Model-Based Testing of Internet of Things Protocols

Internet of Things (IoT) is a popular term to describe systems/devices that connect and interact with each other through a network, e.g., the Internet. These devices communicate with each other via a communication protocol, such as Zigbee or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), the subject of this paper. Communication protocols are notoriously hard to implement correctly and a large set of test-cases is needed to check for conformance to the standard. Many of us have encountered communication problems in practice, such as random mobile phone disconnects, difficulty obtaining a Bluetooth connection, etc. In this paper, we research the application of industry strength Model-Based Testing (MBT) within the IoT domain. This technique contributes to higher quality specifications and more efficient and more thorough conformance testing. We show how we can model part of the BLE protocol specification using the Axini Modeling Platform (AMP). Based on the model, AMP is then able to automatically test the conformance of a BLE device. With this approach, we found specification flaws in the official BLE specifications as well as conformance errors on a certified BLE system.