Bluetooth Revealed: The Insider's Guide to an Open Specification for Global Wireless Communications (Paperback)

by Brent A. Miller (Author), Chatschik Bisdikian (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Bluetooth specification, which describes a way for electronic devices to communicate with one another at close range by way of radio signals, has great potential. The open standard promises to make mobile telephones, personal organizers, and digital cameras wireless and far easier to use. In Bluetooth Revealed, a couple of experts who helped hammer out the Bluetooth specification (version 1.0B, specifically) take a shot at elaborating upon the contents of the standards documents. They also share some of their imaginings about how Bluetooth connectivity might be put to use. The result of their efforts is a surprisingly readable book that should fit the needs of hardware and software developers who plan to support the Bluetooth platform.

After some discussion of wireless devices and the generalities of the Bluetooth specification, the authors approach their subject in progressively greater detail, defining terms and referring to conceptual diagrams as they go. Emphasizing protocols that are unique to Bluetooth communication (such as RFCOMM, which allows applications to treat a radio link just like a hard-wired serial port), the authors show exactly how Bluetooth devices arrange themselves into wireless networks. Then, they explain how these networked devices exchange commands, files, and multimedia streams. They give fair hearing to the specification's shortcomings, too; noting, for example, that it's good for sharing voice signals among devices, but not so good for sharing high-quality music signals.

The authors of Bluetooth Revealed would be the first to concede that the Bluetooth standard is evolving, and certainly will change as more manufacturers adopt and supplement it. Regardless, this book is a valuable statement of the Bluetooth vision, straight from a couple of its creators. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Bluetooth wireless networking specification (version 1.0B) and its component parts, including the radio, baseband, link-controller, and link-manager layers. Special coverage goes to the Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP), the Host Controller Interface (HCI), RFCOMM serial ports, and the Service Discovery Protocol. Bluetooth futures appear here, too.

Product Description
For users, the new Bluetooth wireless standard will cut through the complexity of wireless communications, enabling devices to communicate seamlessly. Bluetooth Revealed offers the first insider's view of the Bluetooth standards: crucial information and insight professionals need to start implementing Bluetooth solutions now. After a high-level introduction to Bluetooth and the standards process, it reviews key design decisions driven by the use of the 2.4 GHz spectrum, power consumption restrictions, requirements for a global standard, and other key issues. It presents each key Bluetooth usage model, including cordless computing, advanced headsets, file transfer/synchronization, dial-up networking, speakerphones and conference table applications, hidden computing, and more. Next, it reviews the entire specification in unprecedented depth: its purpose, scope, structure, and interrelationships. The entire Bluetooth protocol stack is covered, including radio, baseband, and software layers; hardware and interfaces; and Link Manager and Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP). The book also contains detailed information on each major Bluetooth profile, showing how to achieve interoperable solutions for a wide variety of applications. Finally, the authors preview Bluetooth's future, including new automotive, imaging, printing, and other applications.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (September 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130902942
• ISBN-13: 978-0130902948
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,436,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will become the Bluetooth technology primer!, October 5, 2000

By	Mac Graham (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I found this to be a expectedly well-written book for one covering a technical subject so well. It is written from the perspective of insider-engineers who were hands on in the development of the Bluetooth wireless specification. I found the background, development history and methodology particularly facinating. The technical components of the specification are laid out in a logical sequence and the book is written in an easy to understand manner and with the intention that the reader understands the technology. These are obviously not guys off in some Ivory Tower, but rather they are highly skilled engineers who are willing and able to speak with those of us who are not so deep into the technology. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For beginner, 4 stars. For advanced reader, 3 stars, October 22, 2000

By	Yah Itoh - See all my reviews

For Beginner -- This book basically is the shorter and with more understandable english version of the confusing and lengthy spec. For a beginner, try to read the spec is not very easy. Tis book provides a good starting point. However, this book doesn't tell the whole story, such like the relation between L2CAP channel and baseband channel. The initiator of the L2CAP channel must be the Master of the piconet?? Such confuing concept is not well explained in this book for a beginner and when the beginner starting picking up, he should start finding many such ill-explained (or not explained) concept in this book.

For advanced reader -- This book tells something but doesn't answer the common confusion in the spec. One example is that on p.134, it said the L2CAP_Connection_Request is for a connection-oriented channel and a PSM value is needed. However, on p.130, the connection-oriented PDU, there is no PSM value and PSM only exists in connectionless channel as shown on p.129. Maybe the answer is somewhere in the book but I haven't found it. So in short this book resolves some confusions in the spec but it also brings up more confusions.

Overall, I think this book is worthy of owning and I strongly recommend it to everybody who who wants to study Bluetooth technology. However I don't think it deserves 5 stars as other people have given to it. It is just the author could have done better and I am hoping that they can make more explainations and solve many people's confusions (go to www.bluetooth.com forum and www.egroups.com bluetooth discussion, it is not difficult to find the common confusions that peopel have) instead of rewriting the spec with better english.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable tool for wireless application developers!, October 18, 2000

By A Customer

Well written with valuable content for wireless application developers that need to develop Bluetooth solutions. This book provides information complimentary to the actual Bluetooth specifications and allows one to really use the specifications to develop product. This book is good example of why software developers often purchase books from the authors of a given technology as it provides insight into the specification and technology that those not directly involved could! I highly recommend this book to others that are in need of Bluetooth information to build actual Bluetooth products and applications.