Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System

Marco Cominelli; Paul Patras; Francesco Gringoli

doi:10.1145/3349623.3355475

Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System

Marco Cominelli, Paul Patras, Francesco Gringoli

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

The recently released Bluetooth 5.1 specification introduces fine-grained positioning capabilities in this wireless technology, which is deemed essential to context-/location-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this paper, we evaluate experimentally, for the first time, the accuracy of a positioning system based on the Angle of Arrival (AoA) mechanism adopted by the Bluetooth standard. We first scrutinize the fidelity of angular detection and then assess the feasibility of using angle information from multiple fixed receivers to determine the position of a device. Our results reveal that angular detection is limited to a restricted range. On the other hand, even in a simple deployment with only two antennas per receiver, the AoA-based positioning technique can achieve sub-meter accuracy; yet attaining localization within a few centimeters remains a difficult endeavor. We then demonstrate that a malicious device may be able to easily alter the truthfulness of the measured AoA, by tampering with the packet structure. To counter this protocol weakness, we propose simple remedies that are missing in the standard, but which can be adopted with little effort by manufacturers, to secure the Bluetooth 5.1 positioning system.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	13th International Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization (WiNTECH’19)
Subtitle of host publication	October 25, 2019, Los Cabos, Mexico
Publisher	ACM
Pages	13-20
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Print)	978-1-4503-6931-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3349623.3355475
Publication status	Published - 31 Oct 2019
Event	ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization - Los Cabos, Mexico Duration: 25 Oct 2019 → 25 Oct 2019 https://nss.cs.nctu.edu.tw/wintech2019#

Conference

Conference	ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization
Abbreviated title	WiNTECH
Country/Territory	Mexico
City	Los Cabos
Period	25/10/19 → 25/10/19
Internet address	https://nss.cs.nctu.edu.tw/wintech2019#

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Cite this

@inproceedings{8251ccbcc1e049cd861985f21f42717e,

title = "Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System",

abstract = "The recently released Bluetooth 5.1 specification introduces fine-grained positioning capabilities in this wireless technology, which is deemed essential to context-/location-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this paper, we evaluate experimentally, for the first time, the accuracy of a positioning system based on the Angle of Arrival (AoA) mechanism adopted by the Bluetooth standard. We first scrutinize the fidelity of angular detection and then assess the feasibility of using angle information from multiple fixed receivers to determine the position of a device. Our results reveal that angular detection is limited to a restricted range. On the other hand, even in a simple deployment with only two antennas per receiver, the AoA-based positioning technique can achieve sub-meter accuracy; yet attaining localization within a few centimeters remains a difficult endeavor. We then demonstrate that a malicious device may be able to easily alter the truthfulness of the measured AoA, by tampering with the packet structure. To counter this protocol weakness, we propose simple remedies that are missing in the standard, but which can be adopted with little effort by manufacturers, to secure the Bluetooth 5.1 positioning system.",

author = "Marco Cominelli and Paul Patras and Francesco Gringoli",

year = "2019",

month = oct,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1145/3349623.3355475",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-4503-6931-2",

pages = "13--20",

booktitle = "13th International Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization (WiNTECH{\textquoteright}19)",

publisher = "ACM",

note = "ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization, WiNTECH ; Conference date: 25-10-2019 Through 25-10-2019",

url = "https://nss.cs.nctu.edu.tw/wintech2019#",

}

Cominelli, M, Patras, P & Gringoli, F 2019, Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System. in 13th International Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization (WiNTECH’19): October 25, 2019, Los Cabos, Mexico. ACM, pp. 13-20, ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization, Los Cabos, Mexico, 25/10/19. https://doi.org/10.1145/3349623.3355475

Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System. / Cominelli, Marco; Patras, Paul; Gringoli, Francesco.
13th International Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization (WiNTECH’19): October 25, 2019, Los Cabos, Mexico. ACM, 2019. p. 13-20.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System

AU - Cominelli, Marco

AU - Patras, Paul

AU - Gringoli, Francesco

PY - 2019/10/31

Y1 - 2019/10/31

N2 - The recently released Bluetooth 5.1 specification introduces fine-grained positioning capabilities in this wireless technology, which is deemed essential to context-/location-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this paper, we evaluate experimentally, for the first time, the accuracy of a positioning system based on the Angle of Arrival (AoA) mechanism adopted by the Bluetooth standard. We first scrutinize the fidelity of angular detection and then assess the feasibility of using angle information from multiple fixed receivers to determine the position of a device. Our results reveal that angular detection is limited to a restricted range. On the other hand, even in a simple deployment with only two antennas per receiver, the AoA-based positioning technique can achieve sub-meter accuracy; yet attaining localization within a few centimeters remains a difficult endeavor. We then demonstrate that a malicious device may be able to easily alter the truthfulness of the measured AoA, by tampering with the packet structure. To counter this protocol weakness, we propose simple remedies that are missing in the standard, but which can be adopted with little effort by manufacturers, to secure the Bluetooth 5.1 positioning system.

AB - The recently released Bluetooth 5.1 specification introduces fine-grained positioning capabilities in this wireless technology, which is deemed essential to context-/location-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this paper, we evaluate experimentally, for the first time, the accuracy of a positioning system based on the Angle of Arrival (AoA) mechanism adopted by the Bluetooth standard. We first scrutinize the fidelity of angular detection and then assess the feasibility of using angle information from multiple fixed receivers to determine the position of a device. Our results reveal that angular detection is limited to a restricted range. On the other hand, even in a simple deployment with only two antennas per receiver, the AoA-based positioning technique can achieve sub-meter accuracy; yet attaining localization within a few centimeters remains a difficult endeavor. We then demonstrate that a malicious device may be able to easily alter the truthfulness of the measured AoA, by tampering with the packet structure. To counter this protocol weakness, we propose simple remedies that are missing in the standard, but which can be adopted with little effort by manufacturers, to secure the Bluetooth 5.1 positioning system.

U2 - 10.1145/3349623.3355475

DO - 10.1145/3349623.3355475

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-1-4503-6931-2

SP - 13

EP - 20

BT - 13th International Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization (WiNTECH’19)

PB - ACM

T2 - ACM Workshop on Wireless Network Testbeds, Experimental evaluation & Characterization

Y2 - 25 October 2019 through 25 October 2019

ER -

Dead on Arrival: An Empirical Study of The Bluetooth 5.1 Positioning System

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