Beacons and the physical web

Beacons and the Physical Web

William El Kaim Oct. 2016 - V 2.0

This Presentation is part of the

Enterprise Architecture Digital Codex

http://www.eacodex.com/Copyright © William El Kaim 2016 2

http://www.eacodex.com/

Plan

What are beacons and Location Analytics?

• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

• Beacons and BLE

• Comparisons With Other Locations Technology

• Google Beacon Ecosystem

• iBeacon

• iBeacon and Mobile Apps

• Other Beacon Technology Use Cases

• Resources

Copyright © William El Kaim 2016 3

What are Beacons and Location Analytics?

• Consumers increasingly expect seamless digital to physical experiences.

• Physical and digital are no longer separate: it’s one big experience!

• The concept is simple, but the details are very important!

• Especially because competing and custom technologies and platforms are emerging.

• Pervasive mobile devices (tablets and smartphones in particular) are a

catalyst to technology adoption.



• Beacons are a system of low-powered transmitters that enable push

notifications to mobile devices running an application in close proximity

• An app will sense the presence of a beacon and can react on it

• A system of sensors can then identify the geospatial position of a mobile

device and use data analytics to generate actionable insights into consumer

traffic behavior.


Beacon is a small device that is able to exchange informationwith other mobile devices equipped with the suitableapplication. It is based on the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy.

It allows you to communicate and locatedevices even in closed spaces with an accuracyof several centimeters.



The beacon can be based on multifunction devices such as iPad.

Dedicated solutions are quitefrequent. Companies like Estimote, Roximity, Twocanoes offer beaconsready to go.

Price of a Beacon devicedepends on the manufacturer. It is +/-10-50 USD per unit.



Some Definitions

• Beacons

• A beacon is any device that transmits a signal which allows another device to determine

its proximity to the broadcaster.

• In a store, a beacon lets a customer’s app determine that it’s close to the candy aisle.

The beacon doesn’t transmit content, it simply transmits a signal that lets a user’s phone

or tablet figure out what its proximity to the beacon.

• The content (a coupon, for example) is delivered separately to the user’s app.

• Bluetooth Low Energy

• This is the specification for one type of signal that beacons transmit. There are other

types of signals that power beacons (e.g. audio signals) but Bluetooth LE has the

advantage that it is low energy and is ‘native’ to most modern phones and tablets.


Some Definitions

• iBeacon

• The term iBeacon and beacon are often used

interchangeably.

• But iBeacon is a trademarked term by Apple

that refers to the protocols, devices and uses

of Bluetooth LE to create user experiences.

• Apple is vague about what it specifically

means by an iBeacon. We take the definition

to include the software protocols inside a

user’s app, the use cases and user

experiences, and the specifications that Apple

requires of any beacon that can be called an

iBeacon.


Plan

• What are beacons and Location Analytics?

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

• Beacons and BLE



• iBeacon



• Resources


Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

• Bluetooth Smart Ready indicates a dual-mode device, typically a laptop or smartphone, whose hardware is

compatible with both Classic and LE Bluetooth peripherals.

• Bluetooth Smart indicates an LE-only device, typically a battery-operated sensor, which requires either a

SMART Ready or another SMART device in order to function.

• Include in Bluetooth V.4.0+• Geo-fence (in door navigator) • Support Peer-to-Peer, WPAN• Low power consumption• Low cost• Speed for setup time• Security than classic Bluetooth• Multi-vendor interoperability

TabletMobile Phone

Computer LaptopPortable Media Player

Pet activity tracker MouseSports tracker Heart rate monitor


Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)What Is It?

• Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), also known as Bluetooth Smart is a subset of

Bluetooth 4.0

• Bluetooth Low Energy is Hardware and Software

• Software: BLE is a subset of the Bluetooth 4.0 protocol. Bluetooth is a standardized wireless

protocol.

• Hardware: It can be a stand-alone chip or be integrated into part of a larger wireless chip that

performs several functions.

• A BLE-ready smartphone or tablet can detect a BLE device (such as a

proximity beacon) without the need to pair.

• This capability enables passive discovery, spontaneous interaction, and new methods of

customer engagement for retailers and brands


Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)Difference With Bluetooth

Technical Specification Classic Bluetooth technology Bluetooth low energy technology

Distance/Range 100 m (330 ft) 50 m (160 ft)

Over the air data rate 1–3 Mbit/s 1 Mbit/s

Application throughput 0.7–2.1 Mbit/s 0.27 Mbit/s

Security 56/128-bit and application layer user defined128-bit AES with Counter Mode CBC-MAC and application layer user defined

Robustness Adaptive fast frequency hopping, FEC, fast ACKAdaptive frequency hopping, Lazy Acknowledgement, 24-bit CRC, 32-bit Message Integrity Check

Latency (from a non-connected state)

Typically 100 ms 6 ms

Total time to send data (det.battery life)

100 ms 3 ms, <3 ms

Voice capable Yes No

Network topology Scatternet Star-bus (Hybrid)

Power consumption 1 as the reference 0.01 to 0.5 (depending on use case)

Peak current consumption <30 mA <15 mA

Service discovery Yes Yes

Profile concept Yes Yes

Primary use casesMobile phones, gaming, headsets, stereo audio streaming, automotive, PCs, security, proximity, healthcare, sports & fitness, etc.

