The LAN Access Profile

The LAN access profile, or LAP, is the second profile that, along with the DUNP, instantiates the Internet bridge usage case. Like the DUNP, it uses established networking protocols over a Bluetooth wireless link to enable a computing device to obtain access to a data network. In the case of the LAP, a network data access point is used to connect to the network rather than a phone or modem used with a dial-up connection. Use of the LAP is analogous to directly connecting to a data network with an Ethernet (or similar) cable, although the usage is restricted to the use of the IETF point-to-point protocol, or PPP, over the Bluetooth link.

Like the DUNP, the LAP is based upon the SPP and is aimed at cable replacement. In this case the network access is local area, rather than wide area as in the DUNP. The LAP notes that this version 1.0 profile defines just one method for accessing networks via data access points, with others likely in the future (Chapter 16 describes some other Bluetooth LAN access possibilities). The most commonly described usage case for the LAP is for a computer to access a LAN, although the LAP does enable the development of data access points that could be used simultaneously by multiple Bluetooth clients. A specialized case of the LAP is its use to directly connect two devices for PPP communication between them rather than to access a larger network.