A SURVEY ON BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

Bluetooth is a method for data communication that uses short-range radio links to replace cables between computers and their connected units. Bluetooth is a global de facto standard for wireless connectivity that can connect computing and communications devices. Its main features are lost cost, and short-range radio link based on which, it cuts the cords that used to tie up the digital devices. When two Bluetooth equipped devices come within 10 meters range of each other, they can establish a connection together without even requiring a line-of-sight connection .In this paper we will discuss the questions like such as what is Bluetooth? Why Bluetooth? What are its history, status quo and future? Will be discussed. We will also discuss the The inner details such as Bluetooth Protocol Stack, and its technical specifications, and its various applications will be discussed.

What is Bluetooth? Bluetooth is a global, inexpensive, RF based (ISM-2.4GHz), short-range and robust wireless connectivity solution for portable and personal devices. It is just not a Radio but an end-to-end solution. The Bluetooth specification comprises of both Hardware and software specifications. It operates in license free ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) frequency band of 2.4 GHZ. In order to allow many different wireless networks to coexist and to avoid possible interferences, spread spectrum Fast Frequency Hopping is used (1600 hops/sec). It has a range up to 100 meters depending on the network in which it is used. It has a modest data rate of 721Kbps. It facilitates transmission of both data and voice signals. It is Dynamically Configurable i.e. it can facilitate ad hoc networking /roaming. It is very well suited for handheld devices the power consumption is very low. (rephrase some sentences so It does not begin every sentence.) Bluetooth standard is aimed at achieving global acceptance such that any Bluetooth device, anywhere in the world, can connect to other Bluetooth devices in its proximity, regardless of brand. Bluetooth enabled electronic devices to connect and communicate wirelessly via short-range, ad hoc networks called piconets. Each unit can simultaneously communicate with up to seven other units per piconet. Moreover, each unit can simultaneously belong to several piconets. AdHocNetworking

These piconets are established dynamically and automatically as Bluetooth devices enter and leave the radio proximity. Since each Bluetooth device supports both point-to-point and point-to-multi-point connections, several piconets can be established and linked together ad hoc. The Bluetooth topology is best described as a multiple piconet structure.

History of Bluetooth [1]

L.M.Ericson of Sweden invented Bluetooth in 1994. The standard is named after Harald Blaatand Bluetooth II, king King of Denmark 940-981 A.D. A runic stone has been erected in his capitol city, Jelling (Jutland), that depicts the chivalry of Harald, and the runes say: Harald Christianized the Danes. Harald controlled Denmark and Norway. Harald thinks notebooks and their cellular phones should seamlessly communicate. The following are the events in Bluetooths history: In 1994, Ericsson first releases Bluetooth specification. In February1998- , Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was founded by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba to develop an open specification for short-range wireless connectivity. The group is now also promoted by 3COM, Microsoft, Lucent, and Motorola. More than 2000 members have joined and still counting.

In July 1999 Bluetooth 1.0 specification was released. In 2000-2001 there was a Developers conference for Promoting total solutions and partnerships. Promoting need for interoperability/compatibility. Managing customer expectations.

In February 2001,Bluetooth specification 1.1 was released.

Why Bluetooth ?

No Line-Of-Sight Required Bluetooth attempts to provide significant advantages over other existing data transfer technologies, such as IrDA and HomeRF, vying for similar markets. IrDA is already popular in PC peripherals, but is limited by short connection distance of 1mt and the line-of-sight requirement for communication. This limitation eliminates the feasibility of using IrDA for hidden computing devices, where the communicating devices are nearby but not visible to one another. Due to its RF nature, Bluetooth is not subjected to such limitations. Moreover, the range is from 1mt to 10mt (100mt when transmitters

power is increased). Devices need not be in line-of-sight and may even connect through walls or other non-metal objects which allows applications such as a cell phone in a pocket or a briefcase acting as a modem for a laptop or PDA.

