Experimental Validation of Common Assumptions in Bluetooth Low Energy Interference Studies
Bozheng Pang, Jens Vankeirsbilck, Hans Hallez, Jeroen Boydens · 2023
Bluetooth Low Energy is one of the most popular wireless protocols in the 2.4 GHz frequency band nowadays. There have been multiple studies investigating its performance under interference. However, these studies mostly follow some commonly adopted assumptions. For instance, the location of the interference source does not vary the performance metrics of the connection; the data exchange scheme does not impact the performance metrics of the connection; the performance metrics are the same on both sides of a Bluetooth Low Energy connection. Unfortunately these assumptions are never validated. As a result, this paper aims to verify/challenge these commonly adopted assumptions through experiments. According to the experiment results, the impact of the device role in the BLE connection, the data exchange scheme within the BLE connection, and the location of the interference source is investigated and discussed. This paper should be considered as a cornerstone for other research related to Bluetooth Low Energy performance under interference. It can also be used as a preliminary guideline when deploying Bluetooth Low Energy communication in an interference environment.