[Type text]

Blue oo h is a ro rie ary o en wireless echnology s andard for e changing da a over shor dis ances (using shor waveleng h radio ransmissions) from fi ed and mobile devices, crea ing ersonal area ne works (PANs) wi h high levels of securi y. Crea ed by elecoms vendor Ericsson in 1994,[1] i was originally conceived as a wireless al erna ive o RS-232 da a cables. I can connec several devices, overcoming roblems of synchroniza ion. When you use com u ers, en er ainmen sys ems or ele hones, he various ieces and ar s of he sys ems make u a communi y of elec ronic devices. hese devices communica e wi h each o her using a varie y of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared ligh beams, and an even grea er varie y of connec ors, lugs and ro ocols.

here are lo s of differen ways ha elec ronic devices can connec o one ano her. For e am le: Com onen cables Elec rical wires E herne cables WiFi Infrared signals

he ar of connec ing hings is becoming more and more com le every day. In his ar icle, we will look a a me hod of connec ing devices, called Blue oo h, ha can s reamline he rocess. A Blue oo h connec ion is wireless and au oma ic, and i has a number of in eres ing fea ures ha can sim lify our daily lives.
[ y e e ]

he Problem When any wo devices need o alk o each o her, hey have o agree on a number of oin s before he conversa ion can begin. he firs oin of agreemen is hysical: Will hey alk over wires, or hrough some form of wireless signals? If hey use wires, how many are required -- one, wo, eigh , 25? Once he hysical a ribu es are decided, several more ques ions arise: How much da a will be sen a a ime? For ins ance, serial or s send da a 1 bi a a ime, while arallel or s send several bi s a once.

How will hey s eak o each o her? All of he ar ies in an elec ronic discussion need o know wha he bi s mean and whe her he message hey receive is he same message ha was sen . his means develo ing a se of commands and res onses known as a ro ocol.

Blue oo h offers a solu ion o he roblem. How Blue oo h Crea es a Connec ion Why is i called Blue oo h? Harald Blue oo h was king of Denmark in he la e 900s. He managed o uni e Denmark and ar of Norway in o a single kingdom hen in roduced Chris iani y in o Denmark. He lef a large monumen , he Jelling rune s one, in memory of his aren s. He was killed in 986 during a ba le wi h his son, Svend Forkbeard. Choosing his name for he s andard indica es how im or an com anies from he Nordic
[ y e e ]

region (na ions including Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) are o he communica ions indus ry, even if i says li le abou he way he echnology works. Blue oo h akes small-area ne working o he ne level by removing he need for user in erven ion and kee ing ransmission ower e remely low o save ba ery ower. Pic ure his: You're on your Blue oo h-enabled cell hone, s anding ou side he door o your house. You ell he erson on he o her end of he line o call you back in five minu es so you can ge in he house and u your s uff away. As soon as you walk in he house, he ma you received on your cell hone from your car's Blue oo h-enabled GPS sys em is au oma ically sen o your Blue oo h-enabled com u er, because your cell hone icked u a Blue oo h signal from your PC and au oma ically sen he da a you designa ed for ransfer. Five minu es la er, when your friend calls you back, your Blue oo h-enabled home hone rings ins ead of your cell hone. he erson called he same number, bu your home hone icked u he Blue oo h signal from your cell hone and au oma ically re-rou ed he call because i realized you were home. And each ransmission signal o and from your cell hone consumes jus 1 milliwa of ower, so your cell hone charge is vir ually unaffec ed by all of his ac ivi y.

Blue oo h is essen ially a ne working s andard ha works a wo levels: I rovides agreemen a he hysical level -- Blue oo h is a radiofrequency s andard.

[ y e e ]

 

I rovides agreemen a he ro ocol level, where roduc s have o agree on when bi s are sen , how many will be sen a a ime, and how he ar ies in a conversa ion can be sure ha he message received is he same as he message sen .

he big draws of Blue oo h are ha i is wireless, ine ensive and au oma ic. here are o her ways o ge around using wires, including infrared communica ion. Infrared (IR) refers o ligh waves of a lower frequency han human eyes can receive and in er re . Infrared is used in mos elevision remo e con rol sys ems. Infrared communica ions are fairly reliable and don' cos very much o build in o a device, bu here are a cou le of drawbacks. Firs , infrared is a "line of sigh " echnology. For e am le, you have o oin he remo e con rol a he elevision or DVD layer o make hings ha en. he second drawback is ha infrared is almos always a "one o one" echnology. You can send da a be ween your desk o com u er and your la o com u er, bu no your la o com u er and your PDA a he same ime. (See How Remo e Con rols Work o learn more abou infrared communica ion.) hese wo quali ies of infrared are ac ually advan ageous in some regards. Because infrared ransmi ers and receivers have o be lined u wi h each o her, in erference be ween devices is uncommon. he one- o-one na ure of infrared communica ions is useful in ha you can make sure a message goes only o he in ended reci ien , even in a room full of infrared receivers. Blue oo h is in ended o ge around he roblems ha come wi h infrared sys ems. he older Blue oo h 1.0 s andard has a ma imum ransfer s eed of 1 megabi er second (Mb s), while Blue oo h 2.0

