Proximity  Beacons  101  

Zaib  Kaleem  Work  at  @accessagility  

@wlanbook  

To  play  along    go  to    h9p://bit.ly/beacon101  and  download  apps    

Agenda  

•  About  proximity  beacons  •  Hardware  and  soDware  beacons  •  Proximity  use  cases  •  Proximity  beacon  deployment  plan  •  Demo  –  beacon  soDware  tools  •  How  is  proximity/distance  calculated    •  WiFi  engineers  and  proximity  beacons  

Proximity  Beacons  

Beacons   Low  power/ba9ery  powered  Bluetooth  transmi9er,  adverMse  short  message  at  regular  intervals  

Proximity   Distance  calculaMon  based  on  beacon  RSSI  Privacy   Beacons  only  unidirecMonal  broadcasMng  

Opt  in  model  in  apps  (Privacy  >  LocaMon  Services  in  iOS)  Security   Clear  text  adverMsement,  suscepMble  to  impersonaMon  

a9acks  Usage   Mainly  for  indoor  posiMoning,  micro  locaMon,  tracking  

tags  iBeacon   Apple’s  Proximity  Beacon  SpecificaMon,  several  others  

exists  (AltBeacon,  Gimbal)    

Beacon  Hardware  -­‐  $  

h9p://www.aislelabs.com/reports/beacon-­‐guide/  

Does  Your  Device  Support  BT  4.0/Beacons?  

•  Yes,  then  you  can  turn  your  device  into  a  low  cost  or  zero  cost  beacon    –  iOS  App  Store  –  “Locate  Beacon”  (free)  –  Radiusnetworks.com  –  “MacBeacon”  ($10)  –  h9p://bit.ly/beacon101  has  links  and  screenshots  of  apps  

OperaEng  System   Requires  Hardware  Support  

iOS  5+   iPhone  4S  and  later,  iPad  (3rd  generaMon)  and  later,  iPad  Mini  (1st  generaMon)  and  later,  iPod  Touch  (5th  generaMon)  

Mac  OS  X  Mavericks  (10.9+)     2011+  Model  Macs  

Android  4.3+   Various  

Windows  8+   Various  

Uses  Case  Will  Dictate  Beacon  LocaEons  

•  Wayfinding  –  How  do  I  get  to  Salon  III??  •  Retail  –  Sale  on  coats  as  you  walk  into  store.    •  Customize  App  Experience  –  Only  show  food  opMons  for  nearby  restaurants.  

•  Health/Reminders  –  When  user  walks  by  water  cooler  alert  them  to  “Drink  eight  glasses  of  water  a  day.”  

•  Tracking  Tags  –  wallet,  purse,  keys,  phones    

Planning  Beacon  LocaEons  IDs  

•  LocaMon  IDs  =  20  byte  (UUID,  Major,  Minor)  •  UUID  =  16  byte  – Major  =  2  byte  

•  Minor  =  2  byte  

•  11111111-­‐1111-­‐1111-­‐1111-­‐222222222222  – Major  –  1  (Hya9  Dallas)  

•  Minor  –  1  (Ballroom  1  Water  Cooler)  •  Minor  –  2  (Ballroom  1  Stage)  

Place  Beacons  At  Desired  LocaEons  

Demo:  Beacon  SoOware  Tools  

•  RadBeacon  (Mac  OS)  –  UMlity  to  manage  Radius  Networks  hardware  beacons  

•  ScanBeacon  (Mac  OS)  –  Beacon  scanner  •  MacBeacon  (Mac  OS)  –  Convert  MacBook  into  Beacon  transmi9er  

•  Locate  Beacon  (iOS)  –  Scanner,  soD  beacon,  calibraMon  uMlity  

For  Demo  using  Radius  Networks  USB  Beacon    $21  /  each  

Demo:  Beacon  Scanners,  SoO  Beacons,  Beacon  ConfiguraEon  UEliEes  

iBeacon  CalibraEon  •  Measured  Power  –  iOS  7  or  later  –  1  meter  away  from  beacon  

