Performance estimation and evaluation of Bluetooth frequency hopping selection kernel

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) is a technique that wireless devices communicate in a way that the transmission frequencies are alternated in a pre-determined ordered hopping pattern known only to the sending and receiving devices. Therefore, it has become one of the key security features in modern wireless networking and has been adopted in many applications, civilian and military, including wireless sensor networks and military satellites as a secure and efficient data transfer scheme. In this paper, the performance of frequency hopping selection kernel, used in the IEEE 802.15 standard (Bluetooth) to implement FH technique, will be estimated and evaluated. Theoretical analysis and simulation results verified that, compared to purely random hopping sequences, the Bluetooth hopping sequence offers noticeable residual correlations and periodic cross-correlations features. Results, also, proved that a combination of time slot synchronization and inter-piconet offset control leads to lower collision rate rather than time slot synchronization only.