An Introduction to

BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY
 CONTENT
• Overview of Bluetooth History
• The Bluetooth Specifications
• Typical Bluetooth Scenario
• Protocols
• Profiles
• Security
• Comparison with other technologies
• Future of Bluetooth
• Summary
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 Example : The Networked Home

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 What is Bluetooth?

• “Bluetooth wireless technology is an open specification for a

low-cost, low-power, short-range radio technology for ad-hoc
wireless communication of voice and data anywhere in the
world.”

One of the first modules (Ericsson) A recent module

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 Ultimate Headset

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 Cordless Computer

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 Bluetooth Goals & Vision

• Originally conceived as a cable replacement technology

• Short-Range Wireless Solutions
• Open Specification
• Voice and Data Capability
• Worldwide Usability
• Other usage models began to develop:
— Personal Area Network (PAN)
— Ad-hoc networks
— Data/voice access points
— Wireless telematics
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 Overview of Bluetooth History
• What is Bluetooth?
— Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communications technology.

• Why this name?

— It was taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Blatand who
unified Denmark and Norway.

• When does it appear?

— 1994 – Ericsson study on a wireless technology to link mobile phones &
accessories.
— 5 companies joined to form the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) in
1998.
— First specification released in July 1999.
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 Timeline
• 1994 : Ericsson study complete / vision
• 1995 : Engineering work begins
• 1997 : Intel agrees to collaborate
• 1998 : Bluetooth SIG formed: Ericsson, Intel, IBM, Nokia & Toshiba
• 1999 : Bluetooth Specification 1.0A
SIG promoter group expanded: 3Com, Lucent, Microsoft &
Motorola
• 2000 : Bluetooth Specification 1.0B, 2000+ adopters
• 2001 : First retail products released, Specification 1.1
• 2003 : Bluetooth Specification 1.2
• 2005 : Bluetooth Specification 2.0 (?)
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 Special Interest Group

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 Technical features
Connection Type Spread Spectrum (Frequency Hopping) &
Time Division Duplex (1600 hops/sec)
Spectrum 2.4 GHz ISM Open Band (79 MHz of
spectrum = 79 channels)
Modulation Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying
Transmission Power 1 mw – 100 mw
Data Rate 1 Mbps
Range 30 ft
Supported Stations 8 devices
Data Security –Authentication Key 128 bit key
Data Security –Encryption Key 8-128 bits (configurable)
Module size 9 x 9 mm

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 Bluetooth FHSS

• Employs frequency hopping

spread spectrum
• Reduce interference with
other devices
• Pseudorandom hopping
• 1600 hops/sec- time slot is
defined as 625 microseconds
• Packet 1-5 time slots long

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 Time-Division Duplex Scheme

• Channel is divided into consecutive slots (each 625 µ s)

• One packet can be transmitted per slot
• Subsequent slots are alternatively used for transmitting and receiving
— Strict alternation of slots between the master and the slaves
— Master can send packets to a slave only in EVEN slots
— Slave can send packets to the master only in the ODD slots

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 Classification

• Classification of devices on the basis of Power dissipated &

corresponding maximum Range.

POWER RANGE

CLASS I 20 dBm 100 m

CLASS II 0-4 dBm 10 m
CLASS III 0 dBm 1m

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 Typical Bluetooth Scenario

• Bluetooth will support wireless point-to-point and

point-to-multipoint (broadcast) between devices in a
piconet.
• Point to Point Link m s
— Master - slave relationship
— Bluetooth devices can function as masters or slaves

• Piconet
— It is the network formed by a Master and one or more slaves
(max 7) m
— Each piconet is defined by a different hopping channel to
which users synchronize to
— Each piconet has max capacity (1 Mbps) s s s

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 Piconet Structure

Master

Active Slave

Parked Slave

Standby

• All devices in piconet hop together.

• Master’s ID and master’s clock determines frequency hopping
sequence & phase.

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 Ad-hoc Network – the Scatternet

• Inter-piconet communication
• Up to 10 piconets in a
scatternet
• Multiple piconets can operate
within same physical space
• This is an ad-hoc, peer to
peer (P2P) network

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 Bluetooth Protocol Stack

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 Baseband

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 Baseband
• Addressing
— Bluetooth device address (BD_ADDR)
– 48 bit IEEE MAC address
— Active Member address (AM_ADDR)
– 3 bits active slave address
– all zero broadcast address
— Parked Member address (PM_ADDR)
– 8 bit parked slave address

• This MAC address is split into three parts

— The Non-significant Address Part (NAP)
– Used for encryption seed
— The Upper Address part (UAP)
– Used for error correction seed initialization & FH sequence generation
— The Lower Address Part (LAP)
– Used for FH sequence generation

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 Packet Structure

72 bits 54 bits 0 - 2744 bits

Access Header Payload

Code

Voice header Data CRC

No CRC ARQ
FEC (optional) FEC (optional)

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 Connection State Machine

Inquiry Page

Standby Connected

Transmit data

Snif
Park Hold
f
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 Channel Establishment

• There are two managed situations

— A device knows the parameters
of the other
– It follows paging process
— No knowledge about the other
– Then it follows inquiring &
paging process
• Two main states and sub-states Connection
State
— Standby (no interaction) Machine
— Connection (working)
— Seven more sub-states for
attaching slaves & connection
establishment
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 Channel Establishment (contd.)

