Bluetooth

Bluetooth (www.bluetooth.com) is an industry specification used to create small personal area networks.

A personal area network is a computer network used for communication among computer devices-for example, telephones, personal digital assistants, and smartphones-located close to one person.

Bluetooth 1.0 can link up to eight devices within a 10-meter area (about 30 feet) with a bandwidth of 700 kilobits per second (Kbps) using low-power, radio-based communication.

Bluetooth 2.0 can transmit up to 2.1 megabits per second (Mbps) and, at greater power, up to 100 meters (roughly 300 feet). Ericsson, the Scandinavian mobile handset company that developed this standard, called it Bluetooth after the tenth-century Danish King Harald Blatan (Blatan means “Bluetooth”).

Common applications for Bluetooth are wireless handsets for cell phones and portable music players.

Advantages of Bluetooth include low power consumption and the fact that it uses omnidirectional radio waves-that is, waves that are emitted in all directions from a transmitter. For this reason, you do not have to point one Bluetooth device at another to create a connection.

Ultra-Wideband

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a high-bandwidth wireless technology with transmission speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. This very high speed makes UWB a good choice for applications such as streaming multimedia from, say, a personal computer to a television.

Time Domain, a pioneer in UWB technology, has developed many UWB applications. One interesting application is the PLUS Real-Time Location System (RTLS).

An organization can utilize PLUS to locate multiple people and assets simultaneously. Employees, customers, and/or visitors wear the PLUS Badge Tag. PLUS Asset Tags are placed on equipment and products. PLUS is extremely valuable for healthcare environments, where knowing the real-time location of caregivers (e.g., doctors, nurses, technicians) and mobile equipment (e.g., laptops, monitors) is critical.

Near-Field Communications

Near-field communications (NFC) has the smallest range of any short-range wireless networks. It is designed to be embedded in mobile devices such as cell phones and credit cards.