Why is Bluetooth called "Blue"? Can't it be called "White"?

As a fashionable and technological youth, there are several products that can enhance your personal temperament that are indispensable in life: Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth mice, Bluetooth speakers, smart bracelets...

Just buy one, even before you start using it, you will feel that the quality of your life has improved rapidly and its technological attributes have instantly exploded.

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We are all very familiar with the word Bluetooth. But you talk about "Bluetooth" and use Bluetooth all the time, so what exactly is Bluetooth?

01

This story begins with a Danish king.

Bluetooth is actually a short-range wireless communication technology and a global open standard for wireless transmission of voice and data.

But why is Bluetooth so “blue”?

This can be traced back to the Danish King Harald Blåtand in the 10th century AD.

King Harold ruled Denmark from about 958 to 986 AD. He was a skilled warrior who ended the Viking Age and unified the vast Nordic region of today's Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

The Danish word “Blåtand” translates to “Bluetooth” in English, so the king was also called Harald Bluetooth.

There are many versions about the origin of this name. One legend is that the king loved to eat blueberries, which caused his teeth to be stained blue. Some historians also speculate that one of the king's teeth was necrotic, which made it look blue in appearance.

In 1996, Ericsson, Nokia, Toshiba, IBM and Intel planned to establish an industry association to jointly develop a short-range wireless connection technology. The development team hoped that this wireless communication technology could coordinate and unify the work of different industrial fields like Bluetooth .

Hence, the technology was named Bluetooth.

The Bluetooth logo is a combination of the ancient Norse characters ᚼ and ᛒ, which are the initials "HB" of Bluetooth King Harald Blåtand.

Thanks to this magical symbol, the story of this Danish king has truly been immortalized.

Bluetooth logo meaning

02

Wi-Fi is available

Why should I still use Bluetooth?

As both are short-range communication technologies, Bluetooth will inevitably be compared with Wi-Fi technology. So what are the differences between the two?

First of all, in terms of usage, we often connect multiple devices to the same Wi-Fi to access the Internet, which is a one-to-many connection method ; while Bluetooth is a point-to-point connection method for data transmission between two devices.

From this perspective, Bluetooth data security is higher.

Secondly, because Bluetooth uses microstrip antennas, which are small and easy to integrate into devices, and the cost of Bluetooth modules is very low, the popularity of Bluetooth devices is very high. However, Wi-Fi devices require separate network cards and routing devices, which are expensive and consume a lot of power.

In some scenarios, Bluetooth is more suitable than Wi-Fi.

For example, friends in Shanghai often use an app called "Metro Metropolis" when taking the subway.

Image source: Shanghai Local Treasure

To protect the safety of passengers' property and prevent the QR code from being stolen;

This software requires users to turn on Bluetooth when using it so that the gate and the mobile phone can verify each other. The gate will only be opened after the verification is passed.

Assuming that this software uses the Internet or Wi-Fi for authentication, if the passenger's mobile phone has poor network conditions at the time, it will affect the passenger's entry and exit of the gate.

In this case, using Bluetooth for security authentication is a more appropriate solution.

03

Does turning on Bluetooth consume battery?

But if you turn on Bluetooth just to take the subway, will it consume a lot of your phone’s battery?

To understand this problem, you also need to understand the new developments in Bluetooth technology.

There are two types of Bluetooth we currently use, traditional Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

Traditional Bluetooth uses a point-to-point communication method, which is a solution for maintaining a continuous connection and is generally used in scenarios with large amounts of data.

This connection method is used by audio devices such as Bluetooth headsets and speakers.

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Compared with traditional Bluetooth, the biggest advantage of BLE is that it has very fast search and connection speed and low power consumption. It only takes about 3 milliseconds for BLE to complete a connection (scanning devices, establishing connections, sending data, etc.). After the task is completed, it will quickly switch to the "non-connected" state, minimizing power consumption.

However, the physical bandwidth of BLE is only 1 megabit, and the data transmission rate is low, so BLE is generally used for devices with high real-time requirements but very small data packets, such as keyboards, remote controls, etc.

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Taking "Metro" as an example, this software uses BLE technology.

When passengers pass through the gate, the software can quickly establish a connection with the gate and complete authentication through BLE. This process is almost imperceptible to the passengers and does not increase the waiting time for passengers to enter and exit the gate.

Moreover, due to the use of BLE technology, Metro only needs to send a very small data packet to the gate. After the authentication is completed, Bluetooth quickly enters the "non-connected" state, which greatly reduces power loss, and the power consumption is negligible for mobile phones.

Whether it is commuting to work, listening to music on the subway, or working wirelessly, the use of Bluetooth technology makes our lives more convenient.

Next time you turn on Bluetooth, don’t forget to thank the engineering romance from Northern Europe and the Danish king from the distant Viking era.

References:

[1] https://gizmodo.com/bluetooth-is-named-after-a-medieval-king-who-may-have-h-1671450657

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth

Source: Guokr

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