Bluetooth and Infared
With new electrical devices being produced every day, the problem of connecting things is becoming more and more complex in nature. The system that comprises computers and other electronics makes use of varieties of wires, cables, etc.
These parts will communicate through light beams, lasers, radio signals, and infrared. The problem however, is the devices and technology is often the connection between each component. Therefore, most electronic systems aren’t used to their full extent due to the problems and imperfections.
To help simplify things, a solution was created – the solution of Bluetooth. Bluetooth is wireless and automatic, offering users a variety of features that have simplified the art of connection. Bluetooth has revolutionized the standard methods of connecting things to enabling almost anything to be connected to a single system.
Aside from Bluetooth, there are other ways of connecting wireless devices. One example of such is the IR or infrared. Infrared allows low frequency light waves to transmit signals to another component. This technology is easy to create and the cost of putting the IR device into a system is rather low.
Infrared technology is a one to one process. Due to the limitation, you may only send signals from one device to another, similar to a television set and remote control. You can only transmit signals between the two although not with a seperate system.
Aside from the fact that these two natures of infrared are obstacles to acquiring results, these same qualities have worked in advantage to the connection. Infrared devices need to be lined up directly, meaning too little interference can occur between the transmitters and receivers.
The technology behind Bluetooth works by transmitting signals through low frequency radio signals. The path of communication is working on 2.45 GHz, which is the same frequency band used in ISM devices.
The Future Of Bluetooth
Because it meets the basic needs of connectivity in close range, Bluetooth has a very bright future ahead of it. Bluetooth is actually the result of initiatives from nine leading communications and computer industry giants, including 3-COM, Sony, Lucent, IBM, Nokia, Microsoft, etc.
Since the forming of the original group, more than 1,800 manufacturers around the world have joined the initiative. According to reports, the Bluetooth technology is expected to be built into more than 100 million devices, with over 670 million enabled Bluetooth devices.
Resulting from the amazing success of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), the adoption of smart phones and hand held devices, Bluetooth can easily have an amazing impact on your day to day life. Bluetooth is one of the key technologies that can help to make the mobile information society happen, by blurring the possibilities between home, the office and the outside world.
The seamless integration and connectivity that Bluetooth promises will make it possible to explore a wide range of interactive and highly transparent personalized services which were actually quite difficult to dream of simply because of the complexity involved with making such devices communicate with each other.
Many Bluetooth pilot products have already been rolled into the market and backed by big vendors, which is a healthy sign for the overall acceptance of the technology. The support for Bluetooth isn’t limited to companies that develop only Bluetooth enabled products.
The applications for Bluetooth can have great impacts on other industries as well. The adoption of Bluetooth technology is expected to spread throughout the industry of computers.
Unlike infrared technology, Bluetooth is used by many different wireless devices. Bluetooth offers exceptional quality for short range wireless, even going through walls and obstructions. While infrared is the biggest competitor at this time, Bluetooth far surpasses it, proving to millions that it is the wireless communication technology of the present day and age.
In the beginning, Bluetooth started with version 1.0, then gradually moved from there. The current version is 2.0+EDR, with another version currently in development. The technology behind the Bluetooth specification always getting better and better, which is why it’s so popular.
In the future, you can expect the technology behind Bluetooth to get better. Bluetooth has proven to be the wireless standard of the future, offering you wireless connectability for hundreds of different devices. For cell phones or other forms of wireless connections, Bluetooth is the one technology that you don’t want to find yourself without.