Mobile phones, gaming, PCs, watches, sports and fitness, healthcare, security & proximity, automotive, home electronics, automation, Industrial, etc.


BLE, Why Now?

• It’s free – No licensing

• Not Proprietary

• It’s in most phones built after 2012

• 370 million mobile phones will be sold with BLE this year

• Low power


What Can Apps Do With BLE

• Share Small Amounts of Information with Other BLE Enabled Devices


BLE Communications Process

• The BLE communications process relies on two profiles:

1. The generic access profile (GAP) controls connections and advertising. (Advertising in

this context does not refer to an offer or coupon but identifies a step in the process of

establishing a dedicated connection between two BLE devices.)

2. The generic attribute profile (GATT) defines how two BLE devices exchange data.


What is BLE?Generic Access Profile (GAP)

• The GAP enables a smartphone or tablet to be visible to the outside world

and defines how two devices, such as a smartphone and a beacon, can

interrelate.

• The GAP contains a list of central devices and definitions of those peripheral

devices with which it can communicate.

• Central devices are typically tablets or smartphones.

• Peripheral devices are low-power small devices that can connect to a much more

powerful central device.

• Peripheral devices include items such as a beacon, a heart rate monitor, a BLE-enabled

proximity tag, or a watch.


What is BLE?Generic Access Profile (GAP)

• Peripheral devices, such as a beacon, can broadcast a data packet at set

intervals.

• If a listening device, such as a laptop or smartphone, is open to

communicating with the beacon, it can request and receive the message.

Source adafruit


https://learn.adafruit.com/introduction-to-bluetooth-low-energy/gap

What is BLE?Generic Attribute Profile (GATT)

• Once a dedicated connection is established between two devices, the GATT

takes over.

• Originally, GATT connections were exclusive.

• A BLE peripheral could only be connected to one central device at a time.

• As soon as a peripheral device attached to a central device, it stopped advertising, and

other devices were not able to see it or connect to it.

• However, some newer Bluetooth devices support multipoint connections.

• For example, an LG HBS-730 headphone can be connected to an iPhone and an iPad

simultaneously.

• With multipoint connections, it will be important to understand how many devices are

expected to connect in order to ensure capacity.



• GATT relies on a client-server relationship.

• The GATT client, which is the central device, sends requests to the GATT server, a

peripheral device.

• The GATT client initiates all transactions; the GATT server is the slave device.

• The GATT server contains the attribute protocol (ATT) that contains the services offered

by BLE.

• These services include lookup data as well as service definitions and

characteristic definitions.

Source adafruit


https://learn.adafruit.com/assets/13827


• GATT transactions are based on high-level nested objects: profiles, services,

and characteristics.

• A profile is a collection of services that has been defined by either the Bluetooth SIG or

by the peripheral designers.

• Each service is distinguished from other services by a unique numeric ID.

• The services break data up into logical parts and contain specific data parts (characteristics).

• An individual service can have one or more characteristics.

• Each characteristic includes a single data point only. Characteristics are what client developers

need to communicate a client request with a BLE peripheral; characteristics are also used to

send data back to the BLE peripheral.


Plan



Beacons and BLE



• iBeacon



• Resources


Beacons and BLE

• Beacons are Hardware Devices that can Emit and Receive BLE Signals

• Beacons are BLE devices that can be placed throughout any ‘target’ area

that emit a signal that can be detected by other BLE enabled devices.

• Depending on the beacon device and how frequently it sends out a signal,

the battery life can last for a year or longer.

• Certain mobile devices themselves can also act as a beacon that can both

emit and receive signals.


Usage of BLEMainly From Merchant to Consumer

• A consumer entering a merchant’s premises with a BLE-enabled smartphone

opens a variety of new opportunities for engagement.

• The merchant can engage the consumer through the deployment of

beacons, which are battery operated, or plug-in BLE-enabled devices that

are form, fit and function designed to promote or create interactivity between

the merchant or brands and the consumer.

• Additionally, the merchant could choose to upgrade their point-of-sale (POS)

infrastructure to support BLE

• Connections between the POS terminal and consumer smartphone could be used for

multiple functions from coupons to loyalty to payments.


Plan



• Beacons and BLE

Comparisons With Other Locations Technology

• iBeacon



• Resources


Other Technologies and Standards


Bluetooth Beacons and GPS

• One of the uses of geolocation technology is to identify when a smartphone

is in proximity to a business, so that the business can make offers for

services or enable services (such as an automated fuel dispenser at a

gasoline station).

• The smartphone identifies its location by means of an embedded GPS chip.

• This chip and the smartphone use satellite or mobile cell tower signals to identify the

phone’s location. However, geolocation was built for use outdoors.