Low Cost
Bluetooth is designed to be a low-cost, eventually under $10/unit. Modest Data Transfer Rate Bluetooth supports 780 Kbps, which may be used for 721 Kbps unidirectional data transfer (57.6 Kbps return direction) or upto 432.6 Kbps symmetric data transfer. These rates are comparable to 1-2 Mbps supported by HomeRF, and are perfectly adequate for file transfer and printing applications. Ability to handle Voice and Data simultaneously Bluetooths main strength is its ability to simultaneously handle both data and voice transmissions. It is capable of supporting one asynchronous data channel and upto three synchronous voice channels, or one channel supporting both voice and data. This capability combined with ad hoc device connection and automatic service discovery makes it a superior solution for mobile devices and Internet applications. Low Power

Bluetooth is designed in such a way that its devices should not be a burden for on battery lifetime. So, its Its design includes several power conserving features, including sniff, hold and park baseband modes and adaptive transmission power. The typical values of transmitting power are 50 A in hold and park modes and only 20 a in standby mode. Adaptive transmission of power allows a transmitting radio to decrease its transmission power when the received signal strength indicator of the receiving device indicates that a lower power level is sufficient for this communication link.

Security
It (define what it is) separates this frequency band into hops. This spread spectrum is used to hop from one channel to another, which adds a strong layer of security.

BLUETOOTH SPECIFICATION[2]
The Blue tooth 1.1 specifications were released in February 2001. Core specifications The core specification defines all layers of the Bluetooth protocol stack. The Bluetooth protocol stack differs from the classical seven-layer networking model in some ways. These differences are primarily to support ad hoc connectivity among participating nodes, while conserving power and accommodating devices that lack resources to support all layers of the classical networking stack. RF The Radio is the lowest layer. Its interface specification defines the characteristics of the radio front end, frequency bands, channel arrangements, permissible transmit power levels, and receiver sensitivity level. BASEBAND This layer carries out Bluetooths physical (PHY) and media access control (MAC) processing. This layer provides:

 Device discovery

Link formation and control (synchronous & synchronous)

Frequency selection for frequency hopping

BLUETOOTH PROTOCOL STACK

SERVICE DISCOVERY

APPLICATIONS PPP RFCOMM

C O N T R O L

HCI

PROTOCOL

DATA

L2 CAP
AUDIO

LINK MANAGER PROTOCOL

BASEBAND RF

BLUETOOTH CHIP

RF

BASEBAND CONTROLLER

LINK MANAGER

Host

 Error correction Security LMP (Link Manager Protocol) This (define what this is) layer performs Link setup, Link configuration and authentication. Bluetooth peers must exchange several control messages for the purpose of configuring and managing the baseband connections. These message definitions are part of LMP. The functional entity responsible for carrying out the processing associated with LMP is called Link Manager. HCI (Host Controller Interface) This layer provides access to the Bluetooth Baseband, hardware status, and control registers. The Host Controller Interface specification defines a standard interface-independent method of communicating with a Bluetooth chip. The software stack on the host processor communicates with the Bluetooth hardware using HCI commands. HCI layer is a part of Bluetooth stack, but it doesnt does not constitute a peer-to-peer communication layer since the HCI command and response messages do not flow over airlink. L2CAP (Logical Link Control and Adaption Protocol) L2CAP can be viewed as Bluetooths Link layer. Usually, L2CAP and above layers are implemented in software. It provides connectionless and
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connection oriented data services to applications. Two link layers support the Baseband layer: SCO (Synchronous connection-Oriented) ACL (Asynchronous Connection Less) L2CAP delivers packets received from higher layers to the other end of the link. Bluetooth devices can establish an L2CAP connection as soon as they are in range of each other. A client device then needs to discover the services provided by the server device. SDP (Service Discovery Protocol) It provides means for applications to determine the available services and their characteristics. This protocol defines the means by which the client device can discover services as well as their attributes. The SDP design has been optimized for Bluetooth. It defines only the discovery mechanisms; the methods for accessing those services are outside its scope. RFCOMM This specification defines a method of emulating the RS-232 cable connection on top of the Bluetooth air link. PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) This provides a packet-oriented interface to the higher layers, all packetbased network and transport protocols, Including including TCP/IP, can be supported on the top of PPP.
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APPLICATIONS The L2CAP may be accessed directly by the applications or through support protocols like such as RFCOMM, TCS and SDP. The applications may use other protocols like such as TCP/IP, WAP and Bluetooth allows these to inter operate. The applications may themselves run PPP, FTP or other specific protocols as required by the application. An application may use the SDP to discover whether the service it needs from a remote device is available.

