6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (2024)

Like the fact that Bluetooth is named after a Viking and works by using slavery…

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (3)

Invented by Ericsson in 1994, Bluetooth was intended to enable wireless headsets. Bluetooth has since expanded into a broad variety of applications including Bluetooth headsets, speakers, printers, video game controllers, and much more.

Bluetooth is also important for the rapidly growing Internet of Things, including smart homes and industrial applications. Given the importance of Bluetooth and it’s usage in an increasing number of applications, here are 6 interesting things about Bluetooth that you didn’t know!

And to start it off, do you know what Bluetooth actually is?

Wireless technology standards require both a hardware and software component. The hardware is required to be able to send the necessary signal via radio frequency, and the software determines what’s sent over that signal and how it’s interpreted.

This means that, to use Bluetooth, a device must have a tiny computer chip with a Bluetooth radio. This also means that the software must be universally accepted across all devices (hence, “standard”), otherwise they wouldn’t be able to communicate.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (4)

This standard is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), but Bluetooth SIG didn’t choose the name, instead the name was proposed by Jim Kardach in 1997…

Jim Kardach had been reading “The Long Ships”, by Frans G. Bengtsson, which is set in the Viking Age and includes Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson, King of Denmark and Norway.

The Anglicised version of Harald “Blåtand” is Harald Bluetooth. He’s known for uniting dissonant Viking tribes into the Kingdom of Denmark. In a similar way, Bluetooth is thus meant to unite the many wireless communications protocols under one standard.

The Bluetooth logo is also a combination of the runes for Harald Bluetooth’s initials, H.B.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (5)

Though unintentional, there’s another parallel between the Vikings and Bluetooth. Vikings made use of slaves (called thralls), and so does Bluetooth…

When Bluetooth devices connect to each other (for example, your phone and your wireless speaker), it’s known as a master-slave relationship. One of the devices is the master and the other devices are slaves. The master transmits information to the slave and the slave listens for information from the master.

A master can have up to 7 slaves, which is why your computer can be connected via Bluetooth to multiple devices at the same time (for example, a wireless keyboard, mouse, printer, speaker, etc.). When devices are connected together via Bluetooth, it’s called a “piconet”.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (6)

Not only can a device be a master in one piconet and a slave in a different piconet at the same time, but the master-slave relationship can also switch. That’s why you need to put your Bluetooth device in pairing mode to connect it. It’s becoming the master so that it can establish a connection and then becomes the slave.

This easy set-up for Bluetooth connections is part of why…

Wi-Fi is also a wireless technology standard, but Bluetooth and Wi-Fi serve two separate purposes. Wi-Fi (which is the brand name for the IEEE.802.11 standard) was meant to replace high-speed cables, so it takes some setting up but supports high bandwidth.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (7)

On the other hand, Bluetooth was meant for portable equipment and related applications. It’s great when you need to connect two devices with minimal configuration (often just pressing a button). Also, because Bluetooth uses weak signals, there’s limited interference and devices can communicate in “noisy” environments. That’s why…

In the Industrial Internet of Things, machines often need to send short bursts of data in extremely noisy environments. With potentially hundreds of sensors and devices sending data, Wi-Fi poses too much hassle to setup.

A drawback of Bluetooth is lower bandwidth, but for many industrial applications this higher bandwidth simply isn’t needed.

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (8)

Bluetooth is also useful in a smart home setting. Again, many devices in the smart home don’t need high bandwidth connections and it’s much easier to set up Bluetooth.

Furthermore, newer versions of Bluetooth can create a self-healing mesh network which means that individual devices can still communicate even if one device runs out of power or is disconnected. If your door locks, HVAC system, washer, dryer, fridge, and lights are all connected, you certainly wouldn’t want them all to fail just because one goes down.

One of the drawbacks of Bluetooth is the low range, which could be problematic in a smart home (depending on how big your home is). Fortunately…

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group officially adopted Bluetooth 5 as the latest version of Bluetooth back in December 2016.

