Optimizing Scan Times of BLE Scanning Systems

In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of Bluetooth Low Energy-based scanning systems wherein the objective is to successfully scan all items of a group of a prescribed size within a prescribed scanning period at a prescribed probability of success, for example, less than one failure in one million. We show that a design based upon independence among collision events fails to achieve the target reliability objectives by roughly an order of magnitude. Our analysis, which is verified through extensive simulation, shows that correlation among the collision events has a major impact upon the scanning time required to successfully scan all the members of a group.