Development of a BLE-Based Multi-Person Access Management System for Enhanced Gate Security in Port Environments

Abstract

Access control in high-density industrial port environments remains a critical operational challenge. Conventional systems process users sequentially, creating congestion at entry points and exposing facilities to security vulnerabilities such as tailgating. This paper presents the design, development and field evaluation of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based multi-person access monitoring system deployed at Tanjung Langsat Port (TLP), Malaysia. The proposed system uses smartphone-based BLE credentials, ESP32 sensing gateways, and an on-premises HTTP Broker architecture to enable simultaneous detection and authentication of multiple registered users within a 500-millisecond scanning window. In this work four iterative development phases were executed. Field calibration identified an optimal gateway configuration of 180 cm height and 90 cm lateral distance, achieving RSSI variability of ±1.0 to ±2.75 dBm. A 120-hour reliability test demonstrated stable operation with zero failures and latency below 5,000 ms. Cross-platform testing revealed significant Android OS power management effects on BLE advertising performance. Five of eight defined performance benchmarks were fully met, validating the technical viability of BLE-based multi-person access monitoring for industrial port deployment.