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NETWORK TOPOLOGY
Bluetooth devices are generally organized into groups of two to eight devices called piconets, consisting of a single master device and one or more slave devices. A device may additionally belong to more than one piconet, either as a slave in both or as a master of one piconet and a slave in another. These bridge devices effectively connect piconets into a scatternet. Bluetooth operates in the unlicensed ISM frequency band, generally cluttered with signals from other devices: garage door openers, baby monitors, and microwave ovens, to name just a few. To help Bluetooth devices coexist and operate reliably alongside other ISM devices, each Bluetooth piconet is synchronized to a specific frequency-hopping pattern. This pattern, moving through 1600 different frequencies per second, is unique to the particular piconet. Each frequency hop is a time slot during which data packets are transferred. A packet may actually span up to five time slots, in which case the frequency remains constant for the duration of that transfer.
Bluetooth Scatternet diagram

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BASEBAND STATE MACHINE

Piconets may be static or formed dynamically as devices move in and out of range of one another. A device leaves standby (the low-power default state) by initiating or receiving an inquiry or a page command. An inquiry may be used if the address of a targeted device is unknown; it must be followed by a page command. A page command containing a specific Device Access Code is used to connect to a remote device. Once the remote device responds, both devices enter the connected state, with the initiating device becoming the master and the responding device acting as a slave. Once in the connected state, the slave device will synchronize to the masters clock and to the correct frequency-hopping pattern. At this point, link managers exchange commands in order to set up the link and acquire device information. The master will then initiate regular transmissions in order to keep the piconet synchronized.
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Slaves listen on every master-transmit time slot in order to Synchronize with the master and to determine if they have been addressed. Each active slave is assigned an active member address (AM_ADDR) and participates actively on the piconet, listening to all master time slots to determine if the master is addressing it. In addition, there are three low power slave states: sniff, hold, and park. A master can only transmit to devices in sniff mode during particular sniff-designated time slots. Therefore, these Devices listen only during these special time slots and sleep the rest of the time. A slave in hold mode, alternately, does not receive any asynchronous packets and listens only to determine if it should become active again. Finally, a device in park mode not only stops listening, but also gives up its active member Address. It is only a member of the piconet in that it remains synchronized with the frequency-hopping pattern.

BASEBAND LINKS The Bluetooth baseband provides transmission channels for both data and voice, and is capable of supporting one asynchronous data link and up to three synchronous voice links (or one link supporting both). Synchronous connection-oriented (SCO) links are typically used for voice transmission. These are point-to-point symmetric connections that reserve time slots in order to guarantee timely transmission. The slave device is always allowed to respond during the time slot immediately following an SCO transmission

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from the master. A master can support up to three SCO links to a single or multiple slaves, but a single slave can support only two SCO links to different masters. SCO packets are never retransmitted. Asynchronous connectionless (ACL) links are typically used for data transmission. Transmissions on these links are established on a per-slot basis (in slots not reserved for SCO links). ACL links support point-to-multipoint transfers of either asynchronous or Synchronous data. After an ACL transmission from the master, only the addressed slave device may respond during the next time slot, or if no device is addressed, the packet is considered a broadcast message. Most ACL links include packet retransmission.

SECURITY
The Bluetooth system is intended to be used as a uniform interface to all of a person's information sources and will thus be expected to transfer sensitive personal data. Security of the data is thus an important issue. Bluetooth devices are expected to be omnipresent and at some places the access to these devices by public users may have to be restricted. This calls for authentication procedures to be provided. The scheme used by the Bluetooth standard to tackle these issues is referred to as the challenge response scheme. The application may itself encrypt its data for added security. That can add to the safety of the data, but the most of the authentication is based on the link level security procedures.

