BLE 4.2 connection dropping packets while using external dongles

Question

Hi,

Running into a packet drop issue when trying to stream data from a medical device to a hp desktop (WPF app) commonly used in hospitals and clinics. The application is using BluetoothLEDevice PairAsync to pair with the device and the device requires a 15 ms connection intervals. The drop of packets (95% of packets) is observed at 3 feet while using desktop computers (tested on a hp and dell) and 30 feet while using laptops (Lenovo, Dell, HP) with the same external dongles. The registry inputs for the Bluetooth device (Min, Max, Latency connection interval) are the same across a few computers thus ruling out a BLE negotiation issue between the computer and the device.

OS Name: Windows 10 Pro, Version: 10.0.18363 Build 18363

System Model: HP EliteDesk 800 G2 DM 35W, x64-based PC

System SKU: 1D

BLE dongle used: Realtek Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter

Hardware IDs: USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8771&REV_0200, USB\VID_)BDA&PID_8771

The same issue has been observed while using the Dell OptiPlex 7070 Micro and multiple other external dongles (CSR 4.0 and other BLE dongles)

Are there any accessible parameters (USB serial adapter, Bluetooth drivers, ..) that could be used to make the connection via the dongle on desktops running Windows 10 more robust?

Thank you,

EK

Answer 1

First of all, you should make sure that they used same version windows OS and same version driver on different laptop and desktop and same version of USB interface;

Secondly, I suggest to put the desktop on same position with laptop. We usually should take consideration of the electromagnetic interference and metal shield. Range depends on surroundings, radio performance and antennas. While the radio performance and antennas are pretty static for a given Bluetooth device, the surroundings can vary a lot. Outdoors, in an open field, you can get a range of up to a hundred meters. But that is a rare situation. Indoors, obstacles like concrete walls will attenuate the radio signal and the effective range will be drastically reduced. In normal use, ten meters is a good guide to what can be achieved between two Bluetooth devices indoors.

I did not find any API for user space application to access adapter or drivers parameters. Maybe you can get some help from vendor of your dongle.