Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9-1.
the Bluetooth logo. Image courtesy of
Bluetooth Special Interest Group.
before the turn of the century, in 1998, a
few companies established the Bluetooth
Special Interest Group (SIG). By 2001,
Bluetooth
technology had been developed
for mobile phones, personal computers,
and hands-free car kits. The technology
made it to televisions in 2007 and has
progressed at a rapid pace since. A new
version of Bluetooth, known as Bluetooth
Smart, was introduced in 2011 (History
of Bluetooth, n.d.) and provides wireless
communication with less energy con-
sumption by Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Many modern hearing aids are Blue-
tooth or Bluetooth
Smart enabled. While
there are other types of wireless connec-
tions between devices and hearing aids,
the Bluetooth designation identifies the
specific uniform structure for devices
to connect and communicate with each
other. Spaced 1 MHz apart, Bluetooth sig-
nals are transmitted over 79 channels on
the 2.4 GHz ISM radio band; Bluetooth
Low Energy
LE uses 40 channels spaced
2 MHz apart. When two devices identify
and establish communications with each
other via Bluetooth, a process referred
to as “discovery and handshake,” the two
devices are then “paired” and can com-
municate (e.g., exchange files like word
documents, photos, and songs). When
one or more devices are connected to one
