A A B T: N Nalysis of The Luetooth Echnology
A A B T: N Nalysis of The Luetooth Echnology
Computer Science
Thesis no: MCS-2009-17
June 2009
School of Computing
Blekinge Institute of Technology
Soft Center
SE-37225 RONNEBY
SWEDEN
This thesis is submitted to the Department of Interaction and System Design,
School of Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science. The
thesis is equivalent to 20 weeks of full time studies.
Contact Information:
Author(s):
Malik Zaka Ullah
Address:
Snapphanevagen 3A, 37140,
Karlskrona, Sweden
E-mail: [email protected]
University advisor(s):
Yang Lie
School of Computing
School of Computing
Blekinge Institute of Technology
Soft Center
Internet : www.bth.se/tek
SE-37225 RONNEBY
Phone : +46 457 38 50 00
SWEDEN
Fax : + 46 457 102 45
ii
ABSTRACT
Towards the end of this thesis I discuss how this technology can be used to provide
some attractive solutions. I demonstrate my ideas by discussing how certain services
can be used in future in different scenarios. In my proposed solution I discussed the
possibilities and advantages of using Bluetooth technology in university campus to
perform different routine tasks and this will beneficial for the university both student
and teachers.
1
PREFACE
I would like to express my gratitude to people who have supported, encouraged and
helped me in various ways through in this thesis. I would like to thank my thesis
supervisor Yang Lie and Mr.Guohua Bai for his constant supervision, and advice
which have been very valuable for me to write this thesis.
Bluetooth is an industry standard, later adopted by the IEEE 802.15 work group as
the Wireless Personal Area Network Standard (WPAN). To clearly understand this, I
need to understand what a PAN is. A Personal Area Network can be defined as a
network of devices in close range to a person, which can communicate with each
other. A typical PAN could consist of a Laptop, a Mobile Phone and a Printer.
2
Table of Contents
TABLE OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1.......................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 HISTORY OF BLUETOOTH ....................................................................................................... 6
1.2 BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................ 6
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................................... 7
1.4 THESIS STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 2.......................................................................................................................................... 9
3
4.3.1 Bluetooth Enabled Devices Interoperability ................................................................... 29
4.3.2 Software Applications Interoperability ........................................................................... 29
4.3.3 Some more consciderations ............................................................................................ 30
4.4 GENERIC REQUIREMENTS FOR BETTER INTEROPERABILITY ................................................. 30
4.5 APIS SOLUTIONS FOR SECURITY AND INTEROPERABILITY ISSUES ....................................... 31
CHAPTER 5........................................................................................................................................ 32
TABLE OF FIGURES
TABLE OF TABLES
4
Chapter 1
Introduction
5
1.1 History of Bluetooth
The name “Bluetooth” and its logo are trademarked by the privately held trade
association named the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG).
The name Bluetooth was a code name used by developers of this wireless
technology. But as the time past name Bluetooth Stuck.
10th Century’s Danish king Harald Bluetooth had been influential in uniting
Scandinavian tribes in single kingdom after the war when the region was turn into
parts. Now these days Bluetooth implication of Bluetooth does the same reunite
different industries such as Computers with cell phones with single low power
globally available short range radio frequencies named as Bluetooth
The concept behind Bluetooth had its origins in 1994 when Ericsson began
researching the idea of replacing cables connecting accessories to mobile phones and
computers with wireless links. Ericsson quickly realized that the potential market for
Bluetooth products was huge but co-operation throughout the world would be needed
for the products to succeed. Therefore the Bluetooth SIG founded in 1997 by
Ericsson, IBM, Nokia, Intel and Toshiba. First Bluetooth technical specification 1.0A
released in 1999 by 3Com, Lucent, Microsoft & Motorola joins
SIG Promoter Group.
Second Bluetooth technical specification 1.0B released in 2000, 2.0 was introduced
late in 2005. 2.1 with enhanced data rate in 2007 and latest version of Bluetooth is
3.0 released in April 2009.
AMP (Alternate MAC/PHY) is the main new feature of the Bluetooth version 3.0,
the addition of high rate data transport with 802.11
1.2 Background
In the present ‘Hi-Tech’ world, the technical standards seem to change and evolve
faster than the headlines in daily news-papers. Although for the scientific community
this is a reason of great joy and pride, these rapid developments tend to confuse the
less informed end users. In the domain of wireless communication I have seen the
emergence of a whole array of new standards and technologies in the past few years,
from Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) to Bluetooth and WiMAX. It is in such
a case that a particular new technology has to differentiate itself from the rest and
clearly define what it hopes to do for the users. For instance, WLAN and Bluetooth
both operate in the license free 2.4 GHz frequency ranges. They are both wireless
networking standards and hence without precise information, may cause the users to
wonder why they need the new Bluetooth when they already have a WLAN
capability on their devices?