• Location accuracy can suffer when geolocation is used in closed areas such as malls

and subways, unless tracking devices are installed.

• Both GPS and the Bluetooth beacon can determine the location of a person

indoors, such as in a mall, office building, or airport, or on Main Street.



• Battery power and energy

• GPS requires a lot of battery power and is often turned off by the smartphone owner.

• BLE consumes little power and can be on whenever the consumer’s smartphone is on.

Unlike GPS, Bluetooth also has a sleep mode to save energy.

• Combining geolocation with BLE for mobile payments can be a fraud

reduction tool that both tracks the customer’s location and streamlines the

payment process.

• Could not be done with GPS.



• GPS is a satellite-based localization method and is typically not accurate

indoors.

• GPS is affected by microwave appliances, and the GPS signal can be reflected off roofs,

walls, and other impediments.

• Moreover, when a mobile network is congested (such as in a stadium or mall during a

holiday period), it may be difficult or impossible to coordinate direction.

• BLE, on the other hand, can be used to track movement indoors.

• A Bluetooth beacon uses radio frequencies to deliver a Bluetooth data package at

specific intervals to BLE-enabled smartphones that are within range of the beacon.

• The data from a Bluetooth beacon describing where someone with a BLE-enabled

smartphone is very accurate.

• Beacons can be directed to a specific location or distance, up to a maximum range of

about 100 m.


BLE and NFC

• Near field communication (NFC) is a technology used for short range data

transfers over distances of less than 4 cm and is compliant with ISO/IEC

14443.

• NFC-enabled smartphones support three modes of data transfer:

• card emulation,

• peer-to-peer, and

• reader/writer.

• When used for proximity payments in card emulation mode, NFC transfers

payment credentials to existing contactless POS terminals.


BLE and NFC


BLE and NFC

Aspect NFC BLE

RFID compatible ISO 18000-3 No (but can using like it)

Security Mode No Disabled Mode, Passkey Mode

Network Standard ISO 13157 etc. IEEE 802.15.1

Network Type Point-to-point WPAN (wireless personal area network)

Cryptography not with RFID tag available

Range < 0.2 m ~50 m

Bit rate 424 kbit/s ~1.0 Mbit/s

Set-up time < 0.1 s < 0.006 s

Power consumption < 15mA (read), Unpowered

< 15 mA (read and transmit)

Track location device No Yes

WPANPoint-to-point


BLE and NFC

• NFC card emulation supports two methods for securing payment credentials:

• Credentials are stored in the physical secure element on the device.

• Credentials are stored securely in the cloud and used with host card emulation (HCE).

• BLE and NFC can both complement and compete with one another.

• BLE can complement NFC, providing offers and advertisements when a consumer

enters a store, while NFC can be used for payment.

• When NFC with a secure element is used for payment, the transaction uses standard

payments application security, including dynamic cryptograms and security codes that

leverage the current contactless payment infrastructure.


BLE and NFC

• BLE can supply value-added services such as offers and discounts to NFC-

based phones.

• Use of BLE requires a new infrastructure to target users with smartphones who

subscribe with BLE.

• User permission for NFC interaction is also expressly given once the user

chooses to tap an NFC tag with an NFC-enabled smartphone.

• The NFC tag does not require any power as it is derived from the phone.

• As such, an NFC tag can live in an environment indefinitely while a BLE solution will

either need to be plugged in (and thus proximity limited to the range of BLE), or if

battery-operated (such as a BLE beacon), replaced according to the battery duration.


BLE and NFCOther Differences

• NFC operates time at slower speeds than BLE

• NFC works with an unpowered device (RFID Tag)

• NFC power consumption is greater than that of BLE

• NFC doesn't require pairing (COMFORTABLE, BUT NOT SECURE)

• NFC lower transfer data rate than Bluetooth low energy

• NFC Great for Peer-to-peer communication


BLE and WIFIAspect Wi-Fi BLE

Standardization body IEEE LAN/MAN Bluetooth SIG

Network Standard IEEE 802.11 IEEE 802.15.1

Network Type WPAN WPAN (wireless personal area network)

Cryptography WEP, WPA, WPA2 available

Range 50 - 100 m ~50 m

Bit rate 1Mbit - 6.75Gbit/s ~1.0 Mbit/s

Set-up time Variant by devices < 0.006 s

Power consumption Related with range < 15 mA (read and transmit)

Pairing Yes No (but can use, if you want)

Internet Require Yes No


BLE and WiFi

• Connection

• WiFi enables electronic devices to exchange data and connect to the Internet wirelessly,

using microwave technology that conforms to IEEE Standard 802.11.

• Consumers must accept the WiFi connection, and WiFi often requires proper authentication to

prevent unwanted use.

• Enabling a WiFi connection requires a configuration and security pass-code matching process.

• Connecting two devices over BLE is relatively simple, involving a key matching process.


BLE and WiFi

• Transfer Rates

• The latest specifications for Bluetooth 4.0 discuss data transfer rates of up to 25 mbps.