• Seven sub-states
— Inquiry
— Inquiry scan
— Inquiry response
— Page
— Page scan
— Master response
— Slave response

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 Link Manager Protocol

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 Link Manager Protocol

• The Link Manager carries out link setup, authentication & link
configuration.

• Channel Control
— All the work related to the channel control is managed by the master
– The master uses polling process for this
— The master is the first device which starts the connection
– This roles can change (master-slave role switch)

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 L2CAP

• Service provided to the higher layer:

— L2CAP provides connection-oriented and connectionless data
services to upper layer protocols
— Protocol multiplexing and demultiplexing capabilities

— Segmentation & reassembly of large packets

— L2CAP permits higher level protocols and applications to transmit

and receive L2CAP data packets up to 64 kilobytes in length.

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 Middleware Protocol Group

•Additional transport protocols to

allow existing and new applications to
operate over Bluetooth. Applications
IP
•Packet based telephony control SDP RFCOMM

l o
signaling protocol also present.

ntr
Data

Co
•Also includes Service Discovery
Protocol. L2CAP
Audio
Link Manager
Middleware Protocol Group Baseband
RF
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 Middleware Protocol Group (contd.)

• Service Discovery Protocol (SDP)

— Means for applications to discover device info, services and its
characteristics.

• TCP/IP
— Network Protocols for packet data communication, routing.

• RFCOMM
— Cable replacement protocol, emulation of serial ports over wireless network.

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 IP Over Bluetooth

• IP over Bluetooth v 1.0

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 IP Over Bluetooth

• IP over Bluetooth v 1.1

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 File Transfer Profile

• Profile provides:
• Enhanced client-server interactions:
- browse, create, transfer folders
- browse, pull, push, delete files

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 Headset Profile

• Profile provides:
• Both devices must provide capability to initiate connection &
accept/terminate calls.
• Volume can be controlled from either device.
• Audio gateway can notify headset of an incoming call.

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 Core Bluetooth Products

• Notebook PCs & Desktop • CD Player

computers
• TV/VCR/DVD
• Printers
• Access Points
• PDAs
• Telephone Answering
• Other handheld devices Devices
• Cell phones • Cordless Phones
• Wireless peripherals: • Cars
• Headsets
• Cameras

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 Other Products…

• 2004 Toyota Prius & Lexus LS 430

— hands free calls

• Digital Pulse Oximetry System

• Toshiba Washer & Dryer
• Nokia N-gage

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 Security

• Security Measures
— Link Level Encryption & Authentication.
— Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) for device access.
— Long encryption keys are used (128 bit keys).
— These keys are not transmitted over wireless. Other parameters are
transmitted over wireless which in combination with certain
information known to the device, can generate the keys.
— Further encryption can be done at the application layer.

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 A Comparison

WLAN

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 Bluetooth vs. IrD

• Bluetooth
— Point to Multipoint
— Data & Voice
— Easier Synchronization due
to omni-directional and no
LOS requirement
— Devices can be mobile
— Range 10 m
•IrD
—Point to point
—Intended for Data
Communication
—Infrared, LOS communication
—Can not penetrate solid objects
—Both devices must be stationary,
for synchronization
—Range 1 m

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 Bluetooth: Today & Tomorrow

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Will Bluetooth become a household name?

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 Future of Bluetooth

• Success of Bluetooth depends on how well it is integrated into

consumer products
— Consumers are more interested in applications than the technology
— Bluetooth must be successfully integrated into consumer products
— Must provide benefits for consumer
— Must not destroy current product benefits

• Key Success Factors

— Interoperability
— Mass Production at Low Cost
— Ease of Use
— End User Experience
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 Summary

• A new global standard for data and voice

• Eliminate Cables
• Low Power, Low range, Low Cost network devices
• Future Improvements
— Master-Slave relationship can be adjusted dynamically for optimal
resource allocation and utilization.
— Adaptive, closed loop transmit power control can be implemented
to further reduce unnecessary power usage.

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“Things that think…
don’t make sense unless they
link.”

- Nicholas Negroponte, MIT Media Laboratory

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 Thank You

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