An Enhanced Protocol for Bluetooth Scatternet Formation and Routing

Abstract

Formation of scatternet using Bluetooth devices increases device tractability thereby inviting new networking applications to be designed on it. In this paper we propose Bluetooth Scatternet Formation and Routing Protocol (BSFRP). It is a distributed protocol that handles node mobility and enables multi-hop communication. BSFRP defines rules for topology discovery, scatternet formation and routing. The scatternet phase of the protocol works on the principle of leader election. For routing, AODV is modified to address the constraints of scatternets. It improves the AODV route discovery phase by considering hop count, residual node's power, and route lifetime for best route selection. Simulation results show that the scatternet formed by BSFRP has the following properties: the number of piconets formed is close to the universal lower bound, each device on an average does not assume more than 1.15 roles, and the scatternet does not contain any master-slave bridge.