• While 25 mbps is adequate for some transactions, it limits the use of BLE for transferring

larger files and data elements such as jpg files, apps, and other files a merchant would load to

a store system.

• The latest version of WiFi direct can achieve data transfer rates of up to 250 mbps.

• Signal Range

• The specified range for BLE is approximately 50 m (and up to150 m in an open field);

• WiFi extends up to 650 m.

• The WiFi range depends on the version of the WiFi protocol used and whether antennas have

been added to the communication system to extend the range of the WiFi network.


BLE and WiFi

• Security

• Bluetooth security is limited to key matching, which represents a major issue with BLE

that could limit its use in transferring payment credentials, specifically primary account

numbers.

• BLE does support full AES-128 encryption using CCM 8 to provide strong encryption and

authentication of data packets.

• WiFi is secured by the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm (less secure) and WiFi

Protected Access (WPA).


BLE and WiFi

• Wi-Fi greater transfer data than BLE

• Wi-Fi greater to support multiple security standards

• Wi-Fi power consumption is more than that of BLE

• Wi-Fi greater data range than BLE

• Wi-Fi must use internet for transfer data to application (except Wi-Fi direct)


Bar Codes and BLE

• The 1D and 2D bar codes are machine-readable matrices or bar codes that

have been used in product identification and are now being used in mobile

payments and mobile marketing.

• The technology can transfer limited amounts of data in alphanumeric, numeric, or binary

format.

• One example of successful bar code implementation is the Starbucks mobile app.

• Compared to BLE, QR code technology is simple to implement at the

merchant POS and in a mobile wallet application.

• QR codes can be more cost effective than BLE, and QR codes can be generated even

when a mobile device does not have network access. However, the technology has

limitations in scope, range, security, and consistency.


Bar Codes and BLE

• While QR codes and BLE-based solutions can be standalone

implementations for mobile payments, QR codes can also be used to

complement BLE as an authentication mechanism for consumers at

checkout.

• In addition, QR codes can also be used in advertising, ticketing, checking in/out, and

offer redemption.


Plan



• Beacons and BLE


Google Beacon Ecosystem

• iBeacon



• Resources



• Beacons are one-way transmitters that are used to mark important places

and objects. Typically, a beacon is visible to a user's device from a range of a

few meters, allowing for highly context-sensitive use cases.

• Google's beacon platform is designed to make it easy to incorporate these

kinds of use cases into your own apps and venues, whether or not you

maintain a widely distributed app.

• The Google beacon platform consists of the following components:

• Eddystone, the open beacon format from Google that works with Android and iOS.

• Nearby API for Android and iOS, managing beacon scanning for your own app.

• Proximity Beacon API for integrating with Google products and your own app.

Copyright © William El Kaim 2016 44Source: Google Beacons

https://developers.google.com/beacons/overview#beacons_with_eddystone

https://developers.google.com/beacons/overview#proximity_beacon_api

https://developers.google.com/beacons/


• The Google Proximity Beacon API IS used to register any beacon that supports one of the following specifications:

• Eddystone™ an open beacon format from Google.

• iBeacon the Apple format

• AltBeacon

• The Proximity Beacon API allows you to interact with Google's cloud registry of beacons.

• Registering your beacons with Google allows you to:• Manage information associated with your beacon network remotely, in real time.

• Share information associated with your beacons with other projects.

• Allow Google products to react to your beacon network.

• Take advantage of power-efficient beacon scanning (including background scans) using Nearby.

• In addition to currently launched beacon integrations, registering your beacons with Google will make it easy to take advantage of new Google products as they are announced.


https://developers.google.com/beacons/proximity/guides

https://developers.google.com/beacons/eddystone

https://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/

http://altbeacon.org/



• The Beacon Dashboard is used to associate blobs of attached data with beacons even after they're deployed.

• Nearby Messages API enables Android or iOS app to detect nearby beacons and use attachments to deliver users a magical proximity-aware experience.

• Web Links Instead of Apps• If you don't have your app installed on a large number of devices, you can use Nearby

Notifications to associate web links with beacons, or app intents with web fallback.

• To deploy beacons using the Physical Web, use Eddystone’s URL frame type (Eddystone-URL) to broadcast your website to users, or add URLs to your beacons using Nearby Notifications attachments with the Beacon Dashboard.

• Beacon Marketplace• Beacons that are registered with venue and location information are used by place-

based products across Google, such as the Place Picker, which assists users in selecting nearby businesses or points of interest.


https://developers.google.com/beacons/dashboard

https://developers.google.com/nearby/messages/overview

https://developers.google.com/nearby/notifications/overview

https://google.github.io/physical-web/

https://developers.google.com/beacons/dashboard

https://developers.google.com/places/android/placepicker


Google Eddystone

• The Eddystone specification includes a number of broadcast frame types,

designed to give developers and venue owners flexibility in their beacon

deployments, including:

• Eddystone-UID: A unique, static ID with a 10-byte Namespace component and a 6-byte

Instance component.

