Accuracy analysis of time synchronization using current consumption pattern of BLE devices

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the accuracy of time synchronization between two Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices which perform time synchronization based on their current consumption patterns, to the conditions which can effect current consumption pattern. In [12], it has been shown that by detecting and analyzing the current pattern, a class of time synchronization schemes can be devised. In this paper, we study the accuracy of one of the methods of this class in several conditions which can affect the accuracy of the current consumption pattern such as device dependency, transmit power, and temperature. Extensive analysis with several BLE devices and various parameter combinations has been done by experimental measurements. The result of experiments shows that time synchronization based on the selected method can achieve accuracy of 19 μs or better in various scenarios.