Unwiring the Wired Planet with Bluetooth and Jini

Imagine a world where while driving to work, you can use a wireless headset connected to your mobile device via a personal area network.

Then, when you arrive at your office in the morning, your laptop automatically synchronises with your PC on your office desk and transfers e-mail messages, documents, as well as the events calendar, to the PC. Bluetooth is beginning to unlock these services at offices, factories, hotels, stores, theatres and homes.

Over the last few years, the mobile communications and computing industries have been working together to provide wireless access to any device with a microchip. In spite of these technical advances, commercial success has been limited, progress has been slow, and the solutions have been complex and expensive-mainly because there are too many different standards. However, several companies from both industries are now attempting to address these issues.

Bluetooth is the result of the collaborative effort between Ericsson and Nokia, as well as Intel, whose backing has been instrumental in driving this technology. The initial work group was formed in May 1998-along with Toshiba, Motorola and 3Com-with a charter to design a royalty-free open standard specification for Bluetooth. Adding to its appeal, Bluetooth promises a low-cost design, with the first generation radios expected to cost approximately US$20-US$30. The price is expected to drop to US$5 by 2001.

Barely 24 months into this primeval effort, more than 1800 organisations have invested money on Bluetooth devices. IDG reports that by 2004, there will be 101.8 million Bluetooth devices in the US alone, and 448.9 million devices worldwide. According to Cahners In-Stat Group, Bluetooth chip sales will top nearly US$1 billion by 2001.

Bluetooth is a radio frequency specification for both voice and data transfer technology which can be transmitted through solid but non-metal objects within a short range. It is based on a low-cost, short-range radio link and facilitates ad hoc connections for both stationary and mobile communications on a one-to-one or one-to-many basis.

It operates in the 2.4 GHz industrial-scientific-medical (ISM) band and the normal link range is from 10 cm to 10 m, but can be extended to 100 m by increasing the transmittal power. This technology will enable users to effortlessly connect to each other. Today, both Ericsson and Nokia use wireless LANs in their organisations, based on the Bluetooth 1.0 specification.

Moreover, Motorola has launched Bluetooth products such as PC card adapters, hands-free car kits and USB adapters that will enable ubiquitous connectivity for our enterprise networks, which could include PCs, notebooks, PDAs, or mobile phones.

Furthermore, Bang and Olufson have built stereos based on Bluetooth technology that do not use cables to connect the speakers. And Electrolux has developed refrigerators with a built-in ICL Pentium chip in the door, which consists of a touch screen and barcode scanner. As you fill and remove items from your fridge, you can scan the codes to keep a running tally of the contents in the fridge.

For the past two decades, since chips were first fitted into circuit boards in 1978, programmers have been grappling with ways to connect and instruct computers in a heterogeneous environment. Languages, such as C++, could not program to and from different devices with different microprocessor architecture and operating systems.

Java and Jini technologies were developed by Sun Microsystems to address these limitations. Jini technology does not need drivers, operating systems, cables, or connectors to facilitate the communication of computing and communication devices over the network. It is a Java programme that functions as a translator between devices in the network.

Jini is based on the concept-conceived by Sun Microsystems-that devices should connect and work together, allowing anyone to create a personal network anytime and anywhere, to form an impromptu community. When you connect a Jini-enabled device to the network, its services and resources are made available instantly through a look-up service that functions as a switch-board.

The look-up service is a powerful repository of services where the actual behaviour of objects are stored, thus, enabling one to search not merely based on name, but also based on a desired behaviour. For example, if you are looking for a storage device, you request for services such as fixed, variable and local. Based on this, you could receive several options, which could include a tape drive, write-able CD, etc.

According to the Jini Architectural Overview published by Sun, the ultimate goals of Jini include the following:

According to the Jini.org Web site, currently there are more than 85 Jini-based projects. The US Army uses Jini technology in its Tactical Operations Centers; while the US Navy is using it for its next generation ship computing architecture.

On the other hand, US-based EKO Systems (www.ekosystems.com) is using Jini to build its healthcare infrastructure for medical equipment; and Malaysia-based BizTone.Com is using it for the ASP delivery of its ERP services.

Bluetooth and Jini are complementary technologies that will drive the convergence of mobile computing and mobile communications. Bluetooth covers all seven layers of the OSI reference model but focuses on the lower layers; while Jini covers the higher layers like the session layer and the presentation layer.

Jini will work with Bluetooth, just as it does with any other network transport protocol. Besides, Bluetooth is a communication technology (hardware) as opposed to Jini which is a computing technology (software/Java centric). Unlike Bluetooth, Jini is less related to how a device connects to others, and more to using the services and resources of a network.

Critics argue that consumers may not want or need these technologies. Said Inteco's analyst, Mark Riseley, "People will inevitably ask: 'Do I want to switch on the lights using my mobile phone?' It seems a bit like taking a hammer to crack a nut and may not be considered worth the money."

Nevertheless, I think that wireless connections and not having to worry about tangling cables will be the crucial driving point for Bluetooth and Jini.

PC technology researcher Martin Reynolds says that security is another issue of concern for Bluetooth. "While Bluetooth specifications include security, it does not require it, and when developers are not required to include something, they tend to leave it out," he said.

I agree – if the guy sitting next to me in the restaurant decides to Bluetooth his way from his laptop to his cell phone to check his mail. I want to be dead sure that he is not latching onto my mobile phone to make his call.

Spoofing-and other related problems that appear on our networks today-will be more difficult to track with Bluetooth because it doesn't require any physical connection to the network. However, some of these can be addressed by implementing encryption in the applications and authentication at the application-layer protocols.

In summary, for any technology to succeed, it has to be affordable, secure, simple, user-friendly and widely available. It is also evident that convergence of mobile computing and communications is upon us. Most of the vendors building mobile devices and consumer appliances are beginning to embrace Bluetooth and Jini.

With the cables going, we can look forward to a future where everything connects to everything and the physical boundaries of enterprise networks disappear.