• Eddystone-URL: A compressed URL that, once parsed and decompressed, is directly

usable by the client.

• Eddystone-TLM: Beacon status data that is useful for beacon fleet maintenance, and

powers Google Proximity Beacon API's diagnostics endpoint. -TLM should be

interleaved with an identifying frame such as Eddystone-UID or Eddystone-EID (for

which the encrypted eTLM version preserves security).

• Eddystone-EID: A time-varying beacon frame that can be resolved to a stable identifier

by a linked resolver, such as Proximity Beacon API.


https://developers.google.com/beacons/eddystone

https://developers.google.com/beacons/eddystone-eid

Empowering The Physical Web

• The Physical Web enables you to see a list of URLs being broadcast by

objects in the environment around you.

• Any object can be embedded with a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon,

which is a low powered, battery efficient device that broadcasts content over

bluetooth.

• Beacons that support the Eddystone protocol specification can broadcast

URLs.

• Services on your device such as Google Chrome or Nearby Notifications can

scan for and display these URLs after passing them through a proxy.


http://google.github.io/physical-web/

https://github.com/google/eddystone

Plan



• Beacons and BLE



iBeacon



• Resources



iBeacon: A Whole New Level OfLocation Awareness For Apps

• “iBeacons” is the name Apple chose for a particular technology that allows

Mobile Apps (running on millions of recent iPhones, iPads, etc.) to know how

close they are to tiny, low-cost, wireless transmitters called “hardware

iBeacons” (or just “iBeacons”).

• iBeacon is NOT an actual physical device: iBeacon is the software.

• There is no such device called an iBeacon at this time.

• iBeacon is the software, the physical device is just any BLE device that is configured in a

particular way so it’s recognized by the iOS as an iBeacon.


iBeacon in Apple Store App

• Apple has rolled out iBeacon to

all of it’s 250+ US stores!

• If you have the latest Apple Store

app installed, you can experience

this yourself by going to a

physical Apple Store.


iBeacon in Apple Store App

• When you’re close to an Apple store, you’ll see a push

notification that serves two main purposes:

• Bring the proximity of the store to your attention

• Show you what’s possible with the combination of the mobile

app and the physical store


iBeacon: What’s New?

• Hardware iBeacons are very easy to set-up and deploy; consider also that

they are quite low-cost and will become almost free when critical mass (and

economies of scale) will be reached

• No connection to the Net is necessary (even though accessing valuable

resources in the cloud is always beneficial), so your 3G data-plan won’t be

affected – and there is no need to switch WiFi on as well.


iBeacon: A Whole New Level OfLocation Awareness For Apps

• When an app is iBeacon enabled it just means that it has announced to the

core iOS that it needs to be consulted if the device detects a BLE device

emitting a specific BLE advertising signal.

• iBeacon technology isn’t an Apple’s monopoly: all recent Android devices

already support it too.

• The iBeacon works only on BLE

• iBeacons broadcast signals using BLE

• allowing precise, indoor geo-location (often called “Microlocation”),

• but also contextual interaction/engagement, as proximity to an iBeacon can trigger some

specific App functionalities.

• Bluetooth Low Energy is battery friendly.


Provisioning BLE Applications

• To provision a BLE application, an app that enables the mobile device to interact with a proximity beacon is required

• When the beacon triggers the phone or tablet, the beacon relays a message from the server to the consumer’s mobile device.

• The exchange is initiated by the beacon

• The mobile device collects content from the cloud that is appropriate for the beacon that initiated the exchange.

• Any messages that can be sent to a BLE-enabled device are stored in the cloud and can be changed in real time.


iBeaconHow Does it Work?

• Bluetooth LE has two core concepts:

• Devices can act as peripherals or centrals

• Peripherals advertise services and expose characteristics

• Think of characteristics as object properties

• A beacon is a peripheral that advertise information but it’s not a BLE service


iBeaconHow Does it Work?

• With the Advertised information an app can do four things

1. Scan for beacons identified with the same proximity UUID

2. Detect if the device is in the region of one or more beacons (~70m)

3. Determine the close proximity of a beacon (ranging)

4. Use the minor/major integers to differentiate beacons

• Apple has built iBeacon in the iOS CoreLocation API

• The UUID property contains the identifier that you use to identify your company’s

beacons.

• You typically generate only one UUID for your company’s beacons but can generate

more as needed.

• The Major property is typically going to be the specific store or general location.

• The Minor property would then identify a specific location within a store or area.


Estimote Beacons and Stickers

http://estimote.com/



iBeaconMicro-location

• iBeacon technology allows your Mobile device to understand its position,

even in indoor locations where smartphones or tablets are not able to pick up

GPS signals from satellites overhead

• that’s geo-location with a very high level of granularity).

• iBeacons-enabled Apps on your Mobile device are notified when the device

moves in and out of range of iBeacons, and are able to monitor the distance

as their proximity changes over time.

