Any modern technology can be well understood if we predict what it will become in the next 10 years. Let's journey back in time, when Bluetooth classic was launched and became available for customers. A key factor in its success was that it was available for everyone. The cellular phone manufacturers of that time were integrating this technology into their phones, which helped Bluetooth spread all over the world in no time. Bluetooth SIG predicted that the next era will contain IoT to its core and will be dominated by the IoT and that is very important to provide a low-power-consumption communication solution for devices. Thus, Proximity Beacon API was created as version 4.0 of the standard. In the previous chapters, we discussed various theoretical and practical concepts of Bluetooth Low Energy, and this chapter is no different. Here, we will discuss a new application of Bluetooth Low Energy—BLE beacons. This chapter contains the following topics...
Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons are Bluetooth devices that broadcast their universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) in proximity. They are low-power devices attached to some physical object (such as a wall or an electronic device), which detects the nearby device (typically a cellular phone) and triggers some behavior. These behaviors normally contain a location-based task or a unique broadcast that can be preprogrammed on the beacons before deployment. Beacons assume that each person has a Bluetooth Low Energy device already listening to beacon calls and that the broadcasts will be received by them. In this chapter, we will use the Estimote as our primary Bluetooth beacon; it looks like this:
Just like any other technology, Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons work with a protocol set. It is like a profile that tells how a beacon is broadcasting information. This information is then handled by a device (typically a cell phone) with the same protocol. Both ends should know the definition of the broadcast data if they want a successful transmission. This is why the broadcast data type is defined by the type of protocol the beacon is using. In some cases, it broadcasts a UUID-based URI, while in other cases, it broadcast URLs or telemetry packets.
The protocol gives a definition to the data broadcast.
The broadcast data type is defined by the type of protocol the beacon is using. In some cases, it broadcasts a UUID-based URI, while in other cases, it broadcast URLs or telemetry packets. In this section, we will discuss two widely used beacon protocols: Eddystone by Google and iBeacon by Apple.
Estimote Inc. was founded by Jakub Krzych and Lukasz Kostka in 2012. The company focuses on making low-power IoT devices that can stick to walls or objects. They use many technologies, such as Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, HDMI, and mesh networking. Their devices normally come with sensors, such as motion, temperature, ambient light, magnetometer, pressure, and telemetry. They specialize in Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons with full support for Eddystone and iBeacon platforms. In this chapter, we will take a look at their SDK and practical examples that you can implement using Estimote beacons.
Note
Estimote has a wide variety of beacons for different kinds of applications. I recommend buying Long Range Location Beacons because they provide much more flexibility and options. You can buy Estimote beacons at http://estimote.com/#get-beacons-section.
Estimote Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons feature a 32-bit ARM Cortex CPU with a 2.4 GHz radio for Bluetooth communication. The battery typically...
In this chapter, we explored Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons and discussed their applications with real-life scenarios. We also discussed BLE protocols such as Google Eddystone and Apple iBeacon, two of the most widely used protocols in beacon technology. The chapter later discussed a practical application built on Android and iOS using Estimote beacons. The discussion continued with a simple implementation of a physical web-based URL broadcast using Estimote. Finally, we discussed the Estimote cloud interface to view and control your beacons using the cloud. In the next chapter, we will move forward and discuss an even more complicated example of Bluetooth indoor location using Estimote beacons.
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