Abstract
This thesis is about service discovery in multi-hop Bluetooth ad hoc networks, so called scatternets. Such networks are expected to be dynamic in nature, and some method for service discovery is therefore necessary to avoid excessive user configuration. However, it is shown that existing service discovery protocols are unsuitable for use in this type of networks.
Two service discovery algorithms for use in Bluetooth scatternets are therefore proposed. One of the algorithms is targeted at more stable networks, while the other is suitable for highly dynamic environments.
Simulation results are presented, showing that the algorithms significantly reduce network traffic compared to using a broadcast approach. Reducing the network traffic is important as bandwidth is a limited resource in Bluetooth scatternets. Many Bluetooth devices also have restricted power sources and therefore benefit from keeping links idle in power saving modes.
It is also explained how the proposed algorithms can interact with learning bridges and on-demand routing protocols, and effectively reduce the cost of route discovery through what we chose to call service discovery assisted routing.
Finally, it is examined how the proposed algorithms can be used to extend the Bluetooth Service Discovery Protocol to the scatternet.