• This allows Apps to know precisely where they are not in terms of a

maplocation using longitude and latitude (like GPS does), but considering

where the Mobile device is relative to known points.


iBeaconMicro-location

• iBeacons broadcast a “I am here!” message more or less ten times per

second to any device within range of the Bluetooth Low Energy radio signal;

• since each iBeacon has its own ID, the Mobile device can tell them apart and

recognize the context of the world around itself.

• Note that iBeacons broadcasts have no data payload: they just identify

themselves via customizable IDs.

• Using strategically installed iBeacons, your smartphone or tablet work out

where it is with an extraordinary degree of precision – an accuracy far higher

than that of GPS.


iBeaconInteraction/Engagement/Context

• The iBeacons signals enable interaction with Mobile Apps, for example

triggering some App functionality to perform a specific action on a specific

Mobile device – at exactly a specific time and in a specific location.

• In other words, iBeacons signals express two valuable concepts at the same

time:

• “This is where you are” and “This is what you (can) do”.

• iBeacons therefore make it possible to effortlessly engage with people in a

physical space through their Mobile devices.


iBeacon“Monitoring” vs. “Ranging”

• Monitoring

• Determining when a device has entered or left an iBeacon’s coverage area (monitoring

is typically performed by the operative system in the background)

• Ranging

• Determining the distance (Immediate, Near, Far) from an iBeacon

• iOS vs. Android

• iOS doesn't allow to sense iBeacons around if you ignore their Proximity UUID; in other

words, you need to know the Proximity UUID of the iBeacons beforehand in order to

detect them;

• On the contrary, Android allow you to see any iBeacon regardless of its Proximity UUID.

• it’s not possible to perform Ranging in the background on iOS; it is doable on Android)


iBeacon Android Support

• Radius Networks is creating iBeacon hardware and software that allows

Android to leverage very similar functionality.

• The same exact hardware can be used for Apple iBeacon and custom Android (and

other) platforms, simultaneously.

• https://github.com/AltBeacon/android-beacon-library

• Qualcomm launched it’s own version called Gimbal.

• The devices can be configured to work with Apple’s iBeacon, it’s own system, or work in

other custom scenarios, across iOS and Android platforms.


https://github.com/AltBeacon/android-beacon-library

http://www.gimbal.com/

Radius Network: Proximity As A Service

http://www.radiusnetworks.com/Copyright © William El Kaim 2016 65

http://www.radiusnetworks.com/

iBeacon App Foreground vs. Background

• One Signal Triggering a Variety of Actions

• Active Communication: Allows basic levels of interaction that wake up the Phone from

Standby mode and allow Lock Screen Notifications.

• Passive Communication: Allows an enhanced user experience. Beacons can open

certain applications or trigger specific events.


iBeacon There are a few caveats…

• Bluetooth must be turned on.

• Your app must be installed on the users device.

• You can’t use an iBeacon to trigger the installation of your app.

• Location services must be enabled for the specific application.

• Beacons aren’t magic unicorns that give you internet access. To download

real-time content you must have the app connected via cellular or WiFi

connection.

• Data Privacy

• There is a potential to annoy a customer.

• There is a potential to alienate a customer who finds location awareness intrusive.

• There are possible issues of legality if you plan on tracking specific user behavior /

location. (varies by country)


iBeacon FAQ

• Beacons can be precisely located.• Wrong. Location is really approximate due the signal strength and environment factors

• Beacons can push information.• Wrong. The app receives only a minor/major number. It had to fetch information from the

network or a local database.

• iOS devices can’t be a beacon and a bluetooth service at the same time.

• Beacon can be detected in background.• Correct. Region monitoring changes happens between 4 and 15 minutes. But Ranging

doesn’t work in background. You have to open your app.

• A beacon can record who’s around.• Wrong. Beacons are just advertising, they are not aware of who’s listening

• Beacon can do payments.• Wrong. iBeacon is not enough, it’s just about location.

• iBeacon works on other platforms.• Yes. Support for Android exist via 3rd parties. iBeacon profile has been documented.


Plan



• Beacons and BLE



• iBeacon

iBeacon and Mobile Apps


• Resources


iBeaconHow to enable a Mobile App?

• Existing Mobile Apps need to be upgraded to be iBeacon-enabled, but

fortunately the impact from a software development point of view is quite

limited.

• There are actually four steps that must be taken by the final user to have a

fully functional iBeacon-enabled App:1. have the App downloaded and installed

2. have Bluetooth on

3. the App must be able to access location data opt-in

4. the App must be able to receive notifications opt-in

• Any additional privacy-related authorization depends on the specific

application.


iBeacon Mobile Apps Impacts

• Mobile App automatic start

• Mobile devices will automatically react to when they come within range of iBeacons.

• iBeacons are identified in the background by iOS or Android, and the right App is started

when necessary; in technical words, an App can register with iOS/Android to be started

when specific types of iBeacons move in the range of the device.

• Of course you have to install the relevant iBeacons-enabled App before you can actually

enjoy iBeacons benefits – currently there is no mechanism to auto-install Apps.


