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<concept id="GUID-DEB6E162-B2AA-5DF6-B750-E833C7DE4902" xml:lang="en"><title>PAN

Profile Overview</title><shortdesc>The Bluetooth PAN Profile API supports standard IP-based network

services deployed over the Bluetooth transport layer. </shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>

<section id="GUID-0066861F-2219-55ED-8BCA-9E7FDB7B3B68"><title>Purpose</title> <p>The

Personal Area Network (PAN) profile is designed to make a Bluetooth network

simulate an ethernet, from an application's perspective. Symbian platform

supports only one active PAN at a time. Each remote device that connects to

the PAN device for networking purposes will be merged into the same active

PAN. </p> <p>Symbian platform provides support for a PAN agent to assume the

role of PANU (User), PAN-GN (Group ad hoc Network) or PAN-NAP (Network Access

Point). </p> <p>The Symbian PAN implementation is integrated into the Symbian

networking framework enabling IP applications to run on a Bluetooth network. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-802A6EBB-F92C-4333-858C-2AFBEC1952E3"><title>Required background</title> <p>You need to be familiar with

the <xref href="http://www.bluetooth.com/NR/rdonlyres/279DC460-295E-42ED-8952-61B723620884/984/PAN_SPEC_V10.pdf" scope="external">PAN Profile specification</xref>. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-55A48DCA-3D08-58F7-8243-BD7D9FC03987"><title>Key concepts

and terms</title> <dl>

<dlentry>

<dt>Personal Area Network (PAN)</dt>

<dd><p>A PAN is an ad-hoc network of devices communicating on a standard network

configuration, over a Bluetooth radio connection. A PAN may have anywhere

from 2 to 8 participating member devices. </p> <p>A PAN is not the same as

a piconet. Where a piconet is any ad-hoc networking of devices over a Bluetooth

connection for the purposes of sharing data or services, like when you pair

your phone to your Bluetooth hands-free kit, a PAN deals specifically with

networking resources. </p> </dd>

</dlentry>

<dlentry>

<dt>PAN Profile</dt>

<dd><p>The Bluetooth specification identifies several profiles including the

Bluetooth Personal Area Networking (PAN) profile. The PAN profile simplifies

the now deprecated Bluetooth LAN Access and Dial-up Networking profiles by

reducing the number of layers in a network Bluetooth connection. </p> <p>The

PAN profile identifies certain configuration and setup details of a participant

of the network, including the PAN host. If a device wants to join a PAN it

must support and be able to be configured according to the requirements of

the profile in use. For more general information about Bluetooth profiles

see <xref href="GUID-EA8038F6-8727-5ABE-805C-9FF095293EB7.dita#GUID-EA8038F6-8727-5ABE-805C-9FF095293EB7/GUID-D7338D15-E269-54A5-B4E1-D5F0AACA9F32">Introduction

to Bluetooth Profiles</xref>. </p> </dd>

</dlentry>

<dlentry>

<dt>PAN profile roles</dt>

<dd><p>Typical PAN profile roles include the following: </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-DA4229AD-A8CA-57A8-99D6-4123B2D37668"><p>PANU </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-0E79426A-FA34-512D-BF93-6007D423FD04"><p>PAN-GN </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-E616B1D1-666D-5B34-8DF6-3534BBF63E02"><p>PAN-NAP </p> </li>

</ul> <p>PANU (User) acts as a client member of a PAN-GN (Group ad hoc Network)

or a PAN-NAP (Network Access Point). Any device in either the PAN-GN or the

PAN-NAP role acts as a server. </p> </dd>

</dlentry>

</dl> </section>

<section id="GUID-A0BFEBD0-C828-56E2-94FA-FE0C0AF3EB84"><title>PAN Roles</title> <p>The

PAN Profile roles are described below: </p> <p><b>PANU </b> </p> <p>A

Bluetooth enabled device seeking entry into a network or participating in

a peer-to-peer (one on one) connection assumes the PANU role, thus becoming

a client member of the piconet. </p> <fig id="GUID-985136FB-9E35-5DD4-99A6-AE7D8FDDF21C">

