| Specifications and Features | | | | number of features to increase security, |
| | | | usability and value of Bluetooth. The |
| The Bluetooth specification was developed in | | | | following features are defined: |
| 1994 by Sven Mattisson and Jaap Haartsen, who | | | | |
| were working for Ericsson Mobile Platforms in | | | | Automatic Encryption Change - allows |
| Lund, Sweden.[1] The specifications were | | | | encrypted links to change their encryption |
| formalized by the Bluetooth Special Interest | | | | keys periodically, increasing security, and |
| Group (SIG). The SIG was formally announced | | | | also allowing role switches on an encrypted |
| on May 20, 1998. Today it has over 6000 | | | | link |
| companies worldwide. It was established by | | | | |
| Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Toshiba | | | | Extended Inquiry Response - provides more |
| and Nokia, and later joined by many other | | | | information during the inquiry procedure to |
| companies as Associate or Adopter members. | | | | allow better filtering of devices before |
| Bluetooth is also known as IEEE 802.15.1. | | | | connection. This information includes the |
| | | | name of the device, and a list of services, |
| Bluetooth 1.0 and 1.0B | | | | with other information. |
| | | | |
| Versions 1.0 and 1.0B had many problems and | | | | Sniff Subrating - reducing the power |
| the various manufacturers had great | | | | consumption when devices are in the sniff |
| difficulties in making their products | | | | low-power mode, especially on links with |
| interoperable. 1.0 and 1.0B also had | | | | asymmetric data flows. Human interface |
| mandatory Bluetooth Hardware Device Address | | | | devices (HID) are expected to benefit the |
| (BD_ADDR) transmission in the handshaking | | | | most, with mice and keyboards increasing the |
| process, rendering anonymity impossible at a | | | | battery life from 3 to 10 times those |
| protocol level, which was a major setback for | | | | currently used. |
| services planned to be used in Bluetooth | | | | |
| environments, such as Consumerium. | | | | QoS Improvements - these will enable audio |
| | | | and video data to be transmitted at a higher |
| Bluetooth 1.1 | | | | quality, especially when best effort traffic |
| | | | is being transmitted in the same piconet. |
| Many errors found in the 1.0B specifications | | | | |
| were fixed. | | | | Simple Pairing - this improvement will |
| | | | radically improve the pairing experience for |
| Added support for non-encrypted channels. | | | | Bluetooth devices, while at the same time |
| | | | increasing the use and strength of security. |
| Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) | | | | It is expected that this feature will |
| | | | significantly increase the use of |
| Bluetooth 1.2 | | | | Bluetooth.[3] |
| | | | |
| This version is backwards compatible with 1.1 | | | | Bluetooth technology already plays a part in |
| and the major enhancements include | | | | the rising Voice over IP (VOIP) scene, with |
| | | | Bluetooth headsets being used as wireless |
| Adaptive Frequency-hopping spread spectrum | | | | extensions to the PC audio system. As VOIP |
| (AFH), which improves resistance to radio | | | | becomes more popular, and more suitable for |
| frequency interference by avoiding the use of | | | | general home or office users than wired phone |
| crowded frequencies in the hopping sequence | | | | lines, Bluetooth may be used in Cordless |
| | | | handsets, with a base station connected to |
| Higher transmission speeds in practice, up to | | | | the Internet link. |
| 721 kbps, same as 1.1 | | | | |
| | | | The version of Bluetooth after Lisbon, |
| extended Synchronous Connections (eSCO), | | | | code-named Seattle, has many of the same |
| which improves voice quality of audio links | | | | features, but is most notable for plans to |
| by allowing retransmissions of corrupted | | | | adopt Ultra-wideband radio technology. This |
| packets. | | | | will allow Bluetooth use over UWB radio, |
| | | | enabling very fast data transfers, |
| Host Controller Interface (HCI) support for | | | | synchronizations and file pushes, while |
| 3-wire UART | | | | building on the very low power idle modes of |
| | | | Bluetooth. The combination of a radio using |
| HCI access to timing information for | | | | little power when no data is transmitted, and |
| Bluetooth applications | | | | a high data rate radio used to transmit bulk |
| | | | data, could be the start of software radios. |
| Bluetooth 2.0 | | | | Bluetooth, given its worldwide regulatory |
| | | | approval, low power operation, and robust |
| This version is backwards compatible with | | | | data transmission capabilities, provides an |
| 1.x. The main enhancement is the introduction | | | | excellent signalling channel to enable the |
| of Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) of 3.0 Mbps. This | | | | soft radio concept. |
| has the following effects: | | | | |
| | | | On 28 March 2006, the Bluetooth Special |
| 3 times faster transmission speed up to 10 | | | | Interest Group announced its selection of the |
| times in certain cases (up to 2.1 Mbit/s). | | | | WiMedia Alliance Multi-Band Orthogonal |
| | | | Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) |
| Lower power consumption through a reduced | | | | version of Ultra-wideband (UWB) for |
| duty cycle. | | | | integration with current Bluetooth wireless |
| | | | technology. UWB integration will create a |
| Simplification of multi-link scenarios due to | | | | version of the globally popular Bluetooth |
| more available bandwidth. | | | | wireless technology with a high speed/high |
| | | | data rate option. This new version of |
| Further improved BER (bit error rate) | | | | Bluetooth technology will meet the high-speed |
| performance. | | | | demands of synchronizing and transferring |
| | | | large amounts of data as well as enabling |
| Bluetooth 2.1 | | | | high quality video and audio applications for |
| | | | portable devices, multi-media projectors and |
| A draft version of the Bluetooth Core | | | | television sets, wireless VOIP. At the same |
| Specification Version 2.1 + EDR is now | | | | time, Bluetooth technology will continue |
| available from the Bluetooth website. | | | | catering to the needs of very low power |
| | | | applications such as mice, keyboards and mono |
| Future of Bluetooth | | | | headsets, enabling devices to select the most |
| | | | appropriate physical radio for the |
| The next version of Bluetooth technology, | | | | application requirements, thereby offering |
| currently code-named Lisbon, includes a | | | | the best of both worlds. |