In practice the stability and reach of the signal depend on the transmission power and frequency of signals transmitted. It’s not enough to embed media content and that’s why beacons only broadcast their ID’s (which in the case of the iBeacon protocol is divided into three values: UUID, Major, Minor) and information about signal power, essential for a nearby smartphone to calculate proximity.
The maximum payload of a Bluetooth 4.2 packet is 257 bytes.
The Bluetooth standard used in a beacon is also optimized for energy efficiency, meaning it allows for broadcasting only small amounts of data. This assumption is only reliable if these beacons transmit a consistent RF signal (2.4 GHz) in equal amount to all directions that is without any blank spots, this is now practically impossible. The antenna is the most important driving part of this project because the location based applications are operating on signal strength received by the mobile device. The source of power is a button battery and since this ARM chip and the firm wear are highly optimized for minimum battery use for longer ruse. Major components Below the beacon hood consists of an ARM chip along with a Bluetooth smart connectivity module and a power source. The ‘Bluetooth ‘(B) bit means that beacons can work well for marketing even in areas with no WiFi or spotty cell service.īluetooth technology is low cost, and accessible to anyone with a smartphone, but it requires the user to have Bluetooth turned on. Beacons are sometimes referred to as BLEs, for Bluetooth Low Energy, the ‘low energy’(LE) bit means the batteries in a beacon will last for a long time. Their sole purpose is to detect you, or more specifically, your device, as you move into their range. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons is a technology solution for digital way finding, which is a small physical objects (under two square inches, in most cases) that can be placed in desired locations.