Simple Link Between iBeacon And Web Page

Your websites on iBeacons.Easily tag websites to things in the real world and discover them when nearby with the Bubble Browser, a mobile browser that replaces URLs with iBeacons.

http://discoverbubble.com/


http://discoverbubble.com/

http://launchhere.awwapps.com/Copyright © William El Kaim 2016 73

http://launchhere.awwapps.com/

Generic App That Could Be Modified

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http://labwerk.com/

Integration in Existing App

• Large French e-retailer venteprivee.com (more than 2.5 million unique daily

visitors) has unveiled a few days ago “Le Pass+“ an iBeacon-like technology

that offers retailers an opportunity to send information in-store to customers

on their smartphones.

• The company said it has already “convinced“ 1,500 retail locations to use the system.

• Le Pass+ works in conjunction with Le Pass iOS and Android apps on smartphone

embedding a Bluetooth 4.0 chipset.


http://www.venteprivee.com/


• Le Pass+

• Three types of beacons can be installed in-store or in shopping mall.

• One is located at the entrance and sends notifications to nearby opt-in customers with

special offers corresponding to their preferences set in the app.

• Other beacons can be located in specific aisles in-store to notify the customer of special

deals or information pertaining to products where the shopper is located.

• Finally one beacon is located at the point of sale of the store where the app pops up the

loyalty card corresponding to the shop.

• The Pass was born from a start-up company called Pass VIP which has

vente-privee.com as a majority shareholder since last year.



• Condé Nast’s Epicurious teamed up with inMarket to beam location-based

notifications and offers to shoppers in retail environments.

• When users that have downloaded the Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List app enter a

store equipped with one of inMarket’s iBeacons, they can receive notifications, offers

and more from advertisers within the M2M platform.

• Other Example is to use Apple PassBook with iBeacon integration to show

coupons and offers (as cards).


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epicurious-recipes-shopping/id312101965?mt=8&uo=4&at=11l3Qv

Apple PassBook with iBeacon

• It’s Not Necessary to Build a Custom App to

Use an iBeacon.

• You can integrate iBeacon technology with

Passbook, which is preinstalled on the home

screen of Apple’s iPhones.

• Passbook can’t be deleted.


Add Geo-localized Elements In An App

• Idea is to add to an existing app, some proximity triggers

• Best example is Tesco, McDonalds, etc.

• This could also be used to capture client behavior is a passive and

transparent way. The consumers does not need to open and app or to react

to any trigger.

• ANKA Mall in Istanbul created a program named « Walk&Win » to make you earn points

if you walk in the mall.


Add Geo-localized Elements In An App

Travel Radar

http://travelradar.awwapps.com/


http://travelradar.awwapps.com/

Plan



• Beacons and BLE



• iBeacon


Other Beacon Technology Use Cases

• Resources


Beacons Possible Usages

• BLE’s proximity detection capability offers multiple advantages:

• Improved operational efficiency for targeted promotions and information

• A more positive customer engagement. Customers and prospects who receive the right

content in the right place at the right time are far more likely to act.

• The opportunity for managers to capture and analyze data on how customers behave

and adjust digital content and the physical environment accordingly.

• The opportunity for creating innovative check-out and payment processes.

• These advantages rely on knowing customers and customers’ current

locations.

• The use of proximity beacons is an important part of contextual awareness, especially

indoors.



• Directions and location information, maps and directories

• Local offers or alerts if you enter/go out a certain range

• Integration with social media

• Access to easy ordering and payment

• A comprehensive guide to all services offered locally (yellow pages)

• Preordering and payment to avoid lines,

• Tracking to estimate wait times and provide advices

• Customer relationship management

• Rich analytics based on entry time, exit time and dwell times

• Footprint heat mapping



Cabot SolutionsCopyright © William El Kaim 2016 84

http://www.cabotsolutions.com/2014/03/ibeacon-geolocation-indoors-to-power-the-business-world/

Payments Use Cases

• The potential use of BLE for payment applications has generated considerable interest since a wide variety of mobile devices are expected to support BLE.

• For payment at a physical merchant, the customer’s payment account information must be• stored securely,

• be easily available for use at the point-of-sale or during the payment process, and

• be communicated to the merchant to complete the transaction.

• When using a physical payment card, the payment account information is stored on the card (in a magnetic stripe or secure chip), which is inserted, tapped or swiped at a merchant POS terminal.

• For mobile payments, the payment account information may be stored on the mobile device in a physical secure element or in device memory or in the cloud.


Payments Use Cases

• Communication with the merchant POS can take place through radio

frequency (e.g., a POS system that has been enabled with BLE or NFC) or

via the host server for a remote mobile payment transaction.

• Using BLE for payment raises questions about the security that should be

implemented for storing and communicating sensitive account information.

