Microsoft is to integrate support for Bluetooth wireless technology
into Windows XP in the second half of 2002.
Andy Glass, Microsoft's Bluetooth programme manager, said the
company hoped to simplify both the development of Bluetooth devices
and users' experience of the technology. To do this, Microsoft will
use a subset of the many Bluetooth "profiles" now being used and
developed for various applications of the technology.
Bluetooth is a low-power, short-distance technology for linking
handheld devices, peripherals and PCs. Introduced some three years
ago, the technology is beginning to be rolled out in products in
high volume.
Microsoft's implementation in a desktop operating system has been
widely anticipated by vendors hoping to find wide acceptance of
Bluetooth in the market.
The Bluetooth software stack in XP will differ from those stacks
now in use because it is focused on using Internet Protocol (IP) to
communicate among devices. Using the same protocol deployed for
other network technologies - rather than Bluetooth-specific
approaches - will simplify development and users' experience of
Bluetooth, Glass said.
However, by bypassing many existing profiles and being strict about
its support of Bluetooth chipsets, Microsoft may cause some
inconvenience for users. "We decided early on that we didn't want
to be all things to all people," Glass said.
Microsoft wants the majority of Bluetooth interactions - such as
links between PCs and peripherals - managed by the emerging
personal area network (PAN) profile. Using IP, PAN lets a set of
devices form an ad-hoc network in a small area, such as a desk or
cubicle. XP will also support Bluetooth's device discovery profile
to help PCs find new devices joining those PANs.
Also supported in XP will be the human interface device (HID)
profile, for wireless connections between devices such as keyboards
and mice.
The two protocols most widely in use today - one for cable
replacement and another for dial-up networking over a wirelessly
connected device such as a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone - will be
supported as legacy protocols, Glass said.
The PAN and discovery profiles in XP will support IP Version 6
(IPv6), the next-generation of IP, not the current IPv4. Version 6
offers almost unlimited IP addresses, as well as built-in support
for mobile IP networking and secure ad-hoc networks. The explosion
of small, networked devices will create demand for many new IP
addresses, said Glass.
The Bluetooth implementation in XP will go into a beta test in the
first quarter of 2002. Glass invited developers to give
demonstrations of Bluetooth devices using the XP stack at the
Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in April.