Bluetooth: Still a few bumps in the road

ANALYSIS In a March 2002 report, Gartner urged the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) to address security matters, expressing concern that during initial device authentication, the exchanging of secret keys could be compromised on a side-band channel. Cahners In-Stat Group's Joyce Putscher said that when Ericsson mapped out its suggested Bluetooth 2.0 specification at the Bluetooth Congress in early June 2002, specific new security features were not announced. (While the SIG remains quiet on the likelihood that it will adopt the specification, it's worth noting that Ericsson is one of the SIG's founding members.) Putscher expects Ericsson to announce security features for its 2.0 specification later this year. Bluetooth SIG Executive Director Mike McCamon emphasises his group's focus on security. "We use frequency hopping and 128-bit encryption in addition to other known methods to enhance our technology," he said, referring to the 1.1 specification. Whether additional security is needed may depend on the environment in which Bluetooth is deployed. The technology's short range -- 30 feet -- requires that an interloper would have to be nearby -- maybe just a few cubicles away -- to compromise the information you're sending. More problematic is possible interference between Bluetooth 1.1 devices and 802.11b wireless LANs, cordless telephones, and microwaves. The current 1.1 spec uses frequency hopping as a means of avoiding interference, but it cannot detect other devices. There are a few ways enterprises can minimize the risk of interference, according to Gartner, though they certainly limit your flexibility. You could locate Bluetooth and WLAN access points as far apart as possible, or customise your system to avoid interference, or use 802.11a instead of 11b/11g. If you hand your employees devices with both Bluetooth and 802.11b on board, they may have to manually turn off Bluetooth when it's not being used. In hopes of getting rid of this guesswork, the SIG is considering support in a future spec for adaptive frequency hopping, which would enable Bluetooth devices to detect and deliberately avoid spectrum in use by any other wireless device. The next specification is currently slated to be version 1.2. According to McCamon, SIG members have a significant volume of product coming to market in the fall. The SIG Web site lists over 600 such products. In the interest of not confusing vendors and customers alike, the SIG will not introduce a new specification before 2003. That should give current 1.1 products enough time to amply test the waters. Furthermore, McCamon says that products built on the new spec will be backward-compatible with version 1.1 products. How closely the future spec will hew to Ericsson's proposed spec remains to be seen. Potential additions include broadcast/multicast support and an increased range of 10-30 meters, according to Putscher. In addition, IEEE's work to create a Bluetooth spec may be just the leg up the technology needs to prove itself legitimate. In addition to proving it deserves a niche in the wireless pantheon, if Bluetooth is to earn the confidence of enterprises this year, it will have to convince them that short-range wireless connectivity is a necessity, not a convenience. If it can't, we could see the next specification sooner rather than later.

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