Bluetooth is an industry standard, later adopted by the IEEE 802.15 work group as
the Wireless Personal Area Network Standard (WPAN). To clearly understand this, I
need to understand what a PAN is. A Personal Area Network can be defined as a
network of devices in close range to a person, which can communicate with each
other. A typical PAN could consist of a Laptop, a Mobile Phone and a Printer. The
user can transmit images from the mobile phone equipped with a camera to his
6
computer which can then send it to the printer. And all this can be done without the
need for wires as illustrated in Figure 1. The basic idea of PAN is to make the users
experience richer in terms of reliability and flexibility and help him use all his
devices in seamless interconnection. So, in this context one could argue that WLAN
is an existing networking standard and hence could have been used to achieve the
same. But, the reason for emergence of Bluetooth as a standard and its wide
acceptance is because of the fact that Bluetooth is specifically aimed at close range
ad hoc networking without the need for a pre determined infrastructure. Since the
operating range in terms of distance and speed of WLAN is much higher, WLAN
modules consume significantly more energy as opposed to Bluetooth devices.
Bluetooth devices typically operate over a very short range of 1 to 10 meters and
hence consume very little power. Bluetooth can hence be used to connect peripheral
devices wirelessly thus eliminating the need for various types of communication
cables.
In this thesis I further examine the Bluetooth technology closely and present analysis
on some issues that are discussed in our problem statement. I also present a case
study to illustrate my analysis and insights I develop through the various sections of
the Thesis. The Thesis is organized into different parts. At the end of these main
sections I derive some conclusions in general about Bluetooth technology.
7
1.4 Thesis Structure
Through the course of the thesis I have used various sources of literature as indicated
in the reference along with the material presented. I have conducted two interviews
[1], [2] to gain a market perspective on Bluetooth technologies. I have also
conducted a survey amongst the students and staff at BTH to understand the user’s
point of view. Through analysis, brainstorming and discussions I gained from above
methods I have been able to address the questions I set out to answer and eventually
propose a simple use case for Bluetooth technology.
8
Chapter 2
Research Methodology
9
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This section illustrates the research Methodology carried out in this thesis. Overview
of the research methodology, literature review, interviews and informal discussion
are described below.
2.1 Overview
Research methodology is the method to organize and conduct research. It helps us
how to analyze the results. I have adopted the qualitative and quantitative approach
research methodology. I have done research in different phases. In first phase I have
studied literature review to understand about the Bluetooth Technology. Literature
review helped me to implement the valuable method of questionnaire conducting and
analyze the questionnaire. In second phase I have conducted interviews with
different peoples. And finally I have designed the questionnaire on the basis of
interviews.
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2.2 Literature Review
The research contains literature, review, survey and interviews. The qualitative part
of research consists of analysis of Bluetooth technology and its advantages and
disadvantages. Then comparison of Bluetooth technology presented.
The literature review is used to identify the major factors which are involved in
Bluetooth technology.
The interviews are used to validate the literature review results.
After the survey I props’ the project, which was the practical implementation of
Bluetooth technology’. At the end of this case study I analyze the result.
2.3 Interviews
After reading and analyzing the literature and discussion, I have conducted couple of
interviews at different locations about the Bluetooth Technology.
First interview was done with Miss Asma who is working on Bluetooth Technology
in 4B Telecommunication and 2nd interview was done with Mr.Kamran Multimedia
Broadcast Technology, UK, who is working on Bluetooth Technology. During
interview with him they clarifies that there are worms which use Bluetooth
technology and infect some cell phones which use symbian operating systems.
During these interviews, I had asked questions mentioned below about the Bluetooth
technology, use of Bluetooth technology in industry, daily life etc. In these
interviews I have observed the key features and practical use of Bluetooth
technology.
2.4 Questionnaire
I have designed the questionnaire on basis of interviews with two persons for the use
of Bluetooth Technology in BTH campus. These questions were given to students
and staff of BTH how much they are interested in using Bluetooth technology.
Questionaire was formulated with open ended and close ended questions that provide
the opportunity to the students and staff to express their ideas about the use of
Bluetooth technology in BTH campus.
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Chapter 3
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3 BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY AND INTERFERENCE
ISSUE
3.1 Overview
In this section I introduce the technology of Bluetooth. Like most wireless
technologies, Bluetooth is fairly sophisticated and hence the complete technical
specification is very vast. I identify some key technical features of this technology
which actually makes it so interesting. Most of the actual technical details presented
in this section as borrowed from [3]. I recommend the reader to refer the same for
more elaborate technical details. The table 1 provides a summary of some key
features of Bluetooth. [Entries in table are extracted from various sections of 2.1].
Bluetooth Profiles describe how to use a specification to fulfill the desired function
in the usage models. (The usage models are identified by the SIG’s marketing
group). The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has specified the profiles for
those usage models. The profile tells us how to implement a solution for a particular
use case. Each profile defines the particular messages and procedures from the
Bluetooth specification and each device must support at least one profile. Those
devices can communicate with each other which have the same profiles for example
a cellular phone and headset can communicate on the condition if they both have the
headset profile
The profile is used to decrease the interoperability problems amongst devices of
different vendors. The Bluetooth certification authority uses the profiles to test and
certify compliance, and grants permission for usage of the Bluetooth logo only to
those products that qualify the methods and procedures defined in the profiles. The
table 2 lists the important profiles and their usage model.
