Bluetooth(R) SIG Unites Wireless Under One Umbrella4 March 2006
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced its intent to work closely with other wireless technologies in order to identify synergies. Combining technology, functionality or user interface of the respective technologies will improve the overall wireless user experience. In the wireless marketplace, developers have shifted their focus from concentrating on one wireless technology per product to exploring ways to create combined wireless solutions.
The Bluetooth SIG is made up of over 4000 member companies, many of which are involved in the development of multiple wireless technologies. The Bluetooth SIG believes cooperation is the best and fastest way to improve wireless solutions and has taken the lead by working to bring all technologies under one wireless umbrella. Standards are inherently about cooperation, not competition, for the betterment of the wireless industry and the overall user experience.
"Identifying synergies between wireless technologies and leveraging the experience and know-how of mature technologies will lead to better wireless solutions, faster. Three new Bluetooth enabled products are being qualified every day making it the most proven wireless technology for the personal area network on the market," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG. "Consumers demand an easy-to-use wireless experience, regardless of technology. With so many organizations developing wireless technologies, we need to put the focus on the consumer and work together to enhance their overall wireless experience."
The Bluetooth SIG works with the following wireless technologies:
- Wi-Fi(R) is a wireless technology optimized for WLAN scenarios
connecting computers, phones, and consumer electronics to the internet
at speeds exceeding 50 Mbps when in range of an access point. Wi-Fi
technology now ships in 90% of notebook computers and is increasingly
found in mobile phones, digital cameras, and a variety of other devices.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies have been implemented side-by- side in devices for several years, and have also been working to improve
co-existence between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled devices. The
technologies utilize the same frequency band and therefore Bluetooth
technology was optimized with a feature called Adaptive Frequency
Hopping (AFH) to eliminate interference. Potential scenarios for
collaboration between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology would include home
gateways and media centers that would include both technologies.
Additionally, with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies going into
small devices like mobile phones, it is important to work together to
identify ways the technologies can optimize space and power consumption.
"Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies are already working side-by- side in applications across the globe. We see this as a trend that will
only increase and acknowledge the potential in the future for the
technologies to work not just concurrently but jointly to achieve more
advanced wireless applications," said Frank Hanzlik, Managing Director
of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
- NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless technology operating over
very short distances, a few centimeters or less. NFC is optimized for
secure communication between devices with minimal user configuration. A
possible collaboration between NFC and Bluetooth technology could occur
in device pairing -- the identification process between two Bluetooth
enabled products first connecting.
"NFC technology enables instant pairing of Bluetooth devices, simply by
holding them together for less than a second. Sharing a phone call,
pairing a new headset, or setting up wireless keyboard, mouse and game
pad -- it is just a snap, even for people that never read a user
manual," said Christophe Duverne, Chairman of the NFC Forum.
- UWB (Ultra-wideband) is a wireless technology with data speeds of
100Mbps to over 2Gbps that transmits across a wide frequency range at
once. The intent to work together was announced by UWB and the Bluetooth
SIG in May. With this collaboration, it is possible to maintain existing
Bluetooth core values while enabling future usage scenarios requiring
higher data throughput. Such an example would be streaming high quality
video between portable devices. The Bluetooth SIG has its UWB Market
Requirement Document completed and the Specification is scheduled for
introduction in the first part of 2007 with prototyping being complete
in the latter part of 2007.
About Bluetooth Wireless Technology
Bluetooth(R) wireless technology is revolutionizing the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections. It is a globally available standard that wirelessly connects mobile phones, portable computers, cars, stereo headsets, MP3 players, and more. The technology is now available in its fourth version of the core specification and continues to develop, building on its inherent strengths -- small-form factor radio, low power, low cost, built-in security, robustness, ease-of-use, and ad hoc networking abilities. Bluetooth wireless technology is the leading and only proven short-range wireless technology on the market today.
About the Bluetooth SIG
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, and network industries, is driving development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing it to market. The Bluetooth SIG includes promoter group companies Agere, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, along with over 4000 Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A. For more information please visit http://www.bluetooth.com.
The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. All other trademarks are registered by their respective owners. Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Dr. Michael Foley http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=511276
Source: prnewswire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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