Mike Foley Wireless

2005-03-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Forbidden City

2005-03-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall

A Pretty Good Day

2005-03-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

Today I was able to walk along the Great Wall and visit the Forbidden City. Both are truly amazing places. I don't believe that one is able to fully understand the enormity of the Great Wall without seeing it in person. It goes on FOREVER. It is built on and over mountains making some places extremely difficult to walk along. Even though the original wall was started in the seventh century BC, the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and measures 5660 kilometers. I can't help but wonder how the actual construction occurred. Obviously a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from the subjects in the land.

The Forbidden City is equally impressive, but for very different reasons. While the sheer size of the Great Wall overwhelms, it is the remarkable detail and architecture in the Forbidden City that is impressive. Each of the great halls is an artwork in and of itself. There are detailed rock carvings leading up to the hall. The outer walls are made up of intricately detailed doors and shutters which are opened in the summer to provide ventilation. The insides contain elaborate thrones, carvings, sculptures, and other furnishings. The 600 year history of the Forbidden City is evident while walking through it. Many of the side structures are undergoing what appear to be major renovations. While this made some of the pictures less appealing, it definitely did not diminish the experience.

My job requires a great deal of travel. This is difficult for both me and my family. Luckily sometimes there is time to see incredible sites such as these that I probably wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to see.

Trip to China

2005-03-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Next week I’m traveling to China. The goals of the trip are to meet with members, Chinese officials, and other companies that have in interest in utilizing Bluetooth wireless technology in their products. In the past, the Bluetooth SIG has not spent enough time meeting the requirements of our many members in China or Asia in total. Over the past six months we have been working harder to create programs that do fulfill these requirements. In an effort to be more responsive to members in the region, we have created an office in Hong Kong and one of our most senior team members, Eric Schneider, has relocated there to head or efforts. The initial programs are focused upon successfully exchanging information. This includes translating more of our materials in languages commonly used in the region, working with government agencies, and meeting with members. We are also stepping up educational and promotional programs in the region. The better people understand the use cases for which Bluetooth is optimized, the more successful our members products will be.

I’m excited about the trip and meeting with our many members in China.

Security of Bluetooth Devices

2005-03-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Recently there has been confusion surrounding security and Bluetooth wireless technology. These have typically involved mobile phones. How these issues apply to other classes of devices has not been discussed. I’d like to do that here. To the best of my knowledge, the encryption algorithm in the Bluetooth specifications has not been compromised. As such, once paired, the communication between Bluetooth devices is secure. This includes devices such as mice and keyboards connecting to a PC, a mobile phone synchronizing with a PC, and a PDA using a mobile phone as a modem to name just a few of the many other use cases.

Cases where data has been compromised on mobile phones are the result of implementation issues on that platform. The Bluetooth SIG diligently works with our members to investigate any issues that are reported to understand the root cause of the issue. If it is a specification issue, we work with the membership to address that issue in the specification. If it is an implementation issue, we work with the membership to get patches out and ensure future devices don’t suffer from the same vulnerability. This is an on-going process.

The Bluetooth SIG has published in the roadmap for the advancement of Bluetooth wireless technology security and privacy enhancements. These strengthen the pairing process; ensure privacy; as well as eliminating a brute force attack against non-discoverable devices. If any new vulnerabilities are discovered, these will be addressed in the roadmap.

Wireless Industry Trend

2005-02-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Over the past months, many discussions that I have with members have changed from trying to determine “which technology should I build into my device?” to those centered upon “how do I utilize the various technologies to create the best device?” This shift in mindset is critical. It implies that the reality that one technology does not solve all problems is sinking in. Also the temptation to use a single technology for all scenarios doesn’t lead to the best solution. Now that this is understood the questions are becoming

How do I use Bluetooth and NFC to simplify the user experience?
How can Bluetooth and UWB collaborate to create the second generation WPAN?
How can Bluetooth and Wi-Fi best be utilized on a single device?

And there are many more. Spending the collective energy of the industry to answer these questions and solve the underlying issues preventing them from being reality today is required to create the best devices for 2006 and beyond. To accomplish this requires organizations such as the Bluetooth SIG, IEEE, Wi-Fi Alliance, NFC Forum, WiMedia, and UWB Forum to work in a collaborative effort as any solution which addresses the questions above require specifications which reference those of the other organizations. This work could be done in a vacuum, but that will lead to less than optimal solutions.

I’m excited to be able to participate in this shift in industry mindset and try to be an active driver for collaboration amongst the various organizations required to create these multi-technology solutions.

