Time Synchronization in a Network of Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons
Abstract
Time synchronization is a vital feature in many wireless sensor networks with applications ranging from structural health monitoring systems to body area sensors used for rehabilitation and sport medicine. While different wireless protocols have been utilized in sensor networks, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has drawn a lot of attention in the past years due to its low-power architecture and availability in many consumer electronics. Moreover, the added non-connectable beacon mode has increased its functionality for Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor fusion. However, in this mode as devices are not paired with each other no synchronization service is available. In this paper, we present a synchronization protocol based on BLE beacons that can be used in conjunction with BLE software stacks provided with a commercial Bluetooth System-on-Chip (SoC). Offset and frequency-drift estimation techniques are discussed, and the effects of number of synchronization packets and their intervals on the overall synchronization accuracy are investigated. Experimental results show that without any re-synchronization in ten minutes, average synchronization errors of less than 350 ns per minute (single hop) can be achieved.
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The beacon-role method for broadcasting clock information has the issue that the central node cannot receive data packets while broadcasting.
“The use of a beacon role to broadcast clock information [26] has similar issues—the central node cannot receive data packets while broadcasting.”
From Comparison between Two Time Synchronization and Data Alignment Methods for Multi-Channel Wearable Biosensor Systems Using BLE Protocol (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
Many systems use beacon transmissions to achieve paired timestamps.
“Many systems use beacon transmissions to achieve paired timestamps [26,27,30].”
From Comparison between Two Time Synchronization and Data Alignment Methods for Multi-Channel Wearable Biosensor Systems Using BLE Protocol (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
Using the BLE beacon role, the central node periodically broadcasts clock information to peripheral nodes to maintain high synchronization accuracy (drift of <1 μs/min).
“Using the beacon role, the central node periodically broadcasts clock information to the peripheral nodes to maintain high synchronization accuracy (drift of <1 µs/min [26]).”
From Comparison between Two Time Synchronization and Data Alignment Methods for Multi-Channel Wearable Biosensor Systems Using BLE Protocol (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Wang, H., Li, J., McDonald, B. E., Farrell, T. R., Huang, X., & Clancy, E. A. (2023) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s23052465 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
- Authors
- Asgarian, F., & Najafi, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- ORCID
- Asgarian, Farzad
- Venue
- Proceedings of the SIGCOMM Posters and Demos
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2017-08-22
- Pages
- 119-120
- OpenAlex
- W2748296185
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 1.53
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ACM SIGCOMM Conference Posters and Demos (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Bluetooth and Wireless Communication Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Network Time Synchronization Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Indoor and Outdoor Localization Technologies
- Keywords
- clock synchronization, Bluetooth Low Energy, synchronization protocols, offset estimation, wireless sensor networks, Internet of Things, synchronization accuracy
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