“With Bluetooth 5, Bluetooth continues to revolutionize how people experience the IoT. Bluetooth continues to embrace technological advancements and push the unlimited potential of the IoT.”
Bluetooth 5 Now Available

As is clear from Bluetooth SIG’s announcement, Bluetooth 5 is specifically aimed that the Internet of Things. It boasts quadruple the range, double the speed, and boosts broadcast messaging capacity by 800%. It also introduces the mesh networking capability mentioned above.

Bluetooth 5 is backwards-compatible with previous versions of Bluetooth, but new hardware is required to take advantage of the new benefits listed above. So it might be awhile until we see all the benefits that Bluetooth 5 has to offer, but it’s an exciting development as the Internet of Things continue to gain traction!

Originally published at leverege.com

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (9)
6 Things You Didn’t Know About Bluetooth (2024)
Top Articles
Who is a team lead?
Walmart Offers a $200,000 Salary for Store Managers, so Why is the Company Worried About Hiring?
7 C's of Communication | The Effective Communication Checklist
Farepay Login
What spices do Germans cook with?
Here are all the MTV VMA winners, even the awards they announced during the ads
360 Training Alcohol Final Exam Answers
15 Types of Pancake Recipes from Across the Globe | EUROSPAR NI
Embassy Suites Wisconsin Dells
Top Golf 3000 Clubs
2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Pl electric for sale - Portland, OR - craigslist
Hover Racer Drive Watchdocumentaries
World Cup Soccer Wiki
Spelunking The Den Wow
California Department of Public Health
8 Ways to Make a Friend Feel Special on Valentine's Day
Craigslist Alabama Montgomery
Simon Montefiore artikelen kopen? Alle artikelen online
Gma Deals And Steals Today 2022
Maplestar Kemono
24 Best Things To Do in Great Yarmouth Norfolk
Katherine Croan Ewald
Where Is George The Pet Collector
Ein Blutbad wie kein anderes: Evil Dead Rise ist der Horrorfilm des Jahres
Construction Management Jumpstart 3Rd Edition Pdf Free Download
Znamy dalsze plany Magdaleny Fręch. Nie będzie nawet chwili przerwy
Speedstepper
Garden Grove Classlink
Narragansett Bay Cruising - A Complete Guide: Explore Newport, Providence & More
*!Good Night (2024) 𝙵ull𝙼ovie Downl𝚘ad Fr𝚎e 1080𝚙, 720𝚙, 480𝚙 H𝙳 HI𝙽DI Dub𝚋ed Fil𝙼yz𝚒lla Isaidub
Haunted Mansion Showtimes Near Cinemark Tinseltown Usa And Imax
Opsahl Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory Yankton
Capital Hall 6 Base Layout
Supermarkt Amsterdam - Openingstijden, Folder met alle Aanbiedingen
The Blackening Showtimes Near Regal Edwards Santa Maria & Rpx
Srg Senior Living Yardi Elearning Login
Skyrim:Elder Knowledge - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP)
Best Restaurant In Glendale Az
Ktbs Payroll Login
Cdcs Rochester
Levothyroxine Ati Template
Shane Gillis’s Fall and Rise
No Boundaries Pants For Men
Amc.santa Anita
Here's Everything You Need to Know About Baby Ariel
Gw2 Support Specter
Tropical Smoothie Address
A rough Sunday for some of the NFL's best teams in 2023 led to the three biggest upsets: Analysis
Dobratz Hantge Funeral Chapel Obituaries
Euro area international trade in goods surplus €21.2 bn
Minecraft Enchantment Calculator - calculattor.com
E. 81 St. Deli Menu
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Dean Jakubowski Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 5938

Rating: 5 / 5 (70 voted)

Reviews: 93% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Dean Jakubowski Ret

Birthday: 1996-05-10

Address: Apt. 425 4346 Santiago Islands, Shariside, AK 38830-1874

Phone: +96313309894162

Job: Legacy Sales Designer

Hobby: Baseball, Wood carving, Candle making, Jigsaw puzzles, Lacemaking, Parkour, Drawing

Introduction: My name is Dean Jakubowski Ret, I am a enthusiastic, friendly, homely, handsome, zealous, brainy, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.