Coverage analysis of Bluetooth low energy and IEEE 802.11ah for office scenario

In this paper, a coverage analysis of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and IEEE 802.11ah technologies for indoor scenarios is performed. This is of particular relevance when these technologies are deployed as part of capillary networks. The physical layer parameters of BLE and IEEE 802.11ah are modeled, together with a detailed and accurate indoor propagation scenario that accounts for wall losses, ray tracing multi-path, and diffractions. A real case office building scenario is considered for practical evaluation. The minimum density of BLE central devices and IEEE 802.11ah access points that guarantees a predetermined coverage level is derived and compared between the two technologies. It is shown that BLE requires five times the number of central devices than IEEE 802.11ah access points to guarantee 95% coverage. IEEE 802.11ah benefits from the use of lower frequency band, higher transmit power and better receiver sensitivity than BLE, which permits a low cost and effective deployment of Internet of Things applications. Mesh capabilities and range extension for BLE are therefore essential for the success of BLE within the Internet of Things framework.