<title>                 PANU to PANU connection               </title>

</fig> <p><b>PAN-GN</b> </p> <p>A

PAN-GN device assumes the role of a forwarding node or host and the attached

PANU devices act as clients, networking up to a maximum of seven PANUs. The

wireless network is formed without the need of additional hardware like a

hub or router as in the case of a conventional cabled network. </p> <p>Group

Ad-hoc Network (GN) is a temporary, ad hoc network of devices in proximity

for sharing information and services. It is called ad hoc because of its on-the-fly

or transient nature and can include up to eight (including the host) available

Bluetooth-enabled devices in the immediate vicinity, that are willing to participate. </p> <p>The

device that initiates the network - in this case the PAN-GN - becomes the

host or controller. Correspondence in a PAN between the clients is routed

through the PAN-GN device (host) in both one-to-one and one-to-many cases. </p> <p><b>PAN-NAP</b> </p> <p>A PAN-NAP device plays the role of a proxy, bridge,

or a router between an existing network say a LAN or the Internet and Bluetooth-enabled

devices. The PAN-NAP device takes up to seven active wireless clients. The

NAP device acts as a bridge between PANU devices or bluetooth networks and

other networks for routing ethernet packets. The Symbian platform PAN-NAP

role allows only a single PANU client access to the uplink for the external

network. </p> <fig id="GUID-6EC523C3-FD92-530E-A8F4-F19AB82419A0">

<title>                 PAN-NAP, bridging networks               </title>

</fig> <p>The following image shows a Bluetooth-enabled laptop accessing the

Internet through a mobile handset that is acting as a PAN-NAP device. The

Bluetooth handset may provide the uplink via GPRS, WIFI, dial-up, or in some

other way. </p> <p>For more information about please see the <xref href="GUID-0DBB2379-6FCB-5D1D-AE5A-2DC7C498F479.dita">PAN

NAP Role Guide</xref>. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-238F0831-514C-50DA-92D9-E2009580DA40"><title>Architecture</title> <p>The

PAN Profile specification fits in between the application and the hardware

abstraction layers. It is connected to and accessed through the Comms-Infras

socket by the application. </p> <p>Initially, the connection preferences are

set in CommDB through the code. The Bluetooth stack is then initialized. An <xref href="GUID-BED8A733-2ED7-31AD-A911-C1F4707C67FD.dita"><apiname>RConnection</apiname></xref> and <xref href="GUID-EF29C1D7-B1E5-370F-AE37-66231A6BE449.dita"><apiname>RSocketServ</apiname></xref> instance

are created as part of initiating an ESock session and the <xref href="GUID-BED8A733-2ED7-31AD-A911-C1F4707C67FD.dita"><apiname>RConnection</apiname></xref> object

opens the connection through the <codeph>RSocketServ</codeph> instance. <xref href="GUID-BED8A733-2ED7-31AD-A911-C1F4707C67FD.dita#GUID-BED8A733-2ED7-31AD-A911-C1F4707C67FD/GUID-28A35F19-1B05-3922-8E80-36F00DF3DB65"><apiname>RConnection::Control()</apiname></xref> allows

configuration of certain aspects of the PAN, for instance adding and deleting

devices to/from the PAN. </p> <p>Intact ethernet payloads are transported

with the BNEP (Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol) underneath. The PAN

profile interacts with the Bluetooth BB (baseband) and conveys the various

roles that PAN network nodes would play. </p> </section>

<section id="GUID-4640FF39-2C8A-4241-B8EA-BF68CC7F1ABF"><title>Typical uses</title> <p>The following tutorials have been

provided to help give licensee developers guidance when writing applications

that make use of the PAN profile. </p> <ul>

<li id="GUID-747AB1CA-FD49-5451-86A3-49317DCDF951"><p> <xref href="GUID-91C4F00B-E241-57DC-8520-8C16A302C983.dita">Creating

a Personal Area Network</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-25FA6A6C-1C7B-5BD9-AB67-E8DBFF438AA1"><p> <xref href="GUID-685AD682-10DC-553B-9C3A-04D0376138C4.dita">Adding

a device to the PAN</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-2C74ECA0-469C-5701-AE89-D3BD9DA28957"><p> <xref href="GUID-197648C4-A42C-5769-82B7-F8BA510631D9.dita">Removing

a device from the PAN</xref>  </p> </li>

<li id="GUID-5E2ACA5F-84AD-5750-A550-E834E221C60E"><p> <xref href="GUID-50CDF6E0-C352-5771-8686-B551267C6BE6.dita">Closing

the PAN</xref>  </p> </li>

</ul> </section>

</conbody></concept>