluetooth protocol stack


4.6Profiles


Diagram 8 - Bluetooth profiles


4.7Bluetooth 1.1


4.8Bluetooth 2


Chapter 5 - Limitations of the protocol


5.1Data speeds


Table 8 - Required data speeds for applications (estimated)


5.2Maximum network capacity


5.3Interference and slowdown


5.4Heath and safety


Chapter 6 - Bluetooth security


6.1Trusted devices and access restrictions


6.2Threats to Bluetooth's integrity


6.2.1 Viruses, worms, and other infections


6.2.1.1 Low-end devices


6.2.1.2 High-end devices


6.2.1.3 Devices not previously wireless-enabled


6.2.2. Hacking and unauthorized access


6.2.2.1 Low-end devices


6.2.2.2 High-end devices


6.2.2.3 Devices not previously wireless-enabled


6.3Accessing Bluetooth without permission


6.4Defending Bluetooth from unauthorized access


6.4.1 Enforced security inherent in Bluetooth


6.4.1.1 Security mode 1


6.4.1.2 Security mode 2


6.4.1.3 Security mode 3


Diagram 8 - Device authentication procedure


6.4.2 Voluntary security through PINs


6.4.3 Voluntary security through encryption


6.4.4 Next-generation security solutions


6.5Conclusions - is Bluetooth's security a concern?

Section C - Bluetooth and the market


Chapter 7 - Applications for Bluetooth


7.1 Cable replacement - the basis of Bluetooth


7.1.1 The wireless office - the desktop as hub


7.1.2 The mobile office - tying together disparate devices


7.1.3 Synchronization - schedule management and continuity


7.1.4 Simple voice transmission and relaying


Image 1 - Sony-Ericsson's Bluetooth headset


7.2IR and RF replacement


7.2.1 Remote control


7.2.2 IR data transmission


7.2.3 Entertainment and the youth market


Image 2 - Murata/Kitano's Bluetooth robot


7.3New applications


7.3.1 The interactive home - enabling appliances


7.3.2 Mobile commerce - a reality at last?


Chapter 8 - Competing technologies


8.1 Infrared (IrDA)


8.2DECT


8.3WiFi 802.11


8.3.1 Technical data - more powerful than Bluetooth?


8.3.2 802.11 vs. Bluetooth


8.3.3 Applications for high-speed fixed networks


8.3.4 The future for 802.11 - faster, cheaper, safer?


Chapter 9 - Associated technologies


Graph 3 - Survey:Which technology will combine with Bluetooth to create


the most powerful applications?


9.1 Cellular network technologies


9.1.1 GSM - the backbone of 2G


9.1.2 GPRS - the packet-switched revolution


Graph 4 - Predicted data speeds


9.1.3 HSCSD - reliable bandwidth and speed


9.1.4 EDGE - the middle ground between 2G and 3G?


9.1.5 3G/UMTS - a true mobile multimedia solution?


9.1.6 4G and beyond - how long can 3G dominate?


9.2Wireless browsing technologies


9.2.1 WAP - disappointment or prematurely launched?


9.2.2 i-mode - DoCoMo's success story


Image 3 - Sony's c413s Bluetooth handset

Section D - Conclusions


Chapter 10 - visiongain analysis


10.1 Why we hate cables and love wireless


10.2 Standing alone in the market


10.3 A killer application for Bluetooth


10.3.1 Mobile handsets


10.3.2 Mobile computing devices


10.3.3 Fixed computing devices


Image 4 - 3Com's Bluetooth PCcard


10.4 Establishing Bluetooth's superiority


10.5 Utility through stealth - the invisible enabler


10.5.1 The business user - a path to success


10.5.2 The leisure user - a path to success


10.6 Predicting Bluetooth's path


Graph 5 - Projection: Bluetooth-enabled devices in 2004


Graph 6 - Projection: Bluetooth shipments in 2004


Chapter 11 - Summation: Five keys to success

Section E - Appendices


Appendix A - Terms and Abbreviations


Appendix B - The Bluetooth SIG


Appendix C - About visiongain