Experimental Evaluation and Performance Improvement of Bluetooth Mesh Network With Broadcast Storm

Abstract

Although the Bluetooth Mesh protocol is still being improved, it has found widespread use in industries such as smart homes. One major challenge faced by the protocol is how to handle problems caused by a broadcast storm. It is commonly believed that a Bluetooth Mesh network with a large number of devices can easily trigger storms, which directly impact the success rate and latency of message transmission within the network. The primary purpose of this article is to quantitatively analyze the impact of a broadcast storm in a mesh network. To achieve this goal, we define typical application scenarios, propose new measurement metrics, and design an experimental system. After analyzing the experimental results, we have determined that under reasonable improvements, the impact of a broadcast storm on mesh message control success rate should not be overstated. Additionally, we have identified a quantitative relationship between experimental results and a broadcast storm. Finally, based on these experimental findings and extensive user feedback, we provide several suggestions for improving a Bluetooth Mesh network.

Keywords

• Bluetooth mesh
• Bluetooth low energy
• broadcast storm
• interference
• performance improvement