[ y e e ]

   

can manage u o 3 Mb s. Blue oo h 2.0 is backward-com a ible wi h 1.0 devices. Blue oo h ne working ransmi s da a via low- ower radio waves. I communica es on a frequency of 2.45 gigaher z (ac ually be ween 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, o be e ac ). his frequency band has been se aside by in erna ional agreemen for he use of indus rial, scien ific and medical devices (ISM). A number of devices ha you may already use ake advan age of his same radio-frequency band. Baby moni ors, garage-door o eners and he newes genera ion of cordless hones all make use of frequencies in he ISM band. Making sure ha Blue oo h and hese o her devices don' in erfere wi h one ano her has been a crucial ar of he design rocess. One of he ways Blue oo h devices avoid in erfering wi h o her sys ems is by sending ou very weak signals of abou 1 milliwa . By com arison, he mos owerful cell hones can ransmi a signal of 3 wa s. he low ower limi s he range of a Blue oo h device o abou 10 me ers (32 fee ), cu ing he chances of in erference be ween your com u er sys em and your or able ele hone or elevision. Even wi h he low ower, Blue oo h doesn' require line of sigh be ween communica ing devices. he walls in your house won' s o a Blue oo h signal, making he s andard useful for con rolling several devices in differen rooms. Blue oo h can connec u o eigh devices simul aneously. Wi h all of hose devices in he same 10-me er (32-foo ) radius, you migh hink hey'd in erfere wi h one ano her, bu i 's unlikely. Blue oo h uses a echnique called s read-s ec rum frequency ho ing ha makes i rare for more han one device o be ransmi ing on he same frequency a he same ime. In his echnique, a device will use
[ y e e ]
   

79 individual, randomly chosen frequencies wi hin a designa ed range, changing from one o ano her on a regular basis. In he case of Blue oo h, he ransmi ers change frequencies 1,600 imes every second, meaning ha more devices can make full use of a limi ed slice of he radio s ec rum. Since every Blue oo h ransmi er uses s read-s ec rum ransmi ing au oma ically, i s unlikely ha wo ransmi ers will be on he same frequency a he same ime. his same echnique minimizes he risk ha or able hones or baby moni ors will disru Blue oo h devices, since any in erference on a ar icular frequency will las only a iny frac ion of a second. When Blue oo h-ca able devices come wi hin range of one ano her, an elec ronic conversa ion akes lace o de ermine whe her hey have da a o share or whe her one needs o con rol he o her. he user doesn' have o ress a bu on or give a command -- he elec ronic conversa ion ha ens au oma ically. Once he conversa ion has occurred, he devices -- whe her hey're ar of a com u er sys em or a s ereo -- form a ne work. Blue oo h sys ems crea e a ersonal-area ne work (PAN), or icone , ha may fill a room or may encom ass no more dis ance han ha be ween he cell hone on a bel -cli and he headse on your head. Once a icone is es ablished, he members randomly ho frequencies in unison so hey s ay in ouch wi h one ano her and avoid o her icone s ha may be o era ing in he same room. Le 's check ou an e am le of a Blue oo h-connec ed sys em. Blue oo h Picone sFle ible ransmission Mos of he ime, a ne work or communica ions me hod ei her works in one direc ion a a ime, called half-du le communica ion, or in bo h direc ions simul aneously, called full-du le communica ion. A s eaker hone ha le s you ei her lis en or alk,
[ y e e ]
! "# "

bu no bo h, is an e am le of half-du le communica ion, while a regular ele hone handse is a full-du le device. Because Blue oo h is designed o work in a number of differen circums ances, i can be ei her half-du le or full-du le . he cordless ele hone is an e am le of a use ha will call for a fulldu le ( wo-way) link, and Blue oo h can send da a a more han 64 kilobi s er second (Kb s) in a full-du le link -- a ra e high enough o su or several voice conversa ions. If a ar icular use calls for a half-du le link -- connec ing o a com u er rin er, for e am le -Blue oo h can ransmi u o 721 Kb s in one direc ion, wi h 57.6 Kb s in he o her. If he use calls for he same s eed in bo h direc ions, Blue oo h can es ablish a link wi h 432.6-Kb s ca aci y in each direc ion.

