Bluetooth is now a common concept when it comes to forms of wireless communication and the transferring of data and vocal transmissions. Most people will recognise this term from their cell phones but it has developed through updates to be much more than a cell phone accessory.
The Bluetooth standard was originally conceived by Dr. Jaap Haartsen at Ericsson back in 1994. It was named for a renowned Viking and king who united Denmark and Norway in the 10th century. At the time, it was designed to replace RS-232 telecommunication cables, a much older standard conceived in 1960, by using short range UHF radio waves between 2.4 and 2.485 GHz.
In 1988 the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was formed, which to this day publishes and promotes the standard and its subsequent revisions. SIG initially only included Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba, but reached 4,000 members by the end of its first year. The group now contains over 30,000 member companies at various levels of influence.
Infrared technology (IR) was used before Bluetooth for file transfer but it was very slow as a 3mb file would take 5mins to transfer. The distance was a limitation also as both units (phones) should be placed very close for the process to happen.
IR was a drag because it was hard to keep the devices properly aligned (IR is line of site) and cables were/are a drag because they get tangled, pulled out or you simply forget to bring them along.
Infrared communication technology was replaced by the more versatile radio-based Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies.
What Is Bluetooth Technology?
It is a short-range wireless communications technology to replace the cables connecting electronic devices, allowing a person to have a phone conversation via a headset, use a wireless mouse and synchronize information from a mobile phone to a PC, all using the same core system.
It allows for data transfer from the source to the receipt when both are connected via Bluetooth. It acts much like an invisible cord between the two devices by creating a secure, wireless personal area network in which these devices can communicate.
This technology is used to exchange data over short distances up to 10-meter (33-foot) radius wireless network, called a personal area network (PAN) or piconet. At present PAN can be created between two to eight devices.
One Master device (Host Device) can connect to seven slave devices. Any slave device in the piconet can only be connected to a single master. Slaves are only allowed to transmit to and receive from their master. They can’t talk to other slaves in the piconet.
What Is Bluetooth Profiles?
Profiles are definitions of possible applications and specify general behaviors that Bluetooth® enabled devices use to communicate with other Bluetooth devices.
Profiles build on the Bluetooth standard define what kind of data a Bluetooth module is transmitting. The device’s application determines which profiles it must support, from hands-free capabilities to heart rate sensors to alerts and more.
When embedding this technology in a device, a “Profile” is allocated to a device called Classic or Smart profile. These devices are called Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth Classic devices.
Bluetooth 5.1-Latest Version
Bluetooth 4.1,4.2 and 5 are various versions of this technology. Every higher version has more and advanced feature. Bluetooth 5 is the latest version of it that has been released on December 2016. The special interest group (SIG) that controls the spec has opted to simply call it “Bluetooth 5” with no decimal point, It was designed specifically to provide lossless and secure communication as our gadgets and gizmos become more and more technologically advanced.
Bluetooth 5.1 brings new “direction-finding” features that will let these devices pinpoint physical location to the centimeter, aiding in indoor positioning. This latest version includes features that will make for more reliable Bluetooth connections, too.