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<!DOCTYPE concept
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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>
<image href="GUID-C193535D-8756-5A2C-BD3A-280F7DDAF73E_d0e400635_href.jpg" placement="inline"/>
</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>
<image href="GUID-8D51B706-6941-5043-B435-1CAFBAE5A8F2_d0e400665_href.jpg" placement="inline"/>
</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>