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Profile Usage Model
Service Discovery profile To discover available services and devices
in range
Cordless Telephony Profile To enable use of Bluetooth enable devices
as cordless telephones
Dial Up Networking profile To enable Dial up internet connection
Headset Profile To enable communication of audio
between devices
LAN Access Profile To enable local area networking
File Transfer Profile To enable transfer of data as whole files
Object push Profile To enable transfer of data onto Bluetooth
devices
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Class Signal strength Range
Class 1 100 Millie watt Up to 33 feet (10 meters)
Class 2 2.5 mille watt Up to 33 feet (10 meters)
Class 3 1 mille watt Up to 328 feet (100 meters)
The base band layer establishes two kinds of links depending on the kind of
application and operating environment. A Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO)
link is established to emulate circuit switched connections for voice and data
connection. While an Asynchronous Connection Link (ACL) is defined for bursts of
data. This link can be symmetrical with same data rates in uplink and downlink or
asymmetrical. This supports broadcasting and data rate control by the master device.
Hence I believe this can be employed for applications which need some sort of
Quality of Service (QoS).
15
Bluetooth packet consists of three entities.72 bits for the access, 54 bits for the
header and 0-2744 bits for the payload. The access code is used for time
synchronization, paging and Piconet identification. There are three different kinds of
access codes: Channel Access Code, Device Access Code and inquiry Code. The
channel access code identifies a unique Piconet while the device access code is used
for paging and its responses. The header contains information for packet
acknowledgement, packet numbering, flow control, slave address and errors check
for header. The packet payload contains data, voice fields or both. There are nine
categories of standard packet format. DM1, DH1, DM3, DH3, DM5, DH5, HV1,
HV2 and HV3.Each of the nine packet types have its own special purpose. Some of
them are specially made for voice communication while others are made for high
speed data transfer. Each of the packets has different data rates. An effective Forward
Error Correction scheme is employed to reduce transmission errors for connections
where Automatic Repeat request (ARQ) cannot be used, and vice versa.
3.3.5 RFCOMM
RFCOMM is a transport protocol used to emulate the RS 232 serial ports. It is this
protocol which enables applications like connecting to printers and scanners via
Bluetooth.
RFCOMM relies on the Bluetooth baseband to provide reliable in-sequence delivery
of byte streams. RFCOMM data rates will be limited in devices where there is
physical serial port involved. Implementations may optionally pace data on virtual
serial ports. RFCOMM is a simple, reliable transport protocol with framing,
multiplexing and the following additional provisions:
16
• Remote port settings-Baud rate, parity, number of data bits, etc.
• Parameter negotiation (frame size)
• Optional credit based flow control
There are two types of devices which are supported by RFCOMM
Type 1: Internal emulated serial port
Legacy Application
RS-
232
Legacy Application
RFCOMM RFCOMM
L2CAP L2CAP
1. Piconet
2. Scatternet
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3.4.1 Piconet
Piconet is ad-hock network in which all the devices have the same frequency
hopping synchronization. Each Piconet has one master and one or more than one
slave devices. A master is the only one that may initiate communication. When link
is established, the slave may request to the master to become a master. The master is
responsible for dividing the whole bandwidth amongst the slaves by deciding when
and how to communicate with each other. Each Piconet can have 8 active devices
addressed by 3 bits and 248 parked devices addressed with 8 bits and several more in
standby. This intelligent use of device states in what makes networking in Bluetooth
interesting. The active devices as the name suggests actively participate in the
network while the parked devices can be initiated under 3 milli-seconds [page 272
[3]]. Hence in a network where several devices need to communicate with each
other, devices can be pushed to parked and active state intelligently by the master to
enable effective networking. One Piconet can be split into two piconets by one slave
becoming a master and thus may increase the aggregate throughput. It is this splitting
which is seen as the overlapping area in the Figure 5 [3].
3.4.2 Scatternet
Scatternet is the overlapping areas among multiple piconets. A master can leave its
Piconet and can join another Piconet as a slave. Scatternet is used to optimize the use
of the available spectrum. The entire units share the same frequency range within one
scatternet but each Piconet uses different hope sequence to avoid interference with
each other. A clever way to optimize the transmission data capability is to keep the
piconets small [8]. All piconets share the 79 MHz band where each Piconet uses 1
MHz .As long as the piconets picks different hope frequencies, no sharing of 1 MHz
hop channels occur. [3]
S P
P
M M
sb
Sb-Standby
P-Park state S
sb
M-Master P S S
S-Slave
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Table 5 Comparison of wireless technology [4]
By comparing information from the Table 5, I can see that although there are several
wireless technologies with applications overlapping with Bluetooth .They all have
certain limitations and do not cover all areas as Bluetooth. Below are some
inferences I draw from this.
19
The cost of these products start from 100$ and up to 200$ for HR version. This is as
compared to Bluetooth devices very high.
20
IEEE 802.11 causes interference with high error rates in IEEE 802.11 than
Bluetooth. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) technologies uses the same frequency
band (2.4 GHz). If Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate at the same time in the same place,
their channel will be overlapping and may cause interference (collide) with each
other. Specifically, when these systems transmit signals, they create noise for each
other [12].
3.6.1 An example of interference
The Company X runs its operation in two story building [10]. The company has
internet access with local internet service provider (ISP) using ASDL connection. On
each floor of the building, there are WLAN access points (hot spots) for the network
access. The WLAN access points are connected via ISP to access internet. There are
a number of offices within each floor of the building. Each office is equipped with
WLAN laptops and PCs. Each office has shared facilities for printed output and
scanning documents. These devices are connected to via an office Bluetooth
network. Users daily synchronize their personal Digital Assistants (PDA) with their
laptops to diaries and calendar updated. These connections are implemented using
Bluetooth. They may cause the number of problems due to the interference issues.
