The operating principle of a beacon, including the iBeacons. is based on a transmitter-receiver principle. For this purpose, small transmitters (beacons) are positioned and they send signals at fixed time intervals. If a receiver, such as a smartphone equipped with an app configured to receive iBeacon signals, comes into range of a transmitter, it can identify the transmitter’s Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) and measure its signal strength. With at least three beacons in range, the position of the receiver can be calculated in two-dimensional space. Determining a location in three-dimensional space requires four beacons to be within range. iBeacons themselves cannot send push notifications to receivers, or collect or store user data. They only send information about their own identity (the values UUID, Major and Minor). Data transmission is based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which is extremely energy efficient. Furthermore, targeted location-related information can be displayed on the smartphone. iBeacon modules achieve a range of up to 30 meters and are characterized by low power consumption.
Settings for iBeacon on E-series devices are adjusted in LANconfig under .
- iBeacon operation mode
- Select the basic operating mode of your iBeacon radio module here:
- Managed by WLC
- In this mode, the radio module of the device is configured by a central WLAN controller (WLC). Any settings made here will be overwritten.
- On (stand-alone)
- The radio module of the device is switched on and operates autonomously.
- Off
- The radio module of the device is switched off.
- Coexistence of iBeacon with the Wireless ePaper service
- Specify here whether iBeacon is to be operated in parallel with the Wireless ePaper service.
- UUID
- Assigns a "Universally Unique Identifier" (UUID) to the iBeacon module.
- Major ID
- Assign a unique major ID to the iBeacon module.
- Minor ID
- Assign a unique minor ID to the iBeacon module.
- iBeacon channels
- Here you select the channels used to broadcast the iBeacon.
- Transmission power
- Select the transmission power here. The exact meaning of the values that can be selected here is explained in the iBeacon specification. The following values are possible:
- High
- The module sends with maximum power (default).
- Medium
- The module sends with medium power.
- Low
- The module sends with minimum power.
