Experimental Evaluation of 6BLEMesh: IPv6-Based BLE Mesh Networks

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Networking

Background:

• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a key wireless technology for the Internet of Things (IoT).
• Developing robust BLE mesh network solutions is an active area of research and standardization.
• 6BLEMesh is an emerging IETF specification for IPv6-based BLE mesh networking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally evaluate the performance of the 6BLEMesh specification.
• To assess latency, round trip time (RTT), and energy consumption of 6BLEMesh implementations.
• To determine the theoretical device lifetime for battery-operated devices in a 6BLEMesh network.

Main Methods:

• Real-world implementation and experimental testing of 6BLEMesh.
• Modeling device current consumption to calculate energy efficiency.
• Evaluating performance across three different hardware platforms.
• Analyzing the impact of various parameter settings and hardware characteristics.

Main Results:

• The maximum theoretical device lifetime for battery-operated devices is 573 days under specific assumptions.
• Router devices in 6BLEMesh networks can achieve three-digit lifetimes (in days) in many scenarios.
• Performance is significantly influenced by BLE-level and application-level settings, IPv6 header compression, and hardware.

Conclusions:

• 6BLEMesh offers a viable IPv6-oriented approach for BLE mesh networking.
• The energy efficiency and potential device lifetime are promising for IoT applications.
• Careful configuration of parameters and consideration of hardware are crucial for optimizing 6BLEMesh performance.