Le 's say you have a y ical modern living room wi h y ical modern s uff inside. here's an en er ainmen sys em wi h a s ereo, a DVD layer, a sa elli e V receiver and a elevision; here's also a cordless ele hone and a ersonal com u er. Each of hese sys ems uses Blue oo h, and each forms i s own icone o alk be ween he main uni and eri heral. he cordless ele hone has one Blue oo h ransmi er in he base and ano her in he handse . he manufac urer has rogrammed each uni wi h an address ha falls in o a range of addresses i has es ablished for a ar icular y e of device. When he base is firs urned on, i sends radio signals asking for a res onse from any uni s wi h an address in a ar icular range. Since he handse has an address in he range, i res onds, and a iny ne work is formed. Now, even if one of hese devices should receive a signal from ano her sys em, i will ignore i since i 's no from wi hin he ne work. he
[ y e e ]
% &' & $

com u er and en er ainmen sys em go hrough similar rou ines, es ablishing ne works among addresses in ranges es ablished by manufac urers. Once he ne works are es ablished, he sys ems begin alking among hemselves. Each icone ho s randomly hrough he available frequencies, so all of he icone s are com le ely se ara ed from one ano her.

Now he living room has hree se ara e ne works es ablished, each one made u of devices ha know he address of ransmi ers i should lis en o and he address of receivers i should alk o. Since each ne work is changing he frequency of i s o era ion housands of imes a second, i 's unlikely ha any wo ne works will be on he same frequency a he same ime. If i urns ou ha hey are, hen he resul ing confusion will only cover a iny frac ion of a second, and sof ware designed o correc for such errors weeds ou he confusing informa ion and ge s on wi h he ne work's business. Blue oo h Securi y In any wireless ne working se u , securi y is a concern. Devices can easily grab radio waves ou of he air, so eo le who send sensi ive informa ion over a wireless connec ion need o ake recau ions o make sure hose signals aren' in erce ed. Blue oo h echnology is no differen -- i 's wireless and herefore susce ible o s ying and remo e access, jus like WiFi is susce ible if he ne work isn' secure. Wi h Blue oo h, hough, he au oma ic na ure of he connec ion, which is a huge benefi in erms of ime and effor , is also a benefi o eo le looking o send you da a wi hou your ermission. Blue oo h offers several securi y modes, and device manufac urers de ermine which mode o include in a Blue oo h-enabled gadge . In
[ y e e ]
) 01 0 (

almos all cases, Blue oo h users can es ablish " rus ed devices" ha can e change da a wi hou asking ermission. When any o her device ries o es ablish a connec ion o he user's gadge , he user has o decide o allow i . Service-level securi y and device-level securi y work oge her o ro ec Blue oo h devices from unau horized da a ransmission. Securi y me hods include au horiza ion and iden ifica ion rocedures ha limi he use of Blue oo h services o he regis ered user and require ha users make a conscious decision o o en a file or acce a da a ransfer. As long as hese measures are enabled on he user's hone or o her device, unau horized access is unlikely. A user can also sim ly swi ch his Blue oo h mode o "non-discoverable" and avoid connec ing wi h o her Blue oo h devices en irely. If a user makes use of he Blue oo h ne work rimarily for synching devices a home, his migh be a good way o avoid any chance of a securi y breach while in ublic. S ill, early cell- hone virus wri ers have aken advan age of Blue oo h's au oma ed connec ion rocess o send ou infec ed files. However, since mos cell hones use a secure Blue oo h connec ion ha requires au horiza ion and au hen ica ion before acce ing da a from an unknown device, he infec ed file y ically doesn' ge very far. When he virus arrives in he user's cell hone, he user has o agree o o en i and hen agree o ins all i . his has, so far, s o ed mos cell- hone viruses from doing much damage. See How Cellhone Viruses Work o learn more.

O her roblems like "bluejacking," "bluebugging" and "Car Whis erer" have urned u as Blue oo h-s ecific securi y issues. Bluejacking involves Blue oo h users sending a business card (jus a
[ y e e ]
3 45 4 2

e message, really) o o her Blue oo h users wi hin a 10-me er (32foo ) radius. If he user doesn' realize wha he message is, he migh allow he con ac o be added o his address book, and he con ac can send him messages ha migh be au oma ically o ened because hey're coming from a known con ac . Bluebugging is more of a roblem, because i allows hackers o remo ely access a user's hone and use i s fea ures, including lacing calls and sending e messages, and he user doesn' realize i 's ha ening. he Car Whis erer is a iece of sof ware ha allows hackers o send audio o and receive audio from a Blue oo h-enabled car s ereo. Like a com u er securi y hole, hese vulnerabili ies are an inevi able resul of echnological innova ion, and device manufac urers are releasing firmware u grades ha address new roblems as hey arise.

[ y e e ]

7 89 8 6