Concept introduced in Enlighted
Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)
RSSI a measurement of the power present in a received radio signal, usually given in dB. RSSI is usually invisible to a user of a receiving device.
- A more strong connection is between -30 to -55
- A strong connection starts from -55 to -67
- A terrible connection starts from -80 to -90
- An unusable connection starts from -90 and below
You can think of RSSI as the strength of the connection to receiving device.
We can use the RSSI to determine how far a particular user (scanner) is, since we fix the beacons.
We can use the RSSI to do BLE localization.
Reasons for bad RSSI Signal
I think you can boil it down to two things:
- Things that weaken the signal (Concrete physical barriers)
- Things that interfere with the signal
- Wi-Fi and wireless devices: Wi-Fi routers are designed in a way that they use similar bandwidths in allĀ Bluetooth devices. This can cause signal issues as some Bluetooth devices, when in use, they obstruct this connection.
- Radio frequencies: Sometimes you can experience unintended radio frequencies radiators that may drop the strength of your Bluetooth signal. An inadequate or weak Bluetooth signal strength can be experienced if the device is closer to microwave ovens, power lines, or electric railroad tracks.
- Bluetooth channel hopping (interfering channel can be picked when connecting two devices, causing a prompt drop in the Bluetooth signal)