Bluetooth based Proximity, Multi-hop Analysis and Bi-directional Trust: Epidemics and More

TL;DR

This paper introduces a trust layer over Bluetooth mesh networks that calculates trust scores based on proximity and message exchange, enhancing epidemic contact tracing and data privacy in mobile applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel trust protocol for Bluetooth mesh networks that supports multi-hop, bi-directional communication, improving epidemic tracking and secure data sharing.

Findings

Trust scores effectively reflect proximity and message exchange

Enhanced contact tracing accuracy during epidemics

Improved privacy and verification in mobile applications

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a trust layer on top of Bluetooth and similar wireless communication technologies that can form mesh networks. This layer as a protocol enables computing trust scores based on proximity and bi-directional transfer of messages in multiple hops across a network of mobile devices. We describe factors and an approach for determining these trust scores and highlight its applications during epidemics such as COVID-19 through improved contact-tracing, better privacy and verification for sensitive data sharing in the numerous Bluetooth and GPS based mobile applications that are being developed to track the spread.