For example when the interference occurs between them, the data packets are lost
and retransmissions take place which affects on the throughput. As a result some
transaction are taking place at an acceptable rate but others such as printing where is
a lot of data for printing ,taking very long time and in some times when the
interference is too high, the association between devices being destroyed, which is
the main reason for the users diversion.
3.6.2 The Technical challenge
The special interest group (SIG) formed its own task group to handle the interference
issues. Both Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11 groups looking for some techniques that can
eliminate the interference issues [11].
3.6.2.1 Collaborative mechanism
The groups agreed on the proposal that protocols to be implemented in the same
device for independent solution and that solution will rely on the interference
detection and estimation. This kind of solution is named as collaboration
mechanism or Bluetooth interference aware scheduling (BIAS) which is based on
MAC scheduling i.e. both protocols be implemented in the same device, for
transmitting voice packets, the priority is given to Bluetooth while for transmitting
data; IEEE 802.11 is given the priority.
21
The advantage of this techniques
using scheduling policy is that it
does not require any changes in
the FFC rules; in addition,
scheduling in the Bluetooth
specification is vender
implementation specific.
Therefore one can easily
implement the scheduling policy
with the currently available
Bluetooth chipset. Another
technique is known as overlap
avoidance (OLA) which uses
different encapsulations to avoid Figure 7 Reduced blocking [11]
frequency collision between IEEE
80211 and Bluetooth.[8]
The Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11 interference testing is still in progress. For most of
application the performance level is reasonable(less than 25% degradation
throughput) but for Bluetooth audio or any real time streaming application, the
performance is not satisfactory. The blocked channel caused by the interference
results in the degradation of the performance of channel due to the retransmission of
data again and again. And thus very difficult for audio or real time streaming to
maintain it. The poor voice rate and reduced data rate compels Bluetooth
specification of move to another technique called adaptive frequency hopping or non
collaborative mechanism. Adaptation of frequency hopping was introduced by the
Bluetooth special interest group (SIG) in the Bluetooth 1.2 version. Adaptive
frequency hopping technique restores the bad performance of reduced data rate by
identifying the high error rates or bad channels and after that these channels are
excluded. In this way, the retransmissions are controlled. The channels which are
used by WLAN are excluded and the Bluetooth packets are restricted to those
channels where there is a less chance of interference. The adaptive frequency
hopping technique increases the Bluetooth throughput and maximizing the spectrum
usage [8].
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direction. It’s operation. Antenna performance is very important factor as the same
antenna is used for sending the signals and receiving the signals. The main issues
which are involved with Bluetooth antenna are power coupling losses between
antenna and the transmitter. Then there are antenna placement issues.
Pt Pi
Receiver Transmitter
Pr Pr
The Figure 8 explains the process and functional of Bluetooth antenna, the antenna
sends the signal Pi to receiver and Pt is the transmitted signal. Pr is reflected back
antenna. The ratio at the transmitter is Pi/Pt.
The maximum power which is radiated from antenna must be matched the connected
device. Which in most RF circuit cases is 5- ohm impedance and it is consider best
for the antenna feed points. [9]
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Chapter 4
24
4 SECURITY & INTEROPERABILITY
In a world where information is increasingly becoming the power, the need to protect
it and prevent it from going into wrong hands is very important. By the very nature,
wireless communications are unsafe. Anyone can receive the information when it is
transmitted into air. Hence various encryption and authentication techniques are
employed. The security is a concern in Bluetooth devices since they are increasingly
being used to communicate personal information. At the same time since Bluetooth
has to coexist with other wireless technologies, is it also a main concern.
25
Figure 9 Pairing in Bluetooth devices [19]
Another issue is also creating severe problems for data security in which the
miscreant is primarily concerned about the victims most important data which
includes phone books, calendars, messages, images, business cards, bank account
details, property details and some credit cards secrets. Sometimes due to low level of
data encryption algorithms the security is not very strong.
26
4.2 Security Model
A comprehensive security model is mainly dependent on determining the invasion
mechanism, detection of attacks, protections against data corruption and retalliation
to threats with enhanced measures. Also design should deal with the future needs
and type of networks involved in the whole scenario.
4.2.1 Generic Requirements
Based on my analysis and investigation of the various security issues I divide the
task of proposing an idea into the different technical categories according to their
specific needs like integrity, availability, authenticity etc.
Users are concerned about data security. So this requirement helps in making
possible that trusted information is sent and received between the devices and it is
not scrambled, corrupted and duplicated during transmission. This also helps in
ensuring packet integrity. By integrity a mobile user is also requires assurance that
the hacker is blocked to reuse previous information in replay attack. So data integrity
for Bluetooth enabled devices is of definire importance. Data encryption by public
key is decrypted by private key and also in the reverse scenario.cypher E0, AES and
DES encryption [21] techniques are going very well in this context. A moderate
privacy and one of the strongest tool for security is Public key authentication. Use of
such strong encryption will enhance security in Bluetooth.
