Peer to peer signal strength characteristic between IoT devices for distance estimation

Abstract

The Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) value of Bluetooth can be used to estimate distance between Internet of Things (IoT) devices. IoT devices, within Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) area, can recognize each other in office environment automatically. Peer to peer distance estimation using the RSSI of Bluetooth is difficult because of large deviation of RSSI value. This paper describes the experimental results of RSSI measurement between IoT devices in office environment. And it applies the Low Pass Filter (LPF) to reduce the deviation of RSSI value. In east direction, when RSSI raw data is used, there is an overlap region, 23dBm, between WBAN area and outside of WBAN area. However, when LPF data is used, there is a gap about 1.7dBm. So, we can estimate distance using Bluetooth RSSI LPF data whether the IoT device is within WBAN area or not.