Enhancing Reliability and Stability of BLE Mesh Networks: A Multipath Optimized AODV Approach

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Wireless Communication
• Internet of Things (IoT)

Background:

• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks offer flexible communication for IoT devices.
• Existing BLE mesh protocols often use inefficient flooding-based methods.
• Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) is efficient but struggles with link disruptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an improved AODV protocol, Multipath Optimized AODV (M-O-AODV), for BLE mesh networks.
• To enhance packet delivery ratio (PDR) and link robustness in BLE mesh networks.
• To address the limitations of existing forwarding-based protocols in handling link failures.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Multipath Optimized AODV (M-O-AODV) protocol.
• Evaluated M-O-AODV's performance against existing BLE mesh and AODV-based protocols.
• Focused on metrics such as Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) and link recovery time.

Main Results:

• M-O-AODV achieved a PDR of 88%, comparable to flooding-based BLE (92%).
• M-O-AODV demonstrated significantly faster link recovery (3700 ms) compared to other forwarding-based protocols (4800-6000 ms).
• The proposed protocol showed improved robustness against link disruptions.

Conclusions:

• M-O-AODV offers a more efficient and robust solution for BLE mesh networks.
• The protocol is well-suited for wireless sensor-enabled IoT environments.
• M-O-AODV bridges the performance gap between flooding-based and forwarding-based protocols.