My survey and interviews shows that Blue tooth devices should be user’s friendly
and more purspose oriented. Users always lose interests in impedes learning and
counter intutive. Applications vendors should think in a manner that they are going
to make something which is intitutive to users. Abundant features and redundant
functionalities are no substitutes.Compact, concise and specific devices with
congruent actions increase ones attentions [1].
Users expectations for ease of use are always high. So one should be careful in
defining security profiles. They should be easy to use. If a user has to set number of
parameters for configuring the security settings then there is great chance he will
get enjoyed and frustrated. This is the reason that some products are not famous
among the users due to high profile setting parameters.Products should be for all
categories of ages like kids , youth , professionals and old fellows. Another
important requirement is proper time to feed back mechanism to make more rubust
applications profiles and bluetooth devices.
4.2.2 Proposed Security Model
After idenfying the requirements and investigating the present security features I
make suggestions for some improvements. However one must note that it is beyond
the scope of this thesis to investigate the precise usefullness of such a model. But
based on my understanding of the system and understanding the requirements of
applications and insights gained during the interviews I make this suggestion.
27
Network integration is itself a big security issue. Due to non centralised security
issue in ad-hoc networks the security is becoming a main concern. Security logs
should be taken much more carefully. Some time people forget to switch off device
when they are offline or even forget to make device invisible which is a most normal
resulting in theft of PDAs and laptops as mentioned earlier. So at the grass root level
, to enhance security in Bluetooth devices users should be educated and informed
about the security threats and usage guidelines should be issued . So better useage
practises will definitely help address this problem. However vendors could also
ensure that the application software using bluetooth connection warns the users when
the devices are in idle mode , hence the user can decide for himself if it is safe or not.
So introduce a system which increase your security, Make access to the networks
more secure.If possile try to introduce systems like information does not flow from
one system to other network like locked system development for special security.
Introduce key management like public and private key mechanisms for login. For
instance I don’t want to let someone without their valid ID to access data bars. At
the same time one needs to ensure that people get access they are authrorized to in
order to be able to do their jobs. Hence additonal improvement would be to define
diferent rules for trusted users and different for nontrusted users. Hence use of
28
asymmetrical security can be used to find a balanace between rigid security and ease
of use for user.
Before launching a Bluetooth enabled device depending upon the features [24] as
discussed before it is necessary to check its performance with other bluetooth
enabled devices. But due to massive productions of vendors applications and devices
it is not feasible to test all devices with every other devices in the market. I can check
the interoperability by having some of them from market but not all of them which
obviously not possible.Also bluetooth enabled devices are required to be compatible
in applications profiles other wise they will fail in discovery and hence no pairing
occurs. Also sometimes discovery [18] is failed due to high level security policy in
the application protocols, which may prevent clients from discovering services. So
creating interoperability problems
29
Also some non standard softwares from some far east vendors[2] are creating
interoperability problems for different devices and hence to consumer market.
Authentication between devices is also another issue of interoperability. Some
devices communicate with different encryption techniques for security purposes.
When two Bluetooth devices try to establish a link and when the key exchange fails
then device also fails to communicate each other. Sometimes delays in encrption of
data cause synchronization issues [27] and hence results in interoperability.
4.3.3 Some more consciderations
Systems with different build and vendor must be tested thoroughly for
compatibility.A reliable wireless connection make critical applications more
misssion oriented and also helps in approaching the high demands on deterministic
behavior along with real time performace measurements. Radio frequencies
interference sources affect the Bluetoooth band resluting in low througput. Hence
such interferences should be removed or atleast minized for Bluetooth and other
wireless medias, Wi-Fi microwaves cordless phones. To keep the link online for
different connecting nodes the range of operation should also be carefully
conscidered otherwise any out of range scenario disconnects the devices and results
in inforamtion loss [28]
A basic interoperability need is to snychronize piconet nodes like master and slave
by using frequency hoping spread spectrum. The nodes must be able to synchcronise
their adaptive movements for 2.4GHz frequency.An other rquirements for real time
devices connectivity though their application ends should have friendly and less time
consuming acknowledgement periods so that they can execute applications in time to
avoid any interoperability.
30
Software interpters or plug-ins must be introduced to facilitate the user to enjoy his
Bluetooth devices along with his older versions or incompatible versions of devices.
This however has been well addressed by the SIG. The Newer versions of Bluetooth
, i.e. Bluetooth version 1.2, 2.0 and version 3.0 are interoperatable even with the
version 1.0. Different vendors devices should be compatible to get better
performance in interoperability. Vendors should follow the special specifications of
SIG while building applications services. For example protoclos should also be fully
compatible, applications profiles should be in complience so that various
manufactures devices can communicate with each others.By this method they can
reduce the interoperability issues.
During connections of different devices the running services uses different services
like synchronization and file transfer. To make sure the connections remain
connected and improve their performance then there is a need of proper feedback
mechanism. In this context asynchronous connection less link ACL helps Bluetooth
to use fast acknowledgement and retransmission scheme to guarantee reliable
transfer of information. [29]
Scatternets has also broaden the Bluetooth for more rliable and flexible use cases.
Through scatterenet I can control the scheduling of traffic and can be of good use in
network establishment which results in more reliable connections within Blutooth
network [30].
