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Bluetooth: Life in the Connected World
By Moatassim Aidrus

Back in the 10th century, a Viking king named Harold Bluetooth united Denmark and Norway. Fast forward eleven centuries, and a new technology named after the Viking king will serve to "unite" any wireless devices within your "personal operating space," defined as a ten-meter circle. Bluetooth technology will provide wireless connectivity between personal electronic devices (such as mobile phones, lap-tops, and Palm Pilots) confined to that circle. These wirelessly connected devices create a network called a "Wireless Personal Area Network" (WPAN). In 1994, Ericsson Mobile Communications decided to research the idea of building small radios into cellular phones and laptops so that the two devices could communicate without a cable connection. In 1998, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was formed. Ericsson, 3Com, IBM, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, and Toshiba worked together for the purpose of developing a global wireless network standard that could be used for all devices within the personal operating space. Bluetooth technology is the resulting development.

The market for wireless communications is growing exponentially. Bluetooth eliminates the need for the numerous inconvenient cable attachments that are currently used to connect computers, mobile phones, laptops, and handheld devices. A tiny Bluetooth microchip incorporating a radio transceiver is built into each of these devices. This provides a fast, secure connection for the transmission of both voice and data. Also, the use of radio technology allows for real time data transmission. The radio operates at a globally available band known is the Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) band. The ISM band operates in the 2.4 GHz range, an unregulated frequency band requiring no license based on FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regulations. It provides operation in the United States, Europe, and Japan.