Bluetooth Technology
Bluetooth has a lot to offer with an increasingly difficult market place. Bluetooth helps to bring with it the promise of freedom from the cables and simplicity in networking that has yet to be matched by LAN (Local Area Network). In the key marketplace, of wireless and handheld devices, the closest competitor to Bluetooth is infrared. Infrared holds many key features, although the line of sight it provides does not go through walls or through obstacles like that of the Bluetooth technology. Unlike infrared, Bluetooth is not a line of sight and it provides ranges of up to 100 meters. Bluetooth is also low power and low processing with an overhead protocol. What this means, is that it is ideal for integration into small battery powered devices. Infrared can have data rates of up to 4 MBps, which provides very fast rates for data transfer, while Bluetooth only offers 1 MBps. Infrared has inherent security due to its line of sight. The greater range and radio frequency (RF) of Bluetooth make it much more open to interception and attack. Although there are very few disadvantages, Bluetooth still remains the best for short range wireless technology. Unlike infrared, Bluetooth does not require line of site positioning to work. Current prototype circuits are contained on a board that is 0. 9 cm square, with a much smaller circuit board being developed. When one Bluetooth device comes in contact with another, they will automatically exchange addresses and details of capability.