In this context JAVA APIs [31], are providing much helps for building more reliable
applications by reducing the complexity of hardware programming. So now vendors
can build applications for the same software specific platforms. This in turns helps
the vendors to build more interoperable applications and makes compatible security
parameters. Vendors like SUN [31], and BLIP [32] are working on JAVA APIs and
providing software solutions for most of the mentioned issues.
Some Java APIs are helping vendors to build their applications for receiving and
transmission of information with better capabilities. Java is providing help in writing
applications based on it versatile APIs to support the device discovery mechanism
with more elaborate inquiry mechanisms algorithm some fast processing of
acknowledgments. Now through Java APIs one get manage and record information
about the desired services. Also makes possible to establish interoperability between
connections like RFCOMM for different devices. Bluetooth services, the Java APIs
for Bluetooth provide interoperable solutions which provide help to allow
connections to any service that uses RFCOMM, L2CAP, or OBEX Figure 3
(Section 2.3.1. Radio Layer) as its protocol [31].
31
Chapter 5
32
5 FUTURE OF BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY
In this thesis, in order to gain an insight into the market player’s perspective I have
conducted two interviews [1], [2].I interviewed with Mr.Kamran and Miss Asma.
From these interviews I can see that apart from the push from SIG, the biggest
drivers for Bluetooth are the fact that it was adopted by the manufactures of Mobile
phones. Initially Bluetooth was used in mobile phones to enable people exchange
business cards wirelessly. The choice was Bluetooth obviously because of its lower
power consumption and longer range as opposed to IrDA. This availability of
Bluetooth on mobile phones together with the availability of several profiles in the
specification paved the path for deeper penetration of Bluetooth in the market. Since
a lot of mobile phones were already equipped with Bluetooth, wireless headsets and
other phone accessories employing this technology became popular. Eventually this
propelled the use of Bluetooth in portable computers and Personal Digital Assistants
which enabled synchronization of address books , calendar and email applications
with mobile phones. In the same way, because of its increased use in computers,
Bluetooth enabled peripheral devices like printers, keyboards etc also became
popular. This scenario where devices from different vendors interoperate and
mutually promote sales of each other’s devices creates economies of scale, which are
the best to sustain growth and ensure a market free of monopolies.
Any commodity can only be sold in the market when users accept it and create a
demand for it. In order to aid us in evaluating this aspect and also to help us gain an
understanding of the user’s point of view about my proposal, I conducted a survey
amongst the students and staff at BTH. From my analysis of the survey results, I can
see that the mobile industry has shifted from a primarily voice centric to data centric.
People wish to use their mobile phones for more than just ‘voice calls’ and ‘SMS’.
New applications like internet browsing using WAP, Multimedia and Location based
services, gaming, and m-commerce applications are being developed. In short,
mobile phones are becoming Personal Information Management Devices (PIMD).
33
this increasing functionality of mobile phones, there has been an increase in the need
for exchange of such information between devices. Since Bluetooth offers the
possibility of doing all this very easily and without the need for cables, it is
becoming increasingly popular with the users. Although competing technology IrDA
is present in mobile phones, it is limited to line of sight communication and hence
reduces usability greatly. This increasing acceptance and demand from the users
further pushes the manufacturers to introduce more innovative products and
applications into the market which in turn could create a richer user experience and
hence further increase demand for Bluetooth. Last, but not the least of the factors
which is driving Bluetooth is the decreasing cost of the Bluetooth chipsets. This is
not only a driver for the manufacturers but also for the customers. With lowered
costs of Bluetooth chipsets, devices integrated with Bluetooth become cheaper and
hence more people purchase Bluetooth enabled devices thereby increasing the need
for other devices simultaneous.
Although the SIG is constantly revising the specifications and enhancing the
Bluetooth functionality, as Mr.Kamran pointed out in his interview with me, it has
perhaps made a mistake in not adding a USB profile to the list of Bluetooth profiles.
This would have aided Bluetooth in addressing the threat of Wireless USB, an
emerging wireless technology which emulates a USB over wireless media. Wireless
USB offers a solution to replace USB cables in a far simpler manner as opposed to
traditional Bluetooth. This could be thought of as one of the barriers for this
technology. At the same time, vendors like NOKIA believe that Wireless USB is a
complementary technology and hence is not a real threat or barrier to Bluetooth.
However as I see it, perhaps the biggest barrier to Bluetooth has been Slow Vendor
Adaptation (SVA). By SVA, I mean two things:
2. The second thing is that, vendors are slow in adapting the revised
specification and hence most products available in the market are based on
earlier specifications. Until not so long ago most products were based on
Bluetooth 1.0 and hence had the interference problems with Wi-Fi (as
discussed in chapter 2).This resulted in lower performance and hence users
were dissatisfied. However after vendors eventually adopted the Version 2.0
and now a few of them have even adopted the latest version 3.0, these
problems have been resolved.
34
increases data rate from 24Mbps to 3 Mbps and the overall transmission rate to 3
Mbps. The new specification also aims to reduce power consumption further by 50
%. However one of the most important future developments in Bluetooth would be
the incorporation of Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio technology in Bluetooth. The
Bluetooth SIG and the UWB work groups have decided to collaborate and work
together to make this happen.
