The Bluetooth technology: merits and limitations

Bluetooth/sup TM/ wireless technology is a proposed publicly available specification for radiofrequency (RF), short-range, point-to-multipoint voice and data transfer. It also supports point-to-point connections. It operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band and is based on a low-cost, short-range radio link that facilitates ad-hoc connections for stationary and mobile communication environments. There has been much interest in the Bluetooth technology since it could enable users to connect to a wide range of computing and telecommunications devices without the need to buy, carry, or connect cables. It delivers opportunities for rapid, ad-hoc connections, and in the future, could possibly enable automatic, unconscious connections between devices. In this paper, we discuss the merits and limitations of the Bluetooth technology and address challenging problems that may arise in the future when using Bluetooth wireless communication. We also present new and interesting open research problems in this area.