Beacons or ibeacons is an apple technology which is based on BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). A beacon is a small radio transmitter which is just analogous to light house which repeatedly transmits the radio signal typically used for creating the contextual experiences near or in an area where it’s installed.

It can be used for anything in library to keep some text eBooks to study, in bank to identify your identity etc. In essence, iBeacon technology allows Mobile Apps to understand their position on a micro-local scale, and deliver hyper-contextual content to users based on location. The underlying communication technology is Bluetooth Low Energy.

How is BLE different from Regular Bluetooth?
o Power Consumption: Bluetooth LE, we can get the idea through name “low energy” requirements. It can last up to 3 years on a single coin cell battery.

o Lower Cost: BLE is 60-80% cheaper than traditional Bluetooth.

o Application: BLE is ideal for simple applications requiring small periodic transfers of data. Classic Bluetooth is preferred for more complex applications requiring consistent communication and more data throughput.

How does iBeacon use BLE communication?
With iBeacon, Apple has standardized the format for BLE Advertising. Under this format, an advertising packet consists of four main pieces of information.

UUID: This is a 16 byte string used to differentiate a large group of related beacons.

Major: This is a 2 byte string used to distinguish a smaller subset of beacons within the larger group.

Minor: This is a 2 byte string meant to identify individual beacons. Tx Power: This is used to determine proximity (distance) from the beacon. How does this work?

TX power is defined as the strength of the signal exactly 1 meter from the device. This has to be calibrated and hardcoded in advance. Devices can then use this as a baseline to give a rough distance estimate.