BLE beacons are Bluetooth transmitters that are compact, adaptable, use less power, and may get recognized by wireless devices such as BLE-enabled smartphones. To give location references for interior positioning applications, beacons can get placed on fixed sites, such as on walls or buildings, or mobility assets. It enables anyone to engage with a BLE-enabled app using their cell phone or other embedded devices, supporting bring-your-own-device (BYOD) notions. BLE beacons could be used to locate a device and give relevant content such as documents, movies, apps, and more, and provide information about the user’s time and position, keeping them informed and interested.
Other BLE-enabled devices can detect the signals transmitted by beacons at regular intervals. A BLE device collects Bluetooth beacon location data and sends it to the IPS, which uses it to determine the device’s location. It can get used to support a variety of location-aware apps and even trigger particular actions.
Beacons are available in a variety of sizes and shapes. Many beacons have a long-lasting inbuilt battery that can last for years or get powered through a USB link. BLE technology is often less expensive to manufacture than other RF technologies, resulting in tiny, low-cost, low-maintenance gear that may get customized for deployments that meet your specific requirements. Some beacons go beyond BLE and include other technologies such as temperature or accelerometer sensors for improved outcomes.
What Do Virtual Beacons Do?
Virtual beacons allow businesses to implement BLE beacon technology without investing in additional hardware. Antennas can be added to compatible Wi-Fi Access Points and used with software applications for numerous indoor localization applications using virtual Bluetooth beacons.
BLE technology gets incorporated into many enterprise-grade Wi-Fi access points. It enables businesses to use access points as both Bluetooth low energy beacons and sensors, detecting and locating transmitting BLE devices without the need for additional infrastructure.
What Is The Process Of Bluetooth Positioning?
BLE indoor location solutions detect and track transmission Bluetooth devices, such as cell phones or tracking tags, using BLE-enabled sensors or beacons. Location data gathered by sensors or broadcast to mobile devices via beacons is absorbed by various location apps and transformed into insights that fuel location-aware use cases.
Sensors and BLE Positioning:
BLE positioning uses BLE-enabled sensors that get fixed across an indoor space. Based on the received signal strength of the transmitting device, these sensors passively detect and locate broadcasts from BLE cell phones, inventory tracking tags, beacons, employee badges, wearable, and other Bluetooth devices. The centralized indoor navigation or real-time positioning system receives this information (RTLS).
The location engine analyses the data and employs trilateration techniques to determine the position of the transmitting device. Depending on the location-aware application, those parameters can be used to depict the location of a device or item on an interior map of your environment or used for other purposes.
Bluetooth Beacon and BLE Positioning:
BLE beacons send out BLE signals regularly. Surrounding devices, such as smartphones and BLE-enabled sensors, may detect these signals. The beacon’s signal that gets broadcast continuously across an indoor space and contains its unique identity gets deployed in fixed spots throughout the room. Based on the Bluetooth low energy beacon communication protocol, this identification code gets sent out regularly, along with other data.
When in range of the beacon, a smartphone or other wireless device with a specialized app or pre-configured service will receive and analyze the beacon’s signal in a user-centric method or communicate this information to a database in a server-centric approach. Proximity-based location services can get enabled by detecting whether a Bluetooth beacon and a device are in the range of each other.
Connectivity among two or more beacons and a wireless device can get utilized to position the device using RSSI multilateralism when several beacons get positioned across an indoor space. The device’s identified location can trigger a particular action or be used for many applications or services, depending on the application. Fixed BLE-enabled sensors can detect and locate BLE beacons on mobile objects, which might be valuable in asset tracking circumstances.
What Makes BLE Unique From Many other RF Technologies?
Bluetooth, like other RF protocols, has unique qualities and benefits that may make it a good fit for specific location-based use cases, depending on individual demands, budget, and facility. The most significant distinction between BLE and other technologies is its reduced power consumption and versatility in location-aware applications. BLE gets used in devices throughout indoor areas, is used by many position tracking systems, and can get used for indoor positioning in various sectors and applications.
Wi-Fi Vs. BLE:
BLE and Wi-Fi are two of the most used RF technologies, found in our daily lives and interior settings. They share many similarities, such as functioning in the same frequency range, huge ecosystems, and a long history of indoor positioning. RSSI gets used by both BLE and Wi-Fi to detect the location of humans, objects, and assets.
BLE, on the other hand, is known to reach a higher level of location precision. BLE uses substantially lower power, enabling more diverse hardware and application alternatives. However, many firms already have Wi-Fi connectivity that can get utilized for indoor locating, but BLE adoption would almost certainly necessitate the addition of new beacons, sensors, and other devices. Wi-Fi can interact over longer distances and at higher data rates than BLE, both of which are limitations of BLE.
Winding Up!
In the end, we can conclude by saying that with new applications employing the technology, the future of indoor location is very bright. BLE beacon technology is low-cost, simple to deploy, and maintain, making this technology accessible to practically any business. Indoor positioning solutions have progressed past the pilot stage and are now assisting a wide range of industries in improving their consumers’ experiences. This technology has a lot of potential in museums, retail malls, airports, amusement parks, meetings, and event planners, in short, wherever that indoor positioning system and location-based content are vital.
