A Q-Learning-Based Approach for Enhancing Energy Efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth low energy (BLE) is a promising candidate technology for use in the Internet of Things (IoT) because of its ultra-low-power communication. Although BLE devices are designed to run on a small battery for a few years, several attempts have been made to extend BLE lifetime through various techniques. In particular, emerging approaches such as artificial intelligence (AI) can be utilized to further improve the BLE energy efficiency. For this purpose, this article proposes a Q-learning-based scheduling algorithm for BLE. The proposed scheduling algorithm dynamically adjusts the key parameters that govern the operation of the BLE transmission scheme. These key parameters, namely, the length of connection interval and the number of packets to transmit during the interval, have a profound effect on energy efficiency and the quality of service (QoS) specified in terms of maximum latency. According to the framework of reinforcement learning, our Q-learning-based scheduling algorithm is appropriately constructed to simultaneously provide a longer network lifetime and satisfy the QoS requirement. The numerical results show that the proposed Q-learning-based approach significantly increases the network lifetime compared to alternative methods while meeting QoS requirements.