A Survey of Enhanced Device Discovery Schemes in Bluetooth Low Energy Networks

Abstract

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a popular low power wireless technology, used for short-range communication. In BLE networks, discovery process enables fast and energy-efficient communication, since all communications must involve it at the first step. For this reason, some studies have proposed novel discovery schemes to improve the performance of device discovery process. Nevertheless, literature report that provides a consolidated view are limited and insufficient. In this paper, we survey different device discovery schemes in BLE networks and discuss their advantages and limitations. The enhanced schemes are categorized into two approaches: parameter adjustment and collision avoidance approach. The first approach improves the performance by adjusting the discovery parameters according to a network situation. In the second approach, the BLE devices try to avoid the interference to reduce collisions in crowded networks.

KEYWORDS:

• Bluetooth
• Bluetooth low energy (BLE)
• device discovery process
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Personal Area network (PAN)
• survey

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the BK21 Plus project (SW Human Resource Development Program for Supporting Smart Life) funded by the Ministry of Education, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Korea (21A20131600005). The Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2016R1D1A1B03933566) also supported this research. This work was supported by Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion (IITP) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. 2017-0-00770).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by [National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT)] grant number [2019R1F1A1042721] and [BK21 Plus project (SW Human Resource Development Program for Supporting Smart Life) funded by the Ministry of Education, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Korea] grant number [21A20131600005].

Notes on contributors

Jihun Seo

Jihun Seo received the BS degree in computer engineering from Keimyung University in 2013. He has received an MS degree from the School of Computer science and Engineering in Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea, in 2015. He is currently a PhD candidate of the School of Computer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea. His area of expertise wireless networks and communication protocols. Email: [email protected]

Kijun Han

Kijun Han received the BS degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University, Korea, in 1979 and the MS degree in electrical engineering from the KAIST, Korea, in 1981 and the MS and PhD degrees in computer engineering from the University of Arizona, in 1985 and 1987, respectively. He has been a professor of department of computer science and engineering at the Kyungpook National University, Korea since 1988. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]