The motivation for producing profiles—over 400 pages in version 1.0, with more profiles continuing to be developed—is to foster interoperability. Indeed, the formation of the SIG itself was aimed at developing an open specification with backing from leaders in the computing and telecommunications industries. The SIG is well aware that many promising new technologies have not gained market traction for various reasons, and the SIG believes, as we do, that interoperability is a key attribute that can enable the initial and continued success of Bluetooth technology.

Besides expending tremendous effort to develop the profiles, the SIG also sponsors other activities geared toward fostering interoperability. Events called unplugfests are held from time to time. During unplugfests, vendors can test their Bluetooth solutions with those of others to determine how well the different implementations interoperate. Unplugfests are informal gatherings where developers, under nondisclosure agreements and within a spirit of cooperation, can judge the precision and completeness of their protocol stack implementations. These events have been popular and have allowed developers to discuss and test their implementations with each other, helping to resolve conflicts and work toward producing robust, interoperable solutions.

The compliance testing and logo programs provide more formal methods for testing and certifying Bluetooth implementations. The certification program is not covered in detail in this book; a detailed presentation could perhaps be a book unto itself. The compliance testing and logo programs were still maturing in 2000 and are likely to continue to evolve over time. In general, these programs revolve around a process for formal testing of a Bluetooth implementation by a SIG-certified test body. The types of tests vary with the type of implementation being tested. Once a product is certified through the testing process, the product can sport the Bluetooth logo (depicted in Chapter 1) as an indication of its compliance with the specification. The SIG publishes rules for the use of the logo; these rules and other authoritative information about compliance testing can be found at the official Bluetooth web site, http://www.bluetooth.com.

Innovation is the lifeblood of the computing and communications industries. The Bluetooth technology fosters innovation and presents many opportunities to many people. First and foremost is the value it can provide to end users in the form of convenience and new applications of the technology. As the previous chapter pointed out, product opportunities abound for manufacturers and software developers. Like most new technologies, Bluetooth wireless communication presents opportunities for education and consulting by those who choose to become immersed in the technology. Indeed, this book and others on the topic are intended to educate and widely disseminate information about this exciting new technology. This book has not covered every facet of Bluetooth wireless communication—besides the new subjects which will arise as the technology evolves, there is still room for investigating other topics in more depth than we have done here. Testing and certification, WAP interoperability, software design and development, silicon and antenna design and development and other subjects are all ripe for further exploration.

With a solid and robust foundation, exceptional industry backing, a detailed specification, tremendous momentum, and dedicated product developers worldwide, Bluetooth wireless communication is poised to become a major influence in high-technology industries. Bluetooth technology has made great strides since its inception, and we believe that King Harald would be proud of his namesake.