Question
What is Bluetooth?
Answer
Bluetooth is a low bandwidth wireless networking technology designed primarily to replace cables for communication between personal computing/communication devices. It is intended to be used for both voice and data communications.

Question
Who developed Bluetooth?
Answer
Bluetooth was initiated by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba in early 1998. These companies later formed a special interest group known as the Bluetooth SIG. Today, many companies are members of the Bluetooth SIG; and all are committed to developing and supporting the Bluetooth standard.

Question
Why is the technology called "Bluetooth"?
Answer
Scandinavian countries have been leading the world in wireless communications for a long time now; and Bluetooth technology was named after a Scandinavian historical figure: King Harald Bluetooth, a famous Danish king of the 10th century; who united Denmark and introduced Christianity to the country.
If you would like to learn more about King Bluetooth; you might want to read the acclaimed book "The Long Ships" by Frans Bengtsson. Many thanks to Per Schroeder of Uppsala, Sweden for this suggestion.

Question
Is Bluetooth an IEEE standard, like IEEE 802.11 and Ethernet?
Answer
Being an IEEE standard will be a big plus to widespread adoption of Bluetooth, and IEEE 802.15 working group for personal area networks (PAN) announced that they will be adopting Bluetooth as the IEEE 802.15 standard.

Question
What are the possible uses of Bluetooth?
Answer
Bluetooth will be used for personal area networks: very small range networks between cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, etc. and computers. The built-in voice channels will allow cordless telephony and headset applications. PDA-computer synchronization, wireless home networking, connection of keyboards, modems, cameras etc. are all possible.

Question
How much will Bluetooth devices cost?
Answer
Bluetooth devices are expected to cost $20 initially (first half of 2000); but will drop to around $5 with widespread adoption and economies of scale.

Question
What is the maximum data rate of Bluetooth technology?
Answer
Bluetooth supports both voice and data. The voice channels support 64Kb/s. An asymmetric data rate (one way) of 721Kb/s (while permitting 57.6Kb/s in the return direction); and symmetric rate of 432.6Kb/s is possible according to Bluetooth spec.
There are preparations for newer versions of the Bluetooth specifications, and these versions will most likely allow higher data rates.

Question
What is the range of Bluetooth transmitter/receivers?
Answer
Bluetooth is designed for very low power use, and the transmission range will only be 10m, about 30ft. High-powered Bluetooth devices will enable ranges up to 100m (300ft). Considering the design philosophy behind Bluetooth, even the 10m range is adequate for the purposes Bluetooth is intended for.
Later versions of the Bluetooth spec may allow longer ranges.

Question
Will Bluetooth devices require FCC licensing?
Answer
Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz ISM (industrial-scientific-medical) frequency band, which is reserved for licence-free operation in most countries. France,Spain and Japan have different regulations which cause slightly different frequency bands to be used.

Question
Will there be any patents, royalties or licences for using Bluetooth technology in products?
Answer
Bluetooth is entirely royalty-free. Since there are patents on some aspects of the technology, companies who wish to develop Bluetooth products will have to sign a free licence agreement; however.

Question
Where can I access the Bluetooth specification and other technical info?
Answer
The Bluetooth specification is available from the official Bluetooth site. Our site, BluetoothCentral, is a comprehensive source for links to Bluetooth information, and you will find links to many Bluetooth-related sites in our Resources section; as well as a link to the specification itself.

Question
How does Bluetooth compare to other wireless networking technologies I have heard about; like IEEE 802.11 and HomeRF?
Answer
IEEE 802.11 and HomeRF are designed from the beginning for wireless networking; and have higher data rates and a more comprehensive set of features for networking than Bluetooth. Bluetooth is intended to replace wires in small, personal communication devices; and does not support many of the features that a full-fledged wireless LAN technology needs in order to be used for corporate local area networks.
Bluetooth's advantages are its very low power requirements and cost (target price is $5 per device). Technologies like IEEE 802.11 are the better choice for corporate LANs (and perhaps WAN connectivity with future improvements of the standards) while Bluetooth will be the better technology for connectivity between computers and small PDAs, digital cameras, cell phones and the like.
Thus, Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11/HomeRF are complementary; rather than competing, technologies. Some analysts believe Bluetooth will be widely used for very small, short range computer networks; much like USB is being used for simple networking now. In any case, Bluetooth is not primarily intended for use in networking, and its low data rate and other limitations will probably prohibit its use for most networking purposes except home networking and small, ad-hoc wireless networks.

Question
Will Bluetooth networks be secure?
Answer
Bluetooth employs frequency hopping (1600 hops/sec); which adds some protection against eavesdropping, and there is also built-in security at the physical layer. The built-in security features allow one-way, two-way, or no authentication.
The key management and security setup will be done by the software layers; which will allow the user set the security requirements as needed. This way, it will be possible to define different trust relationships between Bluetooth nodes and networks; i.e. you will be able to allow a co-worker's PDA access your business card scanner; but prevent him from synchronizing with your PC.
When Bluetooth is used for networking, it is always possible to use stronger forms of encryption like SSH over the transport layer.

Question
What kind of encryption will be used for Bluetooth security?
Answer
The Bluetooth specification 1.0 describes the link encryption algorithm as a stream cipher using 4 LFSR(linear feedback shift registers). The sum of the width of the LFSRs is 128, and the spec says the effective key length is selectable between 8 and 128 bits.This arrangement allows Bluetooth to be used in countries with regulations limiting encryption strength, and "facilitate a future upgrade path for the security without the need for a costly redesign of the algorithms and encryption hardware" according to the Bluetooth specification. Key generation and authentication seems to be using the 8-round SAFER+ encryption algorithm.
The information available suggests that Bluetooth security will be adequate for most purposes; but users with higher security requirements will need to employ stronger algorithms to ensure the security of their data.

Question
How can I invest in Bluetooth technology?
Answer
As of now (February 2000), there are no public companies that rely solely on Bluetooth technology and/or products. Many industry analysts agree that Bluetooth will be a success story; considering the increasing availability and popularity of personal communication/computing devices; and many companies will want to capitalize on this opportunity. Companies producing technology for cell phones and PDAs, or wireless networking will be well positioned for utilizing Bluetooth in their applications.
Widely available, technologically advanced and low cost Bluetooth chips are the key to Bluetooth's success; and semiconductor companies will either develop their own highly-integrated Bluetooth chipsets or acquire companies with such products.
In light of these, companies like Palm, Handspring, Qualcomm, Nokia, Ericsson, Lucent and many others stand to make profits from Bluetooth; as well as new technology startups to develop and build Bluetooth implementations.




BLUETOOTH - FAQ