Bluetooth

What is Bluetooth in simple words

The word Bluetooth has become synonymous with easy and convenient short-range wireless communications used daily by countless people on planet Earth and in space.

Bluetooth is not difficult to use. It is enough to activate the Bluetooth function on two or more devices in a regular way. With the detected equipment within the range, you can connect via a wireless interface and use its capabilities as you wish. The nuance is important: the transmitter and receiver are nearby or the receiver is located in the next room at a distance, as a rule, up to hundreds of meters. The radio signal is able to go around obstacles to some extent.

A modern Bluetooth module operates in several modes for transmitting data, as well as an audio signal (voice) in the ISM radio frequency range from 2402 to 2480 MHz, with a power of up to 100 mW and up to 100 dBm, with a radius of up to 1500 meters. Pairing and further work is carried out safely, energy-efficiently, reliably, relatively quickly and, most importantly, with minimal financial costs.

A fragment of an inscription on a memorial stone in Lund, Sweden: "... Harald Bluetooth, who gave the name...".

This stone was installed in 1994 by Ericsson.

What Bluetooth is used for

Bluetooth made it possible to unite the wireless interfaces of devices from different manufacturers under the "banner" of an agreed standard. Similarly, ten centuries ago, the Danish king, nicknamed Harald the Blue-toothed (Harald Blatand), preserved and increased the possessions of his kingdom, having managed to unite the Danish tribes under his banners, who had previously been at war with each other. Billions of devices support this communication standard and are constantly interacting, often without our knowledge, and sometimes it's not even secure. But as a rule, Bluetooth is very useful to us, it is responsible for many useful functions, even if we don’t understand What is Bluetooth and how does it work.

With the help of Bluetooth, wireless keyboards, mice, headphones, microphones, speakers, MFPs, printers, scanners, photo and video cameras, webcams, TVs, music centers and many other office and home smart equipment. There are even Bluetooth smart door locks. For wireless communication, the transmission and reception of information and sound over a secure channel is not the limit; Internet access node. Is it worth talking a lot about sneakers, sports jackets, trainers and the variety of sports and medical gadgets equipped with a Bluetooth chip? For example, in 2018, the popular Puma RS-Computer sneakers from the 80s were equipped with Bluetooth 4.0. In industry, trade, transport, Bluetooth is also widely used.

Apart from the main questions: how to connect a Bluetooth headset, microphone, speaker and other peripherals and how to turn on Bluetooth on a PC, wireless technology users are most interested in additional information about:

• How dangerous is Bluetooth enabled,
• how to implement security
• how to enable Bluetooth module,
• how to install and where to download Bluetooth for free on a PC and laptop,
• how to set up Bluetooth if the Bluetooth wireless function does not seem to work,
• when you need to buy a USB Bluetooth adapter, and who needs an AUX IN Bluetooth dongle with mini-jack TRS 3.5 mm,
• why the Bluetooth driver does not see the adapter on a laptop or desktop computer (USB, PCMCIA, ExpressCard, PCI),
• when the problem is protocols, not profiles.

As a rule, in a smartphone and tablet on Android or iOS Bluetooth works by default and nothing can be downloaded from Apple App Store and Google Play is not required. Unlike a mobile phone, the Windows operating system needs the user to find a way to download the Bluetooth driver for free on a PC from Windows 10 / 11, 8 / 8.1, 7, XP (64-bit and 32-bit) from the site in Russian https://www.bluetooth.today to a desktop or laptop, for example, to connect via Bluetooth phone, including a smartphone, and a tablet on Android or iOS, as well as a wireless headset, microphone, speaker, etc. The universal Widcomm Broadcom Bluetooth Driver Installer software for Microsoft Windows works with all equipment.

What is Bluetooth technology

If you do not delve into the architecture of Bluetooth, then this technology can easily connect smart devices without the use of wires. Bluetooth is used to transmit data and voice over relatively short distances from 2 to 200 and even up to 1500 meters in Bluetooth 5.0 for some devices. As a Wireless personal area network template, Bluetooth is included as part of IEEE 802.11, partly using the technological advances of Wi-Fi to transfer large files. Own functionality, available since Bluetooth 2.0, is indispensable in many devices. The main advantages of Bluetooth: the low cost of chips in production and energy efficiency allow it to successfully compete with WiFi at the same level in some implementations.

A simple synchronous SCO link, where the speed is 64 Kbps, is responsible for a symmetrical point-to-point connection, for example, this is how voice is transferred from a headset to a phone. Asynchronous ACL communication with a speed of more than 700 Kbps is responsible for operation in a symmetrical and asymmetric point-to-multipoint connection.

Reception and transmission of analog sound and data is carried out over radio frequencies 2.402-2.480 GHz with the participation of two or more devices. In the first case, we are talking about a Bluetooth point-to-point contact, and in the second, one point is connected to many points. Data packets consist of an access code, a header with a checksum, parameters, and the information itself. Point-to-multipoint interaction requires one master and up to seven slaves; This is how a piconet is formed. Other Bluetooth devices in the vicinity are not active until the host connects them by transmitting a special signal. A maximum of ten PicoNets can form a Scatternet, with a maximum of 71 devices actively communicating via Bluetooth. The PMA parking mode holds up to 256 Standby devices on the network.

What does the word Bluetooth mean

In 1994 Jaap Haartsen of Ericsson came up with this RF technology as a replacement for the then widespread but inconvenient wired RS-232 interface. The birth of the digital standard and the term Bluetooth is associated with an ancient legendary story. Innovative Bluetooth technology in 1994 received its original sounding brand thanks to the achievements of Harald Blatand, who united hostile tribes into his kingdom in the 900s of our era. Translated from Danish, Blatand means blue tooth, respectively, Bluetooth pays tribute to King Harald Bluetooth. The word Bluetooth is made up of two components: blue and tooth. The classic Bluetooth sign contains the initials of Harald Blatand from the ancient Danish runes Hagall (Hagalaz) and Berkana (Berkana). In 1998, the leaders of the Bluetooth SIG consortium began to widely introduce their wireless technology, and the word Bluetooth became known throughout the world.

Bluetooth today: popular 4.x and new Bluetooth 5.x

The popular Bluetooth 4.0 specification, published in 2010, remains relevant. Connection at speeds up to 1 Mbps is established in 5 ms, "finishing" up to 100 meters. All popular protocols and profiles are supported. Error correction and 128-bit AES encryption are applied. IoT (Internet of Things) devices have Internet via Bluetooth. In 2014, Bluetooth 4.2 received an improvement in the pairing process, energy efficiency, security, speed. Many devices with a Bluetooth 4.x wireless interface will not lose their relevance for many years to come.

Since the presentation of the iPhone 8, the latest version of Bluetooth has been the base specification 5.x with a real speed of up to 2 Mbps (with a practically unattainable level of up to 24 Mbps in theory), a realistically available radius of up to 200 meters, and a wireless connection up to 1500 meters is also possible for some devices. In BLE mode, this allows you to update the firmware of fitness bracelets, smart watches, etc. autonomously via Bluetooth via Bluetooth. Bluetooth 5.1 - 5.3 optimizes power consumption, increases connection reliability and many new features: LE Isochronous Channels, LE Audio, LE Power Control with signal level optimization (quality/power consumption), precise location and direction, and EATT enhanced and securitized, channel classification features enhanced, protocols and encryption enhanced, MAC and PHY (AMP) functionality eliminated. Bluetooth 5.3 maintains full compatibility with previous versions. On the page https://www.bluetooth.today/en/downloads you can download download Bluetooth 5.x driver for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP (64-bit and 32-bit) for computer, laptop, netbook, tablet PC.