The Bluetooth industry is set to welcome the latest standard for the short-range wireless networking technology as the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is expected to introduce the 1.2 specification this week at the third annual Bluetooth World Congress in the Netherlands.
Unlike the previous 1.1 specification, which was launched in early 2001 and designed to standardize interoperability between Bluetooth-enabled devices, the 1.2 specification is expected to improve interoperability between Bluetooth and the numerous other wireless networking technologies currently using the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum band, including 802.11b and 802.11g.
The new specification’s coexistence improvement is a move to adaptive frequency hopping, which is expected to improve data throughput for both Bluetooth and 802.11-based technologies that are increasingly being integrated into the same devices and often use the same antennae.
“Coexistence is the 1.2 specification’s most important aspect,” said Eric Janson, worldwide vice president of marketing for Bluetooth chip provider Cambridge Silicon Radio. “Coexistence is becoming a bigger challenge with different wireless technologies being presented in the same box.”
Janson noted that while the Bluetooth specifications have always included frequency hopping, the previous specification’s scheme used channel skipping, which would not use a channel if interference was detected even if the interference was only temporary.
“With so many devices using the 2.4 GHz band, the number of channels the current specification would stay away from can build up and eventually degrade throughput,” Janson explained.
Janson added that the new specification also includes a “ready or not, here I come” signal that a Bluetooth chipset will send to a nearby .11 chipset that will force through a voice channel for priority transmissions like a voice call using a Bluetooth connection.
In addition to “smarter” frequency hopping, the 1.2 specification is expected to provide 65-percent faster connection time between Bluetooth devices compared with the current 1.1 specification, and reportedly improves connection speeds between a 1.2- and 1.1-specification device. Bluetooth proponent L.M. Ericsson noted the faster connection will be evident for keyboards and mice that are expected to connect as quickly as possible when engaged in writing or pointing activities.
The 1.2 specification also includes quality of service improvements that Janson said would result in higher voice quality between Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and headsets.
In connection with the 1.2 specification launch, the Bluetooth SIG will require a six-month prototyping phase for the new specification before manufacturers can begin shipping products. Janson said the prototyping phase is expected to give the industry time to work out any kinks in the new specification and will result in 1.2 devices, which will be compatible with the current 1.1 specification, hitting the market in early September.
Later this year, the Bluetooth SIG is also expected to introduce a medium data rate addition for the 1.2 specification that will triple Bluetooth’s current data transmission speed from a maximum of 1 Megabyte per second to around 3 Megabits per second.
