A linux based Bluetooth scatternet formation kit: from design to performance results

Bluetooth is a key technology for the deployment of wireless personal (WPAN) and body area (WBAN) networks. This paper describes an implementation experience of a scatternet formation protocol on a Bluetooth stack for Linux (BlueZ). The innovative elements of this work are: I) the development of two software packages designed to create and manage multi-hop Bluetooth wireless networks, based on simple USB Bluetooth devices; II) the analysis of results on this real implementation. The formed network (scatternet) presents limited formation delay and interesting performance in view of personal/body area applications. Implementation details as well performance results are discussed. These results have been derived in the framework of the FIRB VICOM project founded by the Italian Telecommunication Ministry.