BLUETOOTH—The universal radio interface for ad hoc, wireless connectivity
Jaap C. Haartsen · 1998
that is small enough to fit inside any electronic device or machine, that provides local connectivity, and that creates a (worldwide) micro-scale web. What applications might you use it in? In 1994, Ericsson Mobile Communications AB in Lund, Sweden, initiated a study to investigate the feasibility of a low-power, low-cost radio interface between mobile phones and their accessories. The intention was to eliminate cables between phones and PC cards, wireless headsets, and so forth. The study was part of a larger project that investigated multi-communicators connected to the cellular network via cellular telephones. The last link in the connection between a communicator and the cellular network was a short-range radio link to the phone—thus, the link was called the multicommunicator link or MC link. As the MC link project progressed, it became clear that there was no limit to the kinds of application that could use a short-range radio link. Cheap, short-range radios would make wireless communication between portable devices economically feasible. Current portable devices use infrared links (IrDA) to communicate with each other. Although infrared transceivers are inexpensive, they • have limited range (typically one to two meters); • are sensitive to direction and require direct line-of-sight; • can in principle only be used between two devices. By contrast, radios have much greater range, can propagate around objects and through various materials, and connect to many devices simultaneously. What is more, radio interfaces do not require user interaction. In the beginning of 1997, when designers had already begun work on an MC link