Performance analysis of Bluetooth Low Energy in hybrid network with PROFINET

Wireless networks are gaining relevance to industrial applications. This entails the necessity of careful performance testing of their capabilities in order to build trust in a communication network prior to and during its deployment in an industrial application. In this paper, a sophisticated approach to performance testing of communication networks from an industrial application's perspective is presented. Following this approach, a performance analysis of a hybrid network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and PROFINET (PN) is carried out. The deployed measurement tools in the testing system and the system under test (SUT) comprising BLE and PROFINET components are described in detail. The performance tests are conducted in a laboratory using a channel emulator to recreate realistic propagation conditions. The performance testing results reveal significant interdependencies of the three overall system's parts, the application, the PROFINET and BLE networks. A conclusion on how to reduce the mutual impact is drawn.