Design of Covid-19 Tracing System based on Bluetooth Low Energy

Prevention of the spread of disease is the most critical effort before the domino effect occurs. One way to prevent its spread is to practice social distancing. Prevention of the spread of covid-19 can be easier by doing Contact Tracing. Contact tracing is done to find out who is infected. This paper proposes an accurate and energy-efficient tracing system based on an android application by utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals from smartphones to automatically detect possible contacts between users. Using BLE level signals, each app estimates its distance to its opponent. However, calculating the approximate distance with a BLE level signal cannot yield a sufficiently accurate number. Therefore, the prototype of the contact tracing system implements zoning based on the signal level. The results show that the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) threshold at one meter is accurate for tracing, provided that the devices share the same chipset. Moreover, it is pretty energy-efficient to be installed on a user’s Android smartphone because it only requires 14.17 mAh for 6 hours of operation or the equivalent of 2.14 mAh per hour.