Towards Secure and Safe Industrial Systems Using Ble's Broadcast Isochronous Streams
Wireless technology is becoming increasingly prominent in industrial environments today, particularly for controlling automated guided vehicles such as mobile robots. Beyond conventional communication requirements, wireless solutions must also comply with functional safety standards such as IEC 61508 and IEC 62745. However, the susceptibility of wireless systems to RF interference and cyberattacks raises questions about their suitability for safety-critical environments. In this paper, we investigate the integration of one of the latest features of Bluetooth Low Energy, namely Broadcast Isochronous Streams (BIS), which enable efficient one-to-many broadcast communication, into industrial systems. Furthermore, we present an applicationlayer framework built on top of BIS that provides essential security and safety features such as encryption, decryption, lightweight key exchange, transmission of periodic keepalive signals, and emergency stop functionality. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework adds only 33% latency overhead, while ensuring compliance with key safety and security requirements. The framework also supports network scaling to hundreds of devices and enables timely execution of safety procedures even in harsh RF conditions, demonstrating that BIS can be securely and reliably employed in industrial environments.