Increasing Bluetooth Low Energy communication efficiency by presetting protocol parameters

Abstract

Standard protocols are important regarding the compatibility of devices provided by different vendors.However, specific applications have various requirements and do not always need all features offered by standardprotocols, making them inefficient. This paper focuses on standard Bluetooth Low Energy modifications, reducingcontrol overhead for the intended healthcare application. Specifically, the connection establishment, device pairing,and connection parameter negotiations have been targeted. The simulation-based experiments showed over 20 timesreduction of control-overhead time preceding a data transmission. It does not just directly increase the energy efficiencyof communication; it also prolongs the time for sensor-based end devices to spend in an energy-saving mode. The resultis a longer runtime of such sensor devices powered by batteries.