Vancouver Unplugfest

2005-02-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I attend a portion of the Bluetooth unplugfest in Vancouver, BC. These events are typically held three time a year; one in each of North America, Europe, and Asia. (The next one is in Singapore the week of June 5.) It had been approximately two years since I attended one of these events. I must say that I was thoroughly impressed. Not with the facilities, scheduling, or professionalism of the event, as I expected these. What really impressed me was the quality of the conversation around the testing. After participants spent all day testing their devices with peers from other companies, they still had the energy to engage in very technical discussions regarding the best way to implement details of the specification, changes to the qualification program, security, and test tools. These conversations were very enlightening and need to be brought into the SIG more than the three times a year in which UPFs are held. Determining the best way to do this was my number one take away from the event. There is a vast assortment of talented teams of engineers building solutions utilizing Bluetooth wireless technology. The SIG can do better to provide a forum for them to discuss what they find and questions they have while doing this.

Blog’n Sky High

2005-02-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

When I go to Europe, I typically fly the non-stop SAS flight from Seattle to Copenhagen. I’ve always like this stop since it was non-stop and there are normal electrical outlets for PCs in business class. On my way to Europe, I saw the literature on the plane for Wi-Fi service. The SAS slogan is “You’ve surfed the waves, You’ve surfed the wind. Now surf the clouds.” I like to sleep on the way over as the flight from Seattle departs at 7 PM and arrives into Copenhagen around 1:30 PM local time. As such, I try to catch a nap after dinner. However, the return flight leaves at 4 PM local time and arrives in Seattle at 5 PM. As such, I’m typically awake the majority of this flight. As such, I thought I’d try to be productive by using the network access service. I was able to connect to the AP without incident. The sign-up procedure seemed excessive. I had to first create an account and then log in. During the log in I had to enter my credit card information. I’m not sure if the credit card information was tied to my account enabling a fast log on during my next flight. If not, then there isn’t any reason to create the log in account, but I could not tell if this was in fact the case. I trust that it is.

Once I spent the ten minutes or so creating an account, logging in, then entering my credit card information, I was online. I was able to connect to my email server and download mail. This worked great for about 15 minutes. Then the connection simply failed. I tried without success to reestablish connectivity. I could still connect to the AP and obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. It appeared the problem was getting out of the plane. The attendants on the plane stated this was because we were in between satellites. The pamphlet on the plane describing the service stated I would be connected the entire flight and didn’t mention anything about dead spots. After 30 minutes of being between satellites, I asked the SAS purser how I could get my $30 back. He stated there was nothing he could do and to contact connexion by Boeing. (1-800-522-2435) I’ll attempt to do that tomorrow, but imagine that effort will take more time than recovering the $30 is worth. I also found it very frustrating that SAS would not do anything to refund the money spent on a service they offer which didn’t work. When I suggested SAS take care of me, the purser’s response was simply that this was not possible.

The connexion service has great potential. However, I don’t think it is right that they are charging consumers $30 per flight for what is basically a beta service that may or may not work. (I’ve now been between satellites for over an hour…) This trial should be free and once they can guarantee quality, and then begin charging for the service. Not before. I know I will not try this service again in the near future and more importantly to SAS since they were unwilling to make this right by me, I’ll stop purchasing business class tickets on their airline. This vividly demonstrates how value-add services such as Wi-Fi hotspots put the establishment at risk. SAS offering this service while not standing behind it has the potential to cost them customers such as myself who pay substantially more than $30 for the flight. That could be a high price to pay for a very modest revenue on this service.

Update:
Connexion responded to my emails stating there was a problem with the service on the SAS flight. After they verified that fact, they credited my card the cost of the service for this flight. So, I have to believe that Connexion stands behind their service and will make things right by their customers if a problem occurs. It would have been nice if SAS could have conveyed that information to me on the flight. But, things worked out in the end.

Mondays with Mike

2005-02-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the first of the “Mondays with Mike” series. This idea came about after the member round tables last fall. The goal is to provide a forum where members and staff, specifically me, can share information and talk about current topics for the industry. This first call will be somewhat of an experiment trying to balance how much prepared material there should be versus free-flowing discussion. The planned topics are CES, the regulatory database and security. This should give plenty of issues to discuss, but I don’t want to limit the conversation to just these topics.

I’m excited for the call. Hopefully many members will attend and find the conversation useful.

