Personal Area Networks: Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11?

Networks of small handheld electronic devices will enable an environment where information may be accessed, exchanged, and shared seamlessly among the devices in the network. Typically, such a network could consist of a cellular phone, a PDA, a notebook PC, a digital camera, an mp3 player, a DVD player, etc., all of which are devices that a person carries around in everyday life both for work and pleasure [8]. Often, this kind of network is referred to as a personal area network (PAN). However, a PAN may, from time to time, also include devices that are not carried along with the user, e.g., an access point for Internet access or sensors located in a room. Moreover, devices from other users’ PANs may also be interconnected to enable sharing of information, which could be anything from business cards to multiplayer game interaction. Figure 1 depicts a PAN user who carries a laptop, a cellular phone, a PDA, and a digital camera. In general, the nature of PANs implies a minimum of preconfiguration, i.e., it should be possible to establish the network in an ad hoc fashion with minimum user intervention. In this context, Bluetooth has been tailored to Personal Area Networks: Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11?