SWRA475A January   2015  – October 2016 CC2540 , CC2540T , CC2541 , CC2541-Q1

 

  1.   Bluetooth low energy Beacons
    1.     Trademarks
    2. 1 What is a Beacon?
    3. 2 Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth Smart
      1. 2.1 Non-Connectable Beacons
      2. 2.2 Connectable Beacons
      3. 2.3 Data Packet
      4. 2.4 Device Address
        1. 2.4.1 Flags
        2. 2.4.2 Manufacturer Specific Data
      5. 2.5 Broadcast Interval
      6. 2.6 Power
      7. 2.7 Range
      8. 2.8 Coexistence
    4. 3 Designing a Bluetooth low energy Beacon
      1. 3.1 Development Kits
      2. 3.2 Creating a Beacon Application With TI Bluetooth low energy-Stack
    5. 4 iBeacon Implementation
      1. 4.1 Overview and Prerequisites
      2. 4.2 Design and Implementation
      3. 4.3 Testing
    6. 5 Proprietary Implementation
      1. 5.1 Overview and Prerequisites
      2. 5.2 Design and Implementation
      3. 5.3 Testing
    7. 6 References
  2.   Revision History

1 What is a Beacon?

A beacon in wireless technology is the concept of broadcasting small pieces of information. The information may be anything, ranging from ambient data (temperature, air pressure, humidity, and so forth) to micro-location data (asset tracking, retail, and so forth) or orientation data (acceleration, rotation, and so forth).

The transmitted data is typically static but can also be dynamic and change over time. With the use of Bluetooth low energy, beacons can be designed to run for years on a single coin cell battery. This application report introduces the concept of beacons and how to get started with implementing a beacon solution. Naming conventions throughout this document can be summarized as Beacons that broadcast information by using advertisements with Bluetooth low energy technology that could be branded as Bluetooth low energy.