Forming Scatternets from Bluetooth Personal Area Networks

Abstract

There is increasing interest in wireless ad hoc networks built from portable devices equipped with short-range wireless network interfaces. This paper addresses issues related to internetworking such networks to form larger ÔøΩscatternets.ÔøΩ Within the constraints imposed by the emerging standard Bluetooth link layer and MAC protocol, we describe an efficient online topology formation algorithm, called TSF (Tree Scatternet Formation) to build scatternets. TSF connects nodes in a tree structure that simplifies packet routing and scheduling. The design allows nodes to arrive and leave arbitrarily, incrementally building the topology and healing partitions when they occur. We present simulation results that show that TSF has low tree formation latency and also generates an efficient topology for forwarding packets.