Metropolitan Wi-Fi Networks

2005-01-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

There has been a great deal of press lately about municipalities building public Wi-Fi networks and opposition to those networks from commercial Broadband suppliers. Perhaps the most ambitious example of this is in Philadelphia. The stated goal for that project is to bridge the digital divide that now exists and prevents many individuals and families from obtaining the full measure of the opportunities generated by the Internet because they can’t afford the cost of wired broadband Internet access. While this is an admirable goal that I hope they are able to achieve, let’s take a close look at how they are planning to accomplish this.

My understanding is that Philadelphia plans on spending over $10 million to build a Wi-Fi (.11b variant) mesh network covering the city’s 135 square mile area and providing service to its 1.5 million residents. The estimated access point density is 8 – 16 per square mile. (or 1080 – 2160 total) This is based on the Wireless Philadelphia web site http://www.phila.gov/wireless/faqs.html. There wasn’t information regarding the yearly maintenance cost. 802.11b has a raw bit rate of 11 mbps and a much lower effective rate for the user. The bandwidth is also shared amongst all users of the access point. Further data rate reductions will be seen because of the mesh network configuration. Access points that don’t have a direct connection to the Internet will be required to forward packets from other access points. Depending on the frequency of access points with network connections, this adds significant overhead to delivering the data. In order to keep installation costs down and simplify the installation, it is stated that most access points will not have a direct connection to the Internet. Thus overhead will be high. If the typical definition of broadband is used, requiring at least 200 kbps down stream, this system runs out of bandwidth before the population can be served. On the other hand when a traditional broadband solution is deployed using DSL or cable, each residence can be delivered the desired data rate.

Taking all this into account, I don’t see how the stated goal can be met. I think the money spent on the initial build-out and yearly maintenance money would be better spent subsidizing those citizens that they are trying to help.

Privacy

2005-01-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Privacy on networks, especially wireless networks, has become a very important requirement for systems. This concept flies in the face of traditional design where a fixed number is used to identify a device. (Typically a MAC address burned into the device) When a fixed address is used, this address can be used to track a device as it moves about and connects to a network. When the device is only connected to a company network, this issue isn’t that big a deal. However, when these devices connect in public networks the opportunity arises where an arbitrary entity can track the location of that device and by inference the owner of that device.

In an example of how times can change quickly, the ability to track a user was originally considered a feature of Bluetooth wireless technology. While there are still many services and business models that can benefit from this “feature” the current thinking is that a user should be required to opt into such a service. If the user doesn’t do so, they can remain private.

The existing Bluetooth specification allow for a device to be tracked during a conversation or during the connection process. In order to provide complete privacy for a user, the Bluetooth SIG has taken the unprecedented step to define in its roadmap features that make it impossible to track a device of a user that doesn’t want its true identity to be exposed. The first of these features hiding the identity of a user during an active connection will be specified in the 2005 version of the speciation. This is a major enhancement and demonstrates the leadership that the Bluetooth SIG is taking in the area of privacy. No other connectivity solution, wired or wireless, is taking these strides to ensure that users of the technology can maintain total privacy.

BARB Meeting

2005-01-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

The Bluetooth SIG is in the process of greatly enhancing its testing and interoperability programs. One of the major programs in effort is a profile test system. In order to support this system, I have decided to create a team in Bellevue, Washington to develop and test this application. It uses TTCN for the test specification language and the program is an execution engine that enables a PC to emulate any device for testing profiles which implement the complimentary role.

The BARB had scheduled a meeting this week in Redmond to be hosted by Microsoft. Due to scheduling conflicts the meeting could not be held on the Microsoft campus. As such, I decided to host the meeting at the new SIG office in Bellevue. This was a bit unfortunate as our office wasn’t really ready to host such a meeting. We are still under construction and didn’t even have a network or phones in place when the meeting started. (See pictures below) Luckily for us, the building that the Bellevue SIG office is located has meeting areas that tenants can reserve. Thus the BARB meeting wasn’t physically located in the SIG office under construction. Instead it was in a nice meeting room across the hall.

The BARB meeting went well. The schedule for the 2005 specification was reviewed. I believe the features for this core specification are well on their way to completion. The biggest concern in the BARB was whether or not prototypes could be built for all the new features quickly enough. This is a legitimate concern. The new Bluetooth SIG process requiring at least three interoperable prototypes to be demonstrated before a specification is released poses a great burden on our members. They need to implement and test each feature before the specification is ratified. Even thought this requires a signification amount of effort, I believe the result of a rock solid specification is worth the effort.

The Bellevue SIG office will be fully operational for the next meeting we host!

