Supported Targets	ESP32	ESP32-C2	ESP32-C3	ESP32-C5	ESP32-C6	ESP32-C61	ESP32-H2	ESP32-S3

ESP-IDF BLE ACL Latency Test - Central

This example demonstrates how to measure BLE ACL (Asynchronous Connection-Less) link latency. The central device scans for the peripheral, connects to it, and then performs a latency test by sending packets and measuring the round-trip time (RTT).

This demo should be used together with the periph (peripheral) example.

How It Works

The central scans for a device named ESP_ACL_LATENCY
Upon finding the peripheral, it connects and performs MTU exchange
After enabling notifications, the central sends 100 test packets (242 bytes each)
For each packet, the central records the send time
When the echoed packet is received via notification, it calculates RTT
Finally, statistics (average, min, max latency, packet loss) are printed

Test Flow Diagram

    ┌──────────────┐                              ┌──────────────┐
    │   Central    │                              │  Peripheral  │
    │  (GATT Client)│                              │ (GATT Server)│
    └──────┬───────┘                              └──────┬───────┘
           │                                             │
           │  ──────────── Connection Setup ───────────  │
           │                                             │
           │  1. Scan for "ESP_ACL_LATENCY"              │
           │ ─────────────────────────────────────────>  │ Advertising
           │                                             │
           │  2. Connect Request                         │
           │ ─────────────────────────────────────────>  │
           │                                             │
           │  3. Connection Established                  │
           │ <─────────────────────────────────────────> │
           │                                             │
           │  4. MTU Exchange (517 bytes)                │
           │ <─────────────────────────────────────────> │
           │                                             │
           │  5. Connection Parameter Update (7.5ms)     │
           │ <─────────────────────────────────────────> │
           │                                             │
           │  6. Service Discovery                       │
           │ ─────────────────────────────────────────>  │
           │                                             │
           │  7. Enable Notification (CCCD)              │
           │ ─────────────────────────────────────────>  │
           │                                             │
           │  ──────────── Latency Test ─────────────    │
           │                                             │
           │  8. Write Test Packet [SEQ=0]    ──┐        │
           │     Record send_time             t1│        │
           │ ─────────────────────────────────────────>  │
           │                                    │        │  Echo back
           │  9. Notification [SEQ=0]           │        │  via Notify
           │     Record recv_time             t2│        │
           │ <─────────────────────────────────────────  │
           │                                    │        │
           │     RTT = t2 - t1                ──┘        │
           │     Latency = RTT / 2                       │
           │                                             │
           │  ... Repeat for SEQ 1-99 ...                │
           │                                             │
           │  10. Print Statistics                       │
           │      - Average/Min/Max Latency              │
           │      - Packet Loss Rate                     │
           │                                             │
    ┌──────┴───────┐                              ┌──────┴───────┐
    │   Central    │                              │  Peripheral  │
    └──────────────┘                              └──────────────┘

Test Configuration

The following parameters can be modified in gattc_latency.h:

Parameter	Default Value	Description
TEST_PACKET_COUNT	100	Number of test packets to send
TEST_PACKET_INTERVAL_MS	20	Interval between packets (ms)

How to Use Example

Hardware Required

Two development boards with supported SoC (e.g., ESP32-C3-DevKitC, ESP32-DevKitC, etc.)
Two USB cables for power supply and programming

See Development Boards for more information.

Configure the Project

Before project configuration and build, be sure to set the correct chip target using:

bash

idf.py set-target <chip_name>

Build and Flash

First, flash the periph example to one board:

bash

cd ../periph
idf.py -p PORT1 flash

Then, flash this cent example to another board:

bash

cd ../cent
idf.py -p PORT2 flash

Monitor

Run idf.py -p PORT monitor to view the serial output of the central device.

(To exit the serial monitor, type Ctrl-].)

See the Getting Started Guide for full steps to configure and use ESP-IDF to build projects.

Example Output

I (362) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: BLE ACL Latency Test - Central
I (372) phy_init: phy_version 310,dde1ba9,Jun  4 2024,16:38:11
I (432) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: REG_EVT
I (442) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: scan start success
I (442) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: Central initialized, scanning for peripheral...
I (622) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: searched device ESP_ACL_LATENCY
I (622) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: connect to the remote device.
I (622) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: stop scan successfully
I (892) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: ESP_GATTC_CONNECT_EVT conn_id 0, if 4
I (892) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: REMOTE BDA: 58:cf:79:ea:77:30
I (892) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: open success
I (1042) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: update connection params status = 0, min_int = 6, max_int = 6,conn_int = 6,latency = 0, timeout = 500
I (1112) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: discover service complete conn_id 0
I (1112) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: service found
I (1122) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: ESP_GATTC_CFG_MTU_EVT, Status 0, MTU 517, conn_id 0
I (1132) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: ESP_GATTC_REG_FOR_NOTIFY_EVT
I (1172) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: write descr success
I (1172) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: Initializing latency test...
I (1172) LATENCY_TEST: Latency test initialized, conn_id=0, handle=42
I (2182) BLE_ACL_LATENCY_CENT: Starting latency test...
I (2182) LATENCY_TEST: ====================================
I (2182) LATENCY_TEST: Starting latency test...
I (2182) LATENCY_TEST: Packets: 100, Interval: 20 ms
I (2182) LATENCY_TEST: ====================================
SEQ=  0, RTT= 20040 us, Latency= 10020 us (10.02 ms)
SEQ=  1, RTT= 18341 us, Latency=  9170 us (9.17 ms)
SEQ=  2, RTT= 13339 us, Latency=  6669 us (6.67 ms)
...
SEQ= 99, RTT= 15835 us, Latency=  7917 us (7.92 ms)
I (4192) LATENCY_TEST: All packets sent, waiting for responses...
I (6192) LATENCY_TEST:
I (6192) LATENCY_TEST: ========================================
I (6192) LATENCY_TEST:          Test Results Summary
I (6192) LATENCY_TEST: ========================================
I (6192) LATENCY_TEST: Total packets:     100
I (6202) LATENCY_TEST: Received:          100
I (6202) LATENCY_TEST: Lost:              0 (0.0%)
I (6202) LATENCY_TEST: ----------------------------------------
I (6212) LATENCY_TEST: Average latency:   7929 us (7.93 ms)
I (6222) LATENCY_TEST: Min latency:       6667 us (6.67 ms)
I (6222) LATENCY_TEST: Max latency:       10020 us (10.02 ms)
I (6232) LATENCY_TEST: ========================================

Connection Parameters

The example uses optimized connection parameters for low latency:

Parameter	Value	Description
Connection Interval	7.5 ms	Minimum allowed by BLE spec
Slave Latency	0	No skipped connection events
Supervision Timeout	4000 ms	Connection timeout
MTU	517	Maximum ATT MTU

Understanding the Results

RTT (Round-Trip Time): Time from sending a packet until receiving the echo
Latency: Estimated one-way delay (RTT / 2)
Expected Results: With 7.5ms connection interval, typical latency is 6-10ms

Troubleshooting

For any technical queries, please open an issue on GitHub. We will get back to you soon.