9.8. Bluetooth Beacons
9.8.1 Introduction
Beacon send broadcast messages that listening devices can consume. One of the use case for beacon could be indoor navigation if set up correctly. Response Nodes can be configured via the Response Portal as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that send Beacon Broadcast to nearby listening smart devices.
9.8.2 Compatibility and Requirements
With the 2020.2 release (ver 182 or higher), the beacon feature can now be turned on or off for as long as required by sending commands from the Response Portal to the Response nodes.
To proceed, the user would obtain configuration menu access. The Beacon configuration menu access can be checked as permission by your building administrator for your “Role”.
Once accessible, the Beacon menu enables you to configure the Beacons for selected parameters. Beacon Configuration menu allows you to select Response Nodes using the floor plan view or pre-assigned tags and configure the selected Response Nodes for Beacons. Once the relevant Response Nodes (or tags) are selected, each parameter of Beacon Configuration can be sent to Response Nodes through the configuration panel on the right.
9.8.2. Configuring Bluetooth Beacon
To configure Bluetooth beacons successfully, proceed as shown in the table below.
9.8.2.3 Step 1: Selection
Go to “Bluetooth Beacons” page and
Select single Response Node by clicking on the Response Node from the list or the Response Nodes icon on the floor plan or
Select multiple Response Nodes using selection tools on the floor plan e.g. area, cumulative selection etc or
Select tags option by clicking on the tags panel (top right corner just above the floor plan).
9.8.2.4 Step 2: Enable Beacon
The first configuration parameter is a toggle button to enable or disable the Beacon feature on any Response Node. Once the relevant Response Nodes (or tags) are selected, toggle the option as needed for selected Response Nodes. In order to finish enabling or disabling remember to remember to click “Update” option.
9.8.2.5 Step 3: Set Beacon Parameters
Adjust Power Level: Here you can set the power levels for beacons by using the sliding bar. You can choose a value between -40dBm to 4dBm. Once selected click update to configure power levels for selected Response Nodes.
Select Beacon Content/Company ID: You can choose from “Apple/iBeacon” or “OR Technologies” from the drop-down menu. Click update if you would like to send this configuration to the Response Node
Choose Broadcast Interval: You can choose the beaconing repetition from slow, medium to fast by using the sliding bar. Click on update if you would like to send this configuration individually to the Response Node
Choose UUID (firmware version 190+26 or higher): UUID can be set to Organic Response UUID/Sony Nimway UUID from dropdown. Once selected click update to send this UUID value for selected Response Nodes.
Organic Response UUID: “A7DEE2A880674B2BABC0B76D98BD62E5“
Sony Nimway UUID (firmware version 190 or higher): “1673AABFA4224C4DB1F5A07C44031566“
Enter a Custom Major Value (firmware version 190+26 or higher): The major version is usually kept constant for a specific application. You can enter a custom value under the major for easier identification and can set it individually for all Response Nodes. Once you have entered a value clicking on update will send this value to the selected Response Nodes.
(Auto)Generate and Minor (firmware version 190+26 or higher): Allows you to generate a new minor as soon as you click on generate when you have a or multiple Response Nodes selected. This minor version will be a randomly generated value which is incremented with the number of Response Nodes.
If you have a single Response Node selected and you generate a minor the number will be incremented by one from the last minor generated in this building. The pop up will appear and show you the minor value generated.
If you have multiple Response Nodes selected the number will be incremented by one for each Response Node in the selection. For example if you have 4 Response Nodes selected 4 minors will be generated.
Please note that the beacons achieve unique identifiability through the distinctiveness of their major/minor combination.
The “Update” option is available next to each parameter remember to update or generate for each configuration parameter change. While “reset” option will allow discarding any recent change in values made to go back to the last chosen parameter for all parameters except for minor.
9.8.2.6 Step 4: Verify
The “Refresh” tool available on top of the node’s list can be used to verify the configuration. As soon as you click refresh a query is sent to the Response Nodes to read their parameters indicated by a rotating icon next to nodes being queried or changed. In addition you can use the select tools from step 1 to perform query on the selected Response Nodes. In case of successful response, the icon against relevant Response Node would turn green otherwise in absence of a response it would stay amber with a question mark.
9.8.3 Node List
Nodes' List on the left as shown in the above figure allows user to tap into individual performance of any beacon. Values in the Response Nodes section should reflect the last configuration as sent to any particular Response Node once refreshed. Each Response Node has the following information for all Bluetooth beacons visible in the Response Portal once correctly mapped:
Response Portal ID
Node ID
On/Off status of the beacon
Power level
Beacon Content – Hover the mouse over to see the company name of the Beacon content.
Beaconing repetition – Hover the mouse over to see the repetition time
UUID - Hover the mouse over to see the selected UUID value
Major value
Minor value
Update status
Tags associated with the node
You can also export the information by using copy to clipboard option next to refresh button. Once copied you can paste the information into and excel document to further sharing if required.
9.8.4. Indicative power levels
Level | Measured value(1m) |
|---|---|
-4 | -61 |
-8 | -64 |
-12 | -69 |
-16 | -72 |
-20 | -76 |
-30 | -82 |
-40 | -89 |
9.8.5. Verify a BLE beacon Using Response Portal Address
If you want to extract the Response Node address of a BLE beacon you can use an nRf connect app to verify the address. Proceed as shown below;
Open the nRF Connect app. Immediately after opening, your device scans for all Bluetooth devices within the range as shown below:
Apply a filter by clicking the arrow pointing down as shown above. Next, click the 3 dot points next to “Filter by raw advertising data”. Then, select “Beacons” on the drop-down list. Lastly, select “iBeacon” as shown below.
The below hex number “0x0201041AFF4C000215” should show. Then, modify the hex number to “0x0201041AFF47070215”
Go back to “SCAN”.
You will see the Response Node address having only 3 bytes at the end and the leading 3 bytes are equivalent to zero.
Please note Bluetooth Beacon will always show the complete address regardless the byte size of the Response Portal address.
Response Node Address | Response Portal Address 2-Byte (Hexadecimal value) | Response Portal Address 4-Byte (Hexadecimal value) | Beacon address |
|---|---|---|---|
11259375 | CDEF | ABCDEF | 00:00:00:AB:CD:EF |