• Only one solution currently available is PayPal beacon


https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/beacon

Payments Use Cases Paypal Beacons


Beacon Synthesis

• Creating a smart location-oriented infrastructure provides Mobile devices

with contextual info based on the environment they move through

• iBeacon technology can be leveraged to make Apps aware of the user’s

context: who is she AND where is she (at a specific time)

• this feature allows a new level of interaction and engagement – that can be

furthermore improved if the App is able to connect to the Net, for example to

fetch the user’s shopping history, updated info about traffic or meteo, etc.


Plan



• Beacons and BLE



• iBeacon



Resources


Beacons Hardware & Platforms

• The above vendors provide a full-service stack for Bluetooth LE powered

devices: they either provide back-end management of your beacons,

software developer kits, or content management services.

• Accent Advanced Systems iBks101, Aircable iBeacon, Bealder, Bekonic, BlueCats,

BlueSense Networks BlueBar, CubeaCon, Estimote, Footmarks, inMarket, Paypal,

Qualcomm Beacon, SmartBeacon, Swirl Securecast beacon and Platform, Up-next


http://www.accent-systems.com/portfolio/ibks101-ibeacon/

http://www.aircable.net/products/ibeacon.php

http://bealder.com/

http://www.bekonic.com/

http://www.bluecats.com/

http://bluesensenetworks.com/

http://bluesensenetworks.com/shop/

http://cubeacon.com/


http://footmarks.com/

http://www.inmarket.com/mobiletomortar/index.html

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/beacon

http://www.qualcomm.com/solutions/gimbal/beacons

http://www.smartbeacon.eu/

https://www.swirl.com/platform.html

http://www.swirl.com/platform.html

http://www.up-next.com/

Bake Your Own Beacons

• You can create your own beacons from kits or chips.

• This is especially useful if you want to build your own service architecture and not rely on

the ‘cloud services’ of another provider.

• Build Your Own Beacon from TheRegister

• This is by no means an exhaustive list :

• COIN Arduino Developer Kits

• NetClearance Beacon Gateway Uses WiFi to Manage Beacon Firmware

• Low Energy Chips and Software from CSR

• Red Bear Labs BLE Frameworks and Kits

• KS Technologies Alpha Program

• Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth LE


http://www.theregister.co.uk/Print/2013/11/29/feature_diy_apple_ibeacons/

http://beekn.net/2013/10/arduino-based-bluetooth-le-with-ibeacons-potential/

http://beekn.net/2013/12/ibeacon-and-bluetooth-le-management-through-wifi-hub-netclearance-launches-gateway/

http://www.csr.com/products/technology/low-energy

http://redbearlab.com/ibeacon/

http://www.kstechnologies.com/products/ibeacon-alpha-program-participants-only

http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/Products/Bluetooth-R-low-energy

Standards

• BLE

• Bluetooth 4.1 Core Spec

• Bluetooth Smart Web Site

• Bluetooth Developer Portal

• Bluetooth 4.0: Low Energy introduction

• CSR Comparison of Low Energy Specs

• iBeacon

• Apple iBeacon developer web site

• Understanding iBeacon

• iBeacons Tutorial for iOS 7 with CLBeaconRegion and CLBeacon

• Region Monitoring


https://www.bluetooth.org/DocMan/handlers/DownloadDoc.ashx?doc_id=282159

http://www.bluetooth.com/pages/bluetooth-smart.aspx

https://developer.bluetooth.org/TechnologyOverview/Pages/BLE.aspx

http://www.californiaconsultants.org/download.cfm/attachment/cnsv-1205-decuir.pdf

http://chapters.comsoc.org/vancouver/BTLER3.pdf

https://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6048

http://www.devfright.com/ibeacons-tutorial-ios-7-clbeaconregion-clbeacon/

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/LocationAwarenessPG/RegionMonitoring/RegionMonitoring.html

Consulting/Development companies

• Beacon Belgium

• Cabot Solutions

• EasyBeacon

• Intellicore

• PassBeeMedia

• VectorForm


http://www.beacon-belgium.be/

http://www.cabotsolutions.com/services/ibeacon-app-development/

http://www.easy-beacon.com/

http://www.intellicore.fr/ibeacon/

https://www.passbeemedia.com/ibeacon/

http://www.vectorform.com/

Documents

• News

• iBeacon Insider

• Ifon.fr

• Documents

• Inside Bluetooth Low Energy By Naresh Gupta - pg. 192

• iBeacon Bible

• Financial Review - Apple’s iBeacons may be too little, too late

• Can you smell the ibeacon


http://www.ibeacon.com/

http://www.iphon.fr/tag/ibeacon

http://goo.gl/H5L9fy

http://meetingofideas.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/ibeacons-bible-1-0.pdf

http://www.afr.com/p/technology/apple_ibeacons_may_be_too_little_Z234UkTp2VTkuPKFuoN5oL

http://www.cocoanetics.com/2013/11/can-you-smell-the-ibeacon/

Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/welkaim

SlideShare

http://www.slideshare.net/welkaim

EA Digital Codex


Linkedin

http://fr.linkedin.com/in/williamelkaim

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