Bluetooth takes a ride on 802.11

In 2006 the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) selected WiMedia Alliance brand of ultra wideband technology as the future high speed channel for Bluetooth, a project that is still in development. With so many devices demanding greater speeds the Bluetooth SIG decided an interim solution was

necessary, and they announced one today in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Since so many devices already use IEEE 802.11 the solution is for Bluetooth to basically piggyback on 802.11 radio and allow wireless transfer of large format entertainment data (i.e. music, video, photos) between devices at a short range.

The new architecture, called Alternate MAC/PHY, will allow Bluetooth devices to achieve faster speeds by momentarily using a secondary radio. Michael Foley Ph.D., the executive director of Bluetooth SIG describes the process as "taking classic Bluetooth connections -- using Bluetooth protocols, profiles, security and other architectural elements -- and allowing it to jump on top of the already present 802.11 radio, when necessary, to send bulky entertainment data, faster. When the speed of 802.11 is overkill, the connection returns to normal operation on a Bluetooth radio for optimal power management and performance."

With this innovation users will be able to move bulky data such as video files and music or photo libraries wirelessly. The specification is expected to be published sometime around mid 2009.

[via Bluetooth]

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •