Wireless Home Networking - Index of

52
Part I: Wireless Networking Fundamentals
Finally, we talk about a few wireless networking standards that are designed
not for data networking in the home, but rather for control networks. These
standards, lead by ZigBee and Z-Wave, send signals around your home that
let you automate and remotely control devices in the home. For example, you
could use a ZigBee or Z-Wave system to turn on lights in remote locations,
raise or lower drapes, or adjust your central heat or air conditioning. These
are things that adventurous homeowners have been able to do for a long time
by using wired solutions or unreliable powerline solutions such as X10; with
these new wireless systems, anyone can get into home control and automation
without a big wiring job and without the headaches of dealing with the
AC powerlines.
Who or What Is Bluetooth?
One of the most often talked about wireless standards, besides Wi-Fi, is
Bluetooth. The Bluetooth wireless technology, named for the tenth-century
Danish King Harald Blatand “Bluetooth,” was invented by the L. M. Ericsson
company of Sweden in 1994. King Harald helped unite his part of the world
during a conflict around A.D. 960. Ericsson intended for Bluetooth technology
to unite the mobile world. In 1998, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba
founded Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Inc., to develop an open
specification for always-on, short-range wireless connectivity based on the
Ericsson Bluetooth technology. Its specification was publicly released on July
26, 1999. The Bluetooth SIG now includes 3Com, Agere, Ericsson, IBM, Intel,
Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Toshiba, and nearly 2,000 other companies.
Thousands of Bluetooth-enabled products are already on the market, with
many more on the way, and over 800 million Bluetooth-enabled devices have
been shipped worldwide (that’s a not-so-insignificant number!).
Sometimes a network of devices communicating via Bluetooth is described as
a personal area network (PAN) to distinguish it from a network of computers
often called a local area network (LAN).
The most common use of Bluetooth these days is in the world of mobile
phones (and the geeky or cool — we’ll leave the distinction up to you —
Bluetooth hands-free headsets hanging off millions of ears out there). But
there’s more to Bluetooth than just phones. The following is a small sampling
of existing Bluetooth products:
� Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer for Bluetooth (a wireless mouse)
� Apple wireless keyboard and mouse
� IOGEAR Bluetooth wireless stereo headphone kit
� HP Deskjet 460 printer
� Motorola V3 RAZR mobile phone