Atheros Communications, Inc., a provider of technology solutions for wireless and wired communications, reportedly has demonstrated the Bluetooth 3.0, a technology developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group that’s s been improved for wireless personal area networks to achieve via the integration of the 802.11 high-speed Alternate MAC/PHY.

 

The company’s Bluetooth 3.0 with HS features was exhibited at the Bluetooth SIG’s 3.0 launch event in Tokyo, and the demonstration was conducted by Kevin Hayes, Atheros (News - Alert) Fellow and Technical Editor of the 802.11 Protocol Adaptation Layer of the Bluetooth 3.0 plus HS specification.

 

“This latest version of Bluetooth technology builds on the success of the most popular short-range wireless capability by providing much higher speeds to support advanced multimedia applications and robust point-to-point connectivity in a large and growing ecosystem of consumer devices,” said Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “With its expert wireless know-how, Atheros has been a leading contributor to the Bluetooth 3.0 specification throughout the entire development process.”

The Bluetooth SIG has collaborated with other companies in the wireless industry to combine selected features of Bluetooth and 802.11, two popular wireless connectivity solutions.

 

As a result, the Bluetooth 3.0 combines simple pairing and operational functions of Bluetooth plus the speed and energy efficiency of 802.11. The Bluetooth 3.0 is expected to provide more than 10 times the user throughput in comparison to the Bluetooth 2.1 and Enhanced Data Rate for connecting personal computers, handsets and consumer electronics devices in PANs.

 

“This extraordinary industry achievement enables the ease of seamless connectivity at speeds that can now readily support the transfer of large files, such as video and audio content, between PCs, handsets and consumer electronics devices – at one-tenth the time required by current Bluetooth solutions,” said Fiona Thomson (News - Alert), research director of IMS Research.