Why can't I reconnect to my BLE device using its name after its MAC address changes?

My BLE device uses random private addresses as a security feature which changes its MAC address periodically. I can connect to it the first time using its friendly name, but after the MAC address changes and I try to reconnect to the device using its name, MATLAB reports the following error:

Multiple devices found with device name <deviceName>. Specify one of the following addresses to connect:

followed by multiple addresses.

Reproduction steps:

>> blelist('Timeout',5)

ans =

6×5 table

    Index      Name        Address    RSSI  Advertisement

    _____  ____________ ____________  ____  _____________

     1   "LE-testBLE"   "<address 1>"  -45   [1×1 struct]

>> b = ble('LE-testBLE')

b =

   ble with properties:

         Name: "LE-testBLE"

        Address: "<address 1>"

       Connected: 1

        Services: [6×2 table]

    Characteristics: [26×5 table]

Show services and characteristics

>> clear b

>> blelist('Timeout',5)

ans =

8×5 table

    Index     Name        Address       RSSI  Advertisement

    ______  ________   ______________  ______  _____________

     1 "LE-JB DW Color"  "<address 1>"  -36   [1×1 struct]
     2 "LE-testBLE"      "<address 2>"  -50   [1×1 struct]
     3      ""           "<address 3>"  -52   [1×1 struct]
     4     ""            "<address 4>"  -65   [1×1 struct]
     5     ""            "<address 5>"  -66   [1×1 struct]
     6     ""            "<address 6>"  -76   [1×1 struct]
     7     ""            "<address 7>"  -77   [1×1 struct]
     8     ""            "<address 8>"  -85   [1×1 struct]
  >> b = ble('LE-testBLE')

Multiple devices found with device name LE-testBLE. Specify one of the following addresses to connect: <address 1>,<address 2>.

How can I reconnect to my device?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The reason that multiple devices with the same name were found is that MATLAB caches all previously found devices in the system to avoid forcing users to scan for the device for each MATLAB session. To work around this issue, use the blelist command to scan for the desired device and identify the new address of the device. With this address, connect to it using the following command:

>> b = ble(address);

For more information regarding connecting to a BLE device, refer to the following documentation page:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/import_export/find-your-bluetooth-low-energy-peripheral-devices.html