A beacon is a small wireless device that constantly broadcasts radio signals to nearby smartphones and tablets. Mobile apps can listen for that signal and, when they receive it, trigger a location-based action.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is the signal emitted by beacons, and it’s important for two reasons:

1. It transmits radio waves, which can penetrate physical barriers like walls, unlike WiFi or cell signals, which are often disrupted
2. BLE consumes only a fraction of the battery power that traditional Bluetooth utilizes

Purple use two main battery powered beacon suppliers:

• Estimote (typically for indoor routes)

• Kontakt.io (most commonly used outdoor and for parking garages)

Each beacon is associated with a point on the map. Beacons are positioned by elevator banks, entry ways, and along halls to identify the user’s location.

Beacons are also used to reduce the time to first location fix and in areas with minimal magnetic variance. They provide the most accurate navigational experience using the earth’s geomagnetic field and your phone’s compass.

Beacon requirements

Purple is able to use any BLE beacon provider, battery powered or inbuilt AP’s as long as they are able to broadcast a BLE signal and can configure the following settings:

• UUID: Can set a Unique ID
• TX Power: Allows the transmission power to be changed
• TX Interval: Can be set to 300 – 500ms

When placing multiple beacons it’s recommended that the hardware can set Major and Minor values. These represent the floor number and beacon number respectively.

Major identifies the floor. 96-99 is reserved for non-numerical floor numbers, such as external grounds or basements; 0 cannot be used.

Minor identifies the beacon on the floor and is a sequential number beginning with 1. The minor cannot be repeated on the same floor.

Beacons do not require access to any addresses or networks once configured. They are set to only broadcast the UUID, Major and Minor and do not receive any incoming data.

Android and iOS use beacons to improve position accuracy and reduce the time to first fix. However, Beacons are required for iOS positioning as WiFi positioning is blocked by Apple.

Most common beacon suppliers

The two main battery powered beacon suppliers that Purple uses are:

• Estimote (typically for indoor routes)

• Kontakt.io (most commonly used outdoor and for parking garages)

When the beacons are installed and set up, there are no (firmware) updates made to the beacons. When battery life reaches <20% we would plan to replace the battery/beacon. The beacons per m2 depends on the environment, we tend to place beacons approximately every 50 - 70m in "fingerprinted" areas.

Estimote

Estimote is the beacon manufacturer most commonly used by Purple for indoor routes. Purple use the Estimote App (iPhone or Android) to set up the beacons with only direct communication between phone and beacon. Purple creates the login and will send the details during implementation.

Kontakt

Kontakt is the beacon manufacturer most commonly used by Purple for Outdoor & Parking Garage routes. Purple use the Kontakt App to set up the beacons (either Android or iOS) with only direct communication between phone & beacon.