Benchmarking Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee Network Performance
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The document compares the performance of Bluetooth mesh, Thread, and Zigbee network protocols, emphasizing their benefits in mesh networking, such as extended range, reduced power consumption, and improved reliability. Key performance metrics include throughput, latency, and reliability under various payload sizes and network conditions, revealing that Thread generally performs best, especially with larger payloads, while Bluetooth mesh experiences degradation as payload size increases. The findings indicate the importance of ecosystem choices for protocol selection based on specific use cases and network topologies.
Benchmarking Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee Network Performance
- 1. Benchmarking Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee Network Performance T O M PA N N E L L , S E N I O R D I R E C T O R O F M A R K E T I N G F O R I O T P R O D U C T S Benchmarking Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee Network Performance
- 2. Benchmarking Bluetooth Mesh, Thread, and Zigbee Network Performance T O M PA N N E L L , S E N I O R D I R E C T O R O F M A R K E T I N G F O R I O T P R O D U C T S
- 3. The Benefits of Mesh Networks Extend the range of connections from gateways or mobile devices with multi-hop communication Reduce power consumption in a system with shorter transmission distances between devices Increase system scale by supporting hundreds of devices in a single subnet Improve system reliability with self-healing networks that overcome node failures Deliver optimal responsiveness with device to device communication 3 Star Network Mesh Network
- 4. H O M E & B U I L D I N G A U T O M A T I O N Scale system deployment Support device-to-device communication Applications for Mesh Networking B E A C O N I N G Simplify beacon management Deliver location services Increase beacon service range L I G H T I N G Instant response to switch actions Advanced lighting control Integrate functionality A S S E T T R A C K I N G Eliminate manual scanning Determine location in real-time Simplify beacon deployment 4
- 5. Selecting your Connectivity and the Role of Ecosystems 5 • Identify key ecosystems • Specify device application layer needs • Performance requirements • Determine IP connectivity importance
- 6. Mesh Networking Technology Comparison 6 Bluetooth Mesh Thread Zigbee Market Focus Home Automation, Lighting, Building Automation Home Automation, Lighting, Building Automation Home Automation, Lighting, Building Automation, Metering Application Layer Native Mesh Model Any IP based Application Layer (e.g. Dotdot, OCF, Weave) Dotdot / Zigbee Cluster Library (ZCL)”, ZCL is inclusive of HA and SE IPv6 No Yes No Cloud Connectivity Smartphone (temporary) Gateway Border Router Gateway Gateway Ecosystems None Nest Service Providers (e.g. Comcast, Deutsche Telekom), Samsung SmartThings Routing Managed flooding Full Routing Full Routing Additional Notes Beaconing, Direct phone connectivity Most mature
- 7. Managed Flood Messaging 7 R Managed flood message relay • Time to live message counter • Message cache • Relay function optional
- 8. Managed Flood Messaging 8 R R R R Relay Node Managed flood message relay • Time to live message counter • Message cache • Relay function optional R = relay function turned on
- 9. Full Routing Messaging 9 R Routing based messaging • Coordinator • Router nodes • Sleepy end devices R R R R S S S S SS S R Sleepy end deviceRouter Node
- 10. Measuring Mesh Network Performance Performance measures include throughput, latency, and reliability Subject to real-world conditions such as Wi-Fi® networks and normal interference Ethernet backchannel and packet tracing across all nodes provides deeper analysis Energy measurements correlated with wireless traffic provide additional system characteristics 10
- 11. Throughput Variations as a Function of Payload Size and Network Hops Measure round trip over multiple hops with different application payloads Provides indication of amount of traffic the network can sustain Test executed for each protocol on different chips 1 hop provides the best performance Throughput levels out at 5-6 hops Throughput increases as payload increases to some limit 11
- 12. Throughput Comparison for Protocols for 100 Byte Payload Typical networks are 2 to 3 hops Throughput varies based on number of hops ~24000 bits per second 1 -2 hops on Thread As number of hops increases protocol performance becomes similar Small packet payload for Bluetooth mesh results in reduced throughput 12
- 13. Latency Variations as a Function of Payload Size and Network Hops Measure roundtrip latency over multiple hops with different application payloads Provides comparative data on what latency can be achieved versus number of hops Test executed for each protocol on different chips Can see fragmentation of payload into different packets Varies by protocol For Thread you see fragmentation affect at 60 bytes 13
- 14. Latency Comparison for Protocols Over 4 Hops Protocols provide similar latency for very small payloads Thread fragmentation (6LowPAN) has the best efficiency and latency performance as payload size increases Zigbee has good efficiency but some application layer fragmentation Bluetooth mesh latency degrades as payload size increases due to small packet size and resulting segmentation 14
- 15. Reliability and Latency in Large Multicast Network Open air testing – network sets itself up and determines number of hops Run multicast testing of different network sizes: 24 devices 48 devices 96 devices 144 devices 192 devices Evaluate different payload sizes Evaluate scalability, reliability and latency as network size increases 15
- 16. Small Network with Small Payload Multicast Comparison 24 node network with 5 byte payload (Zigbee, Thread) and 8 byte (Bluetooth) All protocols perform well - under 100 milliseconds to receive nearly all messages All protocols provide very good reliability 16
- 17. Small Network with Moderate Payload Multicast Comparison 24 node network with 50 byte payload (Zigbee, Thread) and 32 byte (Bluetooth) Thread performs the best with latency spreading up to 100 ms Zigbee performs well with most packets received with 80 ms latency but spreading up to 130 ms Bluetooth mesh latency has the greatest variation in latency performance, spreading across 20 ms to 200 ms 17
- 18. Large Network with Small Payload Multicast Comparison 192 node network with 5 byte payload (Zigbee, Thread) and 8 byte (Bluetooth) Thread performs the best with latency spreading up to 100 ms Zigbee performs well with most packets received with 80 ms latency but spreading up to 130 ms Bluetooth mesh latency peaks at 60 ms and most under 100 ms. Spreading goes over 200 ms with 3% over 250 ms 18
- 19. Large Network with Moderate Payload Multicast Comparison 192 node network with 25 byte payload (Zigbee, Thread) and 16 byte (Bluetooth) Thread performs the best with latency spreading up to 120 ms Zigbee performs well with peak at 100 ms but spread to 200 ms Bluetooth spreading from 90 to 180 ms and large % delivery over 250 ms 19
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- 21. Ecosystems will drive protocol choices for end device makers Different protocols have different performance characteristics One protocol cannot fit requirements for all scenarios and it is important to understand the underlying performance for a particular use and topology With small networks and small payloads Thread, Zigbee and Bluetooth mesh perform similarly As payload size increases, Bluetooth mesh performance degrades the most, due to smaller packet sizes As network size increases relay selection becomes important Latencies increase for all protocols but Bluetooth mesh sees larger increases due to congestion from flooding Bluetooth is designed to allow installer to reduce number of relay nodes to reduce flooding Performance Summary Comparison 21
- 22. Expertise: 15+ years providing wireless mesh solutions with over 150 million deployed nodes Flexibility: The widest range of solution offerings from certified modules to multiprotocol SoCs Productivity – Patented advanced network analysis, energy profiling and application configuration Silicon Labs Multiprotocol Wireless Solutions 22 silabs.com/mesh-networking
- 23. W W W. S I L A B S . C O M Thank you. 23