The future applications in Bluetooth could be categorized based on what would drive
them. Some of them could be as follows:
• The cost of Bluetooth chipsets is fast reducing and further decrease together
will decrease in power consumption will enable its use in disposable sensors ,
Personal tags etc . A pilot Project in this regard has been demonstrated at the
Zoological Park in Denmark. Children visitors at the Zoo are given Bluetooth
enabled tags which will help parents determine their location in Zoo, thus
ensuring children’s safety [32]. Similarly Bluetooth enabled sensors and
communication devices are used in the city of Oslo to monitor critical water
levels at pumping stations.
35
electronic identity can be used for electronic authentication and authorization
on company and university campuses. It can be used for enabling purchase of
goods at super markets and can enable ticket less travel [33]. It can be used to
enhance security on office premises by automatic locking of computer
terminals, managing of telephone calls etc at offices as demonstrated by the X
Company Blue position [34] in their products.
36
Chapter 6
BT Campus Project
37
6 BT CAMPUS PROJECT
BTH ID
Cards
Canteen
Lectures
Book shop
Library
Doors
Figure 11 Example of BT
38
6.2 Objectives
The primary objectives of this proposal are as follows:
1. Replace the presently used identity cards (ID cards) on BTH with a solution
which will enable the students/staff to authenticate at the data bars, labs and
other places requiring authentication. , i.e., create a Mobile ID.
2. Provide a solution for enabling payment at canteen, cellar bar, the book shop
and other places on campus using a mobile device.
At the outset, the ID cards at BTH work fine. So what is driving us to replace it with
a Mobile ID? On closer analysis the problem with the ID cards is that they are static
information, .i.e., the information on the card cannot be easily updated. If it needs to
be updated, the person has to physically take the card to an IT administrator at BTH
and do the necessary changes. Moreover the ID is not always synchronized with the
Campus net account of the user. This is definitely an inconvenience. That is, when a
student registers for a course in a different department he does not always get the
access to the department data bars which he would need to smoothly complete his
course work. So he has to in person meet the IT administrator and get his access
rights updated which could be difficult if he doesn’t always know where to find the
administrator or doesn’t have the time to meet owing to other lectures. On the other
hand there could be students who register for a course at the start of the semester but
eventually drop it. If they have had the access to data bars which they do not require
now, they could use up the resources at the departmental data bars which could be
very important for students presently registered for the course. An electronic
(Mobile) ID which is synchronized with the Campusnet account of the user could
eliminate this problem.
From the survey I conducted amongst the students and staff on BTH, I can see that
people are quite excited by the possibility of using their mobile phones to pay for
various things on campus. People might often forget their wallet at home before
coming to school and this should by no means stop them from eating lunch in the
afternoon or relaxing with colleagues and friends with a cup of coffee or the cellar
bar. Since a mobile phone is seldom forgotten by people, a mobile payment solution
is one of my other important objectives.
39
The figure below illustrates my model.
Authentication
ID Cards
BLUE Campus
Money Solution
Additional
Location based
Services
???
• Network Setup:
40
• Access Setup:
The users with a Bluetooth enabled device (mobile phone) will pair with a hotspot
which can be a done by application software running on these terminal devices.
Subsequently this pairing will be maintained by the device and the hotspot. When
user goes out of range of the hotspot, he can go on standby mode thus enabling the
hotspot to communicate with other users in the vicinity. This can be done
dynamically even when user is in range and not requesting information to enable
other users to access. This application (which could be called a Campusnet client)
running on the phone can also carry out an authentication for Campusnet. After
authentication the server will accept requests / push information based on user
preferences.
A general concern in using Bluetooth for my solution is that only 8 devices can
network at a time. But as discussed, the application software can control how the
master in the Piconet actively reconfigures users in active, parked and standby modes
to manage the number of users at an instance. Below I list the services I wish to
provide based on this model and illustrate how this can be done.
1. Mobile ID based authentication: The present card readers at the entrance of the
data bars and labs can be replaced with a Bluetooth hotspot. As described in
the above setup, the user can use his mobile phone enabled with Bluetooth to
authenticate himself. The Client running on his phone will do the necessary
exchange of authentication information either automatically or by requesting
a password from the user.
2. Automatic Mobile Phone profile management: All lecture halls, data bars, etc will
have a Bluetooth hotspot inside in the room. When a user enters the room, the
client on his phone will communicate with the hotspot and immediately
trigger the phone to switch to a silent profile thus ensuring that nobody
phones accidentally rings during the lecture and disturbs the others. This is
an application which is already provided by a company Blue position [36] to
its customers.
41
can already be done with personal computers; hence by adding this
functionality to the client, this can be extended to synchronize with the
server. The LAN access profile of Bluetooth can be employed to do this.
5. BTH News, Lecture updates, Weather Updates: Since the users mobile device
can be detected to be located in a particular building or even particular lecture
hall or data bar with the BTH campus. This will of course be in accordance
with the user preferences which he would configure on the Campusnet
Mobile Profile. Similarly general news about BTH, the local weather
forecast for the day or change in lecture location can also be pushed onto the
users Bluetooth enabled device.
6.3.1 Limitations
Although our proposed solution replacing the campus access cards but have same
issues with Bluetooth enabled devices one has must submit the lost report to
concerning department. For reactivation of Bluetooth enabled device the same
process will repeat as first time issuing the Bluetooth enabled devices.
