Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol (BNEP)
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8/28/2008
Bluetooth devices communicate with each other by using standard networking protocols to transport control and data packets over a network. Devices may use protocols such as TCP, IPv4 or IPv6. These protocols have dissimilar network packet formats. To provide seamless transmission of network packets over the L2CAP layer in the protocol stack, an intermediate protocol is required that encapsulates dissimilar network packet formats as a standard common format.
The Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol (BNEP) provides this encapsulation by replacing the networking header, such as an Ethernet header, with a BNEP headers. The L2CAP layer then encapsulates the BNEP header and the network payload and sends it over the transport media. For more information about BNEP header formats, see the BNEP specification at this Official Bluetooth Wireless Info Web site.
The Personal Area Networking (PAN) profile uses BNEP to provide on-demand networking capabilities between Bluetooth devices.