Khalil Ben Fredj Wins Best Presentation Award at IEEE VNC 2025 for Groundbreaking BLE Research

Khalil Ben Fredj, a PhD candidate in the Pervasive Systems research group, has been awarded the Best Presentation Award at the prestigious IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC) 2025 in Porto, Portugal.

Khalil was recognized for his innovative paper, “Modeling of Mutual Connectionless BLE Discovery in the Context of B2X Communications.” This paper is co-authored by Yanqiu and Geert Heijenk, whose contributions were essential to the success of this work. His research addresses a critical challenge in bike-to-everything (B2X) communication—how synchronized message transmissions, known as "blind times," affect the reliability of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication between bicycles and other road users.

The paper introduces a novel Discrete Time Markov Chain (DTMC) model that incorporates BLE protocol parameters and stochastic behavior patterns. The model outputs key performance indicators (KPIs) that are essential for evaluating whether BLE systems can meet the demanding requirements of B2X applications.

Notably, the model's predictions were shown to closely align with simulation results, demonstrating a high level of accuracy. This validation suggests that the model can play a significant role in the design and optimization of BLE-based safety and communication systems in smart mobility environments.

Khalil’s achievement highlights the growing impact of research in connected mobility and underlines the importance of BLE as a viable technology for future urban transportation systems.