But the chances of damage after losing the Bluetooth device are less than the lost of
access cards because the usage of Bluetooth active device for campus is not known
by everyone against the access card.
Another limitation of Bluetooth enabled devices is they have some range limits
outside the certain range they might not work properly. Unfortunately we have no
mechanism to identify that the Bluetooth enable device holder is the actual owner of
device until he press the wrong key for paring.
42
Chapter 7
Conclusions
43
7 CONSLUSIONS
My investigation of the Bluetooth technology was based on the classical triangular
approach as shown in Figure 6.1 below. This approach has helped us to answer the
main questions I set out to address in a holistic manner.
Users
Technology
Market
Based on my findings and analysis throughout this thesis, I draw the following
conclusions.
• Bluetooth is a wireless technology which can do much more than just replace
data cables between devices. With the release of the Bluetooth version 3.0
specification supporting higher data rates, Bluetooth is clearly a good choice
for Wireless Personal Area Networks.
• The use of Bluetooth by mobile phone manufactures has been a great driver
for this technology along with the push from the Bluetooth Special interest
Group.
• The device vendors must strictly adhere to the SIG’s Bluetooth specification
and address interoperability issues on their own initiate as well. This will
further increase users trust in this technology and also create a healthier
market place.
• The SIG’s move to work together with UWB work group is a an excellent
move and I believe that there should be more initiatives like that to increase
the marketability of this technology and also to better serve the end users.
44
REFERENCES
45
REFERENCES
[1] Telephonic Interview with Mr. Kamran virk, Multimedia Broadcast
Technologies, at Kingston University London UK, Date May 3, 2009.
[2] Interview (via phone) with Miss Asma. Four Telecom Pakistan,
Date May 2, 2009.
[5] This is extract from Bluetooth resource centre available from internet
www.palowireless.com/infotooth/tutorial/baseband.asp
[Cited 5 April 2009]
[8] This is extract from Bluetooth Dynamic Scheduling and Interference Mitigation
by N. Golmie (National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg,
Maryland
Available from the internet:
http://w3.antd.nist.gov/pubs/golmie_monet03.pdf
[Cited 15 April 2009]
[11] This concept is extracted from: Adaptive Frequency Hopping for Reduced
Interference between Bluetooth® and Wireless LAN by Charles Hodgdon
Available from internet:
http://www.us.design-reuse.com/articles/article5715.html
[Cited 25 April 2009]
46
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/oen/oen103.html
Cited [22 March 2009]
[13] This is extract from: Bluetooth Security Review, Part 2 by Marek Bialoglowy.
Available from internet:
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1836
[Cited 20 April 2009]
47
http://www.cs.ucla.edu/NRL/wireless/PAPER/ICWLHN_final_2001.pdf
[Cited 28 Feb 2009]
[28] Bluetooth and WAP Push Based Location-Aware Mobile Advertising System
By Lauri Nicklas
Available from the internet:
http://www.mediateam.oulu.fi/publications/pdf/496.pdf
[Cited 1 March 2009]
48
[33] An article written by Brent Miller, referenced on the Prentice Hall technical
reference portal
Available from the internet:
http://www.phptr.com/articles/article.asp?p=24243&rl=1
[Cited 10 Feb2009]
[35] This is an extract from: Bluetooth Revealed: The Insider's Guide to an Open
Specification for Global Wireless Communications, 2nd Edition by Brent Miller
Available from the internet: Prentice Hall technical reference
http://www.phptr.com/articles/article.asp?p=24265&seqNum=4&rl=1
[Cited 29 April 2009]
[37] An article written by Brent Miller, referenced on the Prentice Hall technical
reference portal
Available from the internet:
http://www.phptr.com/articles/article.asp?p=24243&rl=1
[Cited 10 Feb2009]
49
APPENDIX
50
Appendix: Questionaire
• Would you like to pay bills through BT ID Card enabling payment at canteen?
• Would you like to enter into the main library or class room without passing card into
the machine readable?
• Would you like to enable your cell phone (BT enabled) as a student ID?
• Would you like to connect with university intranet through BT enabled device cell
while you are on the move?
• Would you like to view the hotspot of other BT enabled devices within your BT
device (cell phone) in order to communicate them would you like to make payments
with BT enabled devices at canteen?
• Would you like to get calendar and emails updates?
• Would you like to get your lecture updates from your lecturers?
51
ABBRIVATIOINS
52
List of Abbreviations
WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network
WPAN: Wireless Personal Area Network Standard
PAN: Personal Area Network
SIG: Special Interest Group
GFSK: Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying
ISM: Industrial Scientific Medicine
TDD: Time division duplex
SCO: Synchronous Connection Oriented
ACL: Asynchronous Connection Link
QoS: Quality of Service
ARQ: Automatic Repeat request
LMP: Link Manager Protocol
L2CAP: Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol
GPS: Global Positioning System
SDP: Service Discovery Protocol
IrDA: Infrared Data Association
HRFWG: HOME RF Working Group
UWB: Ultra Wide band Radio
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant
ISP: Internet Service Provider
DES: Data Encryption Standard
AES: Advanced Encryption Standard
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems
ITU: International telecommunication Union
PIMD: Information Management Devices
SVA: Slow Vendor Adaptation
53