–  10  seconds  –  Portrait  orientaMon  

–  Top  half  unobstructed  (no  case)  

– Move  device  up  and  down  30  cm  

Configure  Beacons  Using  Hardware  Manufacturer’s  Beacon  UEliEes  

CalibraMon  Power/RSSI  

Use  “Locate  Beacon”  iOS  App  To  get  calibraMon  power  value   Use  “RadBeacon”  app  to  configure  hardware  beacon  

Use  iOS  and  Mac  OS  Beacon  Scanners  To  Verify  SeWngs  and  Check  Proximity  Distance  Results  

CalibraMon  Power  Value  iPhone  detected  RSSI  at  1  meter  

is  **transmi9ed  as  part  of  beacon**  

How  Is  Distance  /  Proximity  Determined  

•  Proximity:  Measured  power  received  from  beacon  •  LocaMon:  Where  beacon  is  installed  +  Proximity  •  CalibraMon:  Reference  transmi9er  power  (Beacon  RSSI  detected  by  iPhone  at  1  m)  

•  Distance  –  Immediate  =  cenMmeters  –  Near  =  1-­‐3  meters  –  Far  =  3+  meters  –  Unknown  =  not  enough  data  to  determine  proximity  

•  CalculaMon  Details:  See  back  up  slides  

Does  Your  WLAN  Equipment  Support  Beacons?  WLAN  Vendor   Hardware  Requirement  

Aerohive   Aerohive  AP  +  Radius  Networks  USB  Beacon  

Aruba   Aruba  AP  +  Aruba  USB  Beacon,  Ba9ery  Powered  Beacon  

Cisco   Cisco  Aironet  3700  and  3600  Series  with  HyperlocaMon  Module  

Meraki   Meraki  MR32  and  MR72  Integrated  Beacon  

WiFi  and  Proximity  Beacons  

•  WiFi  engineers  well  posiMoned  to  lead  proximity  projects  •  Proximity  beacon  deployment  process  similar  to  WiFi  

–  Research  RF  behavior  of  environment  –  Plan  beacon  locaMon  IDs  and  transmi9er  locaMons  –  Configure/calibrate  (beacon  frequency,  power,  RSSI,  UUID,  major,  minor)  

–  Post  install  survey  –  Client/app  tesMng  

•  Access  points  with  integrated  and  “bolt  on”  Beacon/BT  4.0  adapters  –  Beacon  configuraMon  managers  –  Beacon  transmi9ers  –  Impact  AP  quanMty  and  placement  decisions  (too  many,  too  li9le,  mounMng  consideraMons,  locaMon)  

Backup  

Bluetooth  4.0  •  Bluetooth  4.0  –  2.402  GHz  to  2.480  GHz  range  –  Frequency  hopping  (1600  Mmes  per  second)  –  79,  1  MHz  wide  channels  overlap  802.11  channels  1-­‐12  

•  Classic  Bluetooth  (keyboards,  mouse,  flash  drives)  •  Bluetooth  high  speed  •  Bluetooth  low  energy  (BLE)  

–  Bluetooth  LE  (BLE)  specificaMon  used  to  create  chipsets  »  Chipsets  are  used  in  devices  (TI,  Nordic,  Bluegiga,  Gimbal)  

•  Radius  Networks,  EsMmote,  Sensoro  •  iBeacons  –  devices  that  meet  Apple’s  proximity  

specificaMon  •  UUID  •  Major  •  Minor  

h9ps://www.bluetooth.org/en-­‐us/specificaMon/adopted-­‐specificaMons  

Math  Behind  Distance  CalculaEon  •  For  iOS,  Apple  APIs  provide  distance,  see  developer  guide  

•  Radius  Networks  provides  code  to  esMmate  distance  based  on  how  iOS  works  for  other  operaMng  systems  

h9p://bit.ly/beacondistance    full  code  non  Apple  devices  h9ps://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/Geung-­‐Started-­‐with-­‐iBeacon.pdf