BlueICE - Use Bluetooth devices from startup

If you use mouses or keyboards that work only wirelessly via Bluetooth you know that some PC operations are beyond your reach. For example you cannot access the BIOS to change some settings or update it. Or, if you use an operating system that supports the passing of parameters to the kernel, you cannot use this advanced option because the keyboard is not active.

When using Bluetooth this happens because you have to wait for the operating system to boot and load the necessary drivers or software. So until the OS is ready the Bluetooth devices cannot be connected and therefore used. For this reason the user has to keep handy a wired mouse and keyboard just in case the boot goes wrong.

Now CSR plc, a British Bluetooth chip specialist, developed a solution for this problem. It is a software called BlueCore Input Connection Enhancement (BlueICE) that works using a host interface built into a PC or housed in a dongle and the BlueCore4-EXT silicon.

At start-up the regular host module presents itself as a USB composite device so devices can be used immediately. The host module can then be reversed to operate as a Bluetooth device allowing the devices to talk with other devices that support the specification.

This solution will enable PC manufactures to bundle directly Bluetooth keyboard and mouses without having to use only wired devices. If largely adopted BlueICE would also increase dramatically the diffusion of Bluetooth devices since it solves one of the biggest issues. By the CSR estimate the market for Bluetooth keyboards and mouses will jump up to 340 million units.