By Steve Brachmann May 10, A major sociopolitical figure from 10th century Scandinavia reverberates today in the name of a communications company that has developed a single communications standard for connecting our complex world of mobile computing devices.
Haartsen as the inventor of Bluetooth wireless technology. Although not the only innovator to have a hand in the development of the wireless communications standard, Haartsen was responsible for some important Bluetooth advances and is the sole inventor listed on the patent protecting basic Bluetooth communications.
Converting the Danes to a single religion and engineering a series of public works for the Danish people helped Bluetooth unify many Danish tribes into a single country which still exists with us today.
If our readers have ever wondered what the sharp, angular Bluetooth symbol stood for, they might be interested to know that it is a combination of the Danish runes for H and B. Fast-forwarding about one millennium to the mids brings us to the earliest days of the modern Bluetooth that we know today. In , Jaap Haartsen was working as a wireless communications engineer for Swedish digital communications firm Ericsson when he was tasked to develop a short-range radio connection that would enable new functionalities for mobile phones.
In , Haartsen was joined by Sven Mattisson, another engineer of wireless communication technologies , and the pair were able to develop multi-communicator, or MC, links. Eight devices can connect to the same piconet at once and multiple piconets can operate on the same device at the same time.
When connected to the piconet, one device that has been designated as a master can transmit data to one or more slave devices. Each piconet can handle digital communications involving voice, data, printing, faxes and more, and the ability to operate multiple piconets at the same time enables Bluetooth to provide an incredible amount of short-range telecommunications functionality.
Between and , Haartsen served as the chairman of the SIG air protocol certifications group, helping to standardize the Bluetooth radio communications protocol. The standardized nature of Bluetooth which allows all of these dynamic wireless networks among a diversity of electronic devices is why the 10th century Danish king came to serve as the namesake for a Swedish technology. Kardach was in Toronto, Canada, presenting wireless technologies to SIG companies along with Mattisson and the two traded stories during a wintry pub crawl, during which Mattisson brought up the figure of Harald Bluetooth.
Soon thereafter, Kardach received a history book entitled The Vikings and a representation of Bluetooth was one of the first things that Kardach came across.
When he and others made the connection that, much like Harald Bluetooth, the wireless technology sought to unify a lot of separate entities into a single system , the name seemed like the best fit at the time.
There are about 10 patents protecting Bluetooth technology according to the Centre for Business History in Stockholm, most of which are held by Ericsson.
The patent which brings Haartsen his hall of fame acclaim is U. The name caught on fast and before it could be changed, it spread throughout the industry, becoming synonymous with short-range wireless technology. Skip to content. About Us Origin of the Bluetooth Name. Home Home. About Us. Code for Collaboration In , three industry leaders, Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia, met to plan the standardization of this short-range radio technology to support connectivity and collaboration between different products and industries.
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