The Not So Confu Sing Bluetooth Basics

The Not So Confusing Bluetooth Basics

Bluetooth technology has the potential to give vast numbers of people the same mindset as a Ham radio buff. Bluetooth technology delivers to the man on the street a way to exchange information using wireless technology. Bluetooth technology differs from the earlier forms of wireless technology by offering a Personal Area Network (PAN).

What is a PAN? It is a network that operates within a confined space, a space much smaller than the Local Area Networks that controlled the delivery of information in the first known wireless systems. Using short-range radio signals, the devices in a PAN exchange information between collections of diverse devices. Bluetooth technology allows for the exchange of information between a PDA, a mobile phone, a laptop, a PC, a printer, a digital camera and other mobile devices.

The first wireless technology introduced to the public used long-range radio signals, signals coming from satellites in space. Bluetooth technology uses 2.4 GHz radio signals. These short-range signals travel within a confined area. Therefore, the Bluetooth technology normally provides a single individual with either a mobile workstation or a mobile entertainment center.

Because the Bluetooth technology facilitates communications between mobile and stationary devices, the automobile industry has included the Bluetooth technology in certain vehicles. Acura, BMW, Toyota Prius and Lexus all supply car owners with access to a PAN. Such devices allow the car owner to receive messages about needed check-ups on parts of the car’s engine.

The science behind Bluetooth technology is not really very confusing. Discovery of a way to promote the Bluetooth technology has frustrated the marketers of that technology.

Their frustration stems largely from their misperceptions. For an example of those misperceptions, one might examine the comments on the website Extreme Tech. There one finds this statement: “Bluetooth’s main competition is a piece of wire. Wire is cheap, reliable and