Bluetooth: Wireless Protocol

Bluetooth is a standard for a small , cheap radio chip to be plugged into computers, printers, mobile phones, etc.  A Bluetooth chip is designed to replace cables by taking the information normally carried by the cable, and transmitting it at a special frequency to a receiver Bluetooth chip, which will then transfers the information received to the computer, phone or other device.  This Bluetooth connection is wireless and automatic.

Bluetooth is intended to get around the problems that come with infrared systems.  It does this by creating a Personal Area Network(PAN) also known as a piconet. Bluetooth network members randomly hop frequencies in unison so they stay in touch with one another and avoid other piconets that may be operating in the same area. The older Bluetooth 1.0 standard has a maximum transfer speed of 1 megabit per second (Mbps), while Bluetooth 2.0 can manage up to 3 Mbps. Bluetooth 2.0 is backward compatible with 1.0 devices. Bluetooth does all this by communicating on a frequency of 2.45GHz.

Bluetooth can connect up to eight devices simultaneously. With all of those devices in the same 10-meter (32-foot) radius.  Also, Bluetooth is setup with security devices to help keep its wireless network secure.  Service-level security and device-level security work together to protect Bluetooth devices from unauthorized data transmission. Security methods include authorization and identification procedures that limit the use of Bluetooth services.