6 Audio

6.1 Introduction

A major application for Bluetooth is as a carrier of audio information. Indeed, we have already seen that up to three full–duplex audio channels are provided for in the standard. This functionality allows us to build devices such as wireless headsets, microphones, and headphones using Bluetooth for all manner of consumer products such as cellular phones, call centre switchboards, or even personal music playback. The audio quality provided by Bluetooth is the same as one would expect from a cellular telephone (not surprising since Bluetooth uses the same audio data format as the GSM system).

Audio data is carried via Synchronous Connection–Oriented (SCO) channels and through the use of several coding schemes. Different ...

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