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The procedures for security use four values: the device address (which is public), a private authentication key (128 bits), private encryption key (8128 bits, configurable) and a random number. As the keys have to be secret, they cannot be obtained by inquiry. The security procedure requires a secret PIN to be known to the user (or stored by his application) for accessing a particular device. The main steps in the procedure are: 1. An initialization key is generated using the PIN, the length of the PIN, a random number and the device address. 2. An authentication procedure is carried out using the challenge response scheme. The verifier unit sends a random number generated by a specific process for the authentication. This random number is such that a claimant device which has the correct initialization key (or a link key if the devices had exchanged that during an earlier communication) and the required device address will be able to produce a response number which is known to the verifier. This response number is sent back and checked by the verifier. 3. The claimant may also carry out verification on the verifier using a similar procedure as above. 4. Each Bluetooth unit has a unit key, installed in its non-volatile memory. The device now uses the initialization key to encrypt this unit key and sends it to the other device, which decrypts it using the initialization key exchanged earlier. 5. The second device may add its own unit key to the unit key of the first device and generate a combination link key if both the devices are capable of handling this. Otherwise, the unit key of one of the devices is treated as the

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link key. The link key is communicated to the first device. The initialization key is discarded. 6. An encryption key is now generated from the link key, a random number and another number obtained from a fixed procedure. Both the devices can generate this encryption key, as both devices know all the required information. This key with some modification is used to encrypt data payloads. The link key is remembered. If another link is to be established between the two devices at a later time, this link key can be directly used.

COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
There is no single competitor covering the entire concept of the Bluetooth wireless technology but in certain market segments other technologies exist. IrDA For cable replacement, the infrared standard IrDA has been around for some years and is quite well known and widespread. IrDA is faster than the Bluetooth wireless technology but is limited to point-to-point connections and above all it requires a clear line-of-sight. In the past, IrDA has had problems with incompatible standard implementations, a lesson that the

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Bluetooth SIG has learnt. Wireless LAN Wireless LANs are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. The technology is used to replace a wired LAN throughout a building. The transmission capacity is high and so is the number of simultaneous users. On the other hand, compared to Bluetooth wireless technology, it is more expensive and power consuming, and the hardware requires more space. It is therefore not suitable for small mobile devices.

Home RF The Home RF also uses the 2.4 GHz radio band and has many similarities to the Bluetooth wireless technology. Home RF can operate ad hoc networks (data only) or be under the control of a connection point coordinating the system and providing a gateway to the telephone network (data & voice). The hop frequency is 8 Hz while a Bluetooth link hops at 1600 Hz. Ultra-Wideband Radio Ultra-Wideband Radio (UWB) is a new radio technology still under development. Short pulses are transmitted in a broad frequency range. The

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capacity appears to be high while power consumption is expected to be low.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Normal range Optional range Normal transmitting power Optional transmitting power Receiver sensitivity Frequency band Gross data rate Max. Data transfer Power consumption, hold/park

10 m 100 m 0dbm (1 mw) -30 to +20dbm (100 mw) -70 dBm 2.4 GHz 1mbps 721 +56 kbit/3 voice channels 50 A

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Power consumption, standby Power consumption, max.

20 A 30 a

Packet switching protocol based on a frequency hop scheme with 1600 hops/sec.

BLUETOOTH TODAY AND TOMORROW With the bulk of the work developing the Bluetooth specification complete, the Bluetooth SIG is now working on improvements and analyzing feedback from the industry. In addition to their work investigating improvements in speed, security, noise immunity, and so on, the SIG continues to develop Bluetooth profiles. As more and more manufacturers adopt Bluetooth and create devices that support it, developers will find new, previously unimagined ways of applying its power. Together with other industry initiatives, such as WAP and Symbian, Bluetooth will have tremendous effects on everyday life. Bluetooth is one of the key technologies that can

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make the mobile information society possible, blurring the boundaries between home, office, and outside world.

CONCLUSION In the future, Bluetooth is likely to be standard in tens of millions of mobile phones, PCs, laptops, and a whole range of other electronic devices. As a result, the market is going to demand new innovative applications, valueadded services, end-to-end solutions, and much more. The possibilities opened up really are limitless, and because the radio frequency used is globally available, . Bluetooth can offer fast and secure access to wireless connectivity all over the world. With potential like that, its its no wonder that Bluetooth is set to become the fastest adopted technology in history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Bluetooth in Wireless Communication by k.v.s.s.Sairam, N.Gunasekaran, S.Rama Reddy. 2) Bluetooth: Technology for short- range applications by Pravin Bhagawat. 3) Bluetooth revealed by Brent A.Miller,Chatschik Bisdikian.
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4) Bluetooth: A new era of connectivity by Wei-Shin Wang. 5) www.Bluetooth.com

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