Network and Phone Installation

2005-01-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

The network equipment is being installed. We almost have a network!

Entry Construction

2005-01-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Entry not completed. A sign is being created.

Monterey IEEE Meeting

2005-01-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

I went down to Monterey for the start of the IEEE meeting. It had been a few years since I had been there. It didn’t take me long to remember why it is such a great place. One of my favorite pastimes is golfing. The Pebble Beach area is one of the finest areas for golf in the world. I had the opportunity to play Spyglass Hill while I was there. It’s first few holes are incredible. They hug the coast and the views are spectacular. The greens are smaller and more challenging than I thought. After playing there I had a late lunch at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. There was a corporate tournament that day on pebble. It was a shot gun start which happened to finish when I was done with lunch. I took the opportunity to walk the entire course. I have been to Pebble Beach numerous times, but haven’t played it. As such, I haven’t seen most of the holes except watching on TV. It was a calm sunny afternoon and made the walk very enjoyable. Each hole has history that I played through my mind as I walked the course. That was an unexpected treat.

UWB at CES

2005-01-09T17:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I wrote some general comments about CES. Today I’m going to focus on what I saw regarding UWB at CES. The MBOA Forum had a pavilion with many member companies participating. The DS UWB group seemed to be centered in the FreeScale booth. Both groups stressed the ability to stream two HDTV channels simultaneously from the same media source. FreeScale even had multiple demos of this running in the ESPN lounge.

The demos I saw in the MBOA Forum pavilion tended to use engineering boards with multiple components. This reminded me of the demos I saw at Bluetooth events in the late 90’s before form factor silicon was produced. Numerous people told me their goal was to have the first wireless USB chips ready in early early 2006, certification later that year and products by the end of 2006. If what was shown in the pavilion is the current state of the silicon I think that is a very ambitious schedule.

Freescale displayed silicon in a mini-PCI form factor. This was used in two PCs to exchange files as well as the media center demo mentioned above. Freescale also had a demonstration of a mobile phone sending a picture to a PC. However, the UWB radio on the phone didn’t appear to use that chip as it was much bigger. Perhaps it did and the extra size was battery. I’m not sure.

I found it very interesting that these organizations are articulating many of the same usage scenarios as Bluetooth is used for today. (Bluetooth can not do HDTV streaming.) The thinking is that the extra speed simply makes the better. That said, I think UWB will probably follow a similar adoption path that Bluetooth did. They still need to agree upon a standard or have two, world wide regulatory approval needs to be achieved; a good service discovery model needs to be in place, etc. These are all issues that Bluetooth has already dealt with and will be required for UWB to be successful. I think UWB can learn a great deal from the experiences of Bluetooth. I’ll have to think further about how this could be done.

CES Thoughts

2005-01-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

I spent the last few days at CES. The enormity of this show is truly impressive. While that may be one of its biggest strengths, it also is a weakness. It is nearly impossible to get around Las Vegas during the show. Restaurants are packed, hotels are jammed, it takes hours to get a cab, etc. Even with that pain, the show was still worth the trip.

I thought the show was more evolutionary than revolutionary. TV’s were bigger and flatter, cameras were smaller, but I don’t recall seeing any real break through devices.

Wireless devices, and specifically those containing Bluetooth wireless technology were everywhere. It was great to see stereo Bluetooth headsets from Motorola and Toshiba. The Ten Technology add-on for the iPod to enable it with Bluetooth is also very exciting. While this is a great product, it would be killer if Bluetooth were integrated into the iPod itself. Think of being able to carry all your music with you and stream it to a headset while walking or jogging, stream it to you car stereo while driving, and to your home stereo at night. That will be great and is well within reach!

The Motorola clothing line featuring Bluetooth wireless technology was also very exciting. The jackets and helmets are very practical applications for the technology but one that I didn’t envision when I first got involved back in 1999.

I also looked at the Wi-Fi camera from Kodak. It’s an interesting product, but seems to have many obstacles to overcome before such a solution can be widespread. The fact that it is based on Rendezvous means that it doesn’t work out-of-the-box with a Windows PC or most printers. It will be hard to compete with the likes of Nikon which was shown working in that configuration during the BillG keynote on Wednesday night.

Welcome

2005-01-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog on wireless technologies. With the start of the new year, I’ve decided to create a blog to express thoughts that I have. I’ll post approximately once a week. I plan on commenting on wireless technology in general. However, since I am the Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG, that is where my interest lies and this will receive the majority of my thoughts and postings.

2005-01-01T01:13:00.000-08:00

Mike Foley