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Supercharging Beacons with Bluetooth 5

By Joe Tillison, Silicon Labs

In this paper, we discuss advertising extensions and other significant

features added in Bluetooth 5 that can be used to build second-generation

beacons with expanded capability, and thereby enable more feature-rich

proximity-aware applications.

Introduction

Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) beacons have been deployed in the market for

several years now and have become a leading technology choice for proximity-

aware applications. The low power and simplicity of BLE, coupled with its ubiquitous

use in smartphones, make low-cost, battery-powered beacons achievable and

enables the broad adoption of beacons for location-based services embedded in

smartphone apps. Until now, BLE beacons relied on the structure of advertising

packets originally defined in Bluetooth v4.0, stuffing beacon content into a limited

31-byte payload. Bluetooth 5 introduced several major enhancements for BLE,

including new PHY layers and Advertising Extensions. These enhancements add

significantly more functionality and flexibility to the advertising mechanisms,

including much larger advertising packet capacity. In this paper, we lightly review

beacon basics and then discuss these new Bluetooth 5 features and how they

enable second-generation beacons with fuller, richer content. A recommended

prerequisite for this paper is the introductory paper from Wireless Congress 2016

titled Developing Beacons with Bluetooth Low Energy Technology

[1]

A Brief Review of Beacon Basics

What Are Beacons and How Are They Used?

In general terms, a beacon is a small, inexpensive wireless device, often battery-powered, that uses Bluetooth Low

Energy to advertise its presence. A beacon is often described as the RF version of a lighthouse, repeatedly

broadcasting an identifier that is recognized by other devices within its range. A smartphone or tablet can use the

beacon’s identifier to trigger actions based on the knowledge that it lies within the beacon’s proximity. The notion of

Contents

▪ Introduction

▪ A Brief Review of Beacon

Basics

▪ Beaconing with Bluetooth 4.X

▪ Bluetooth 5.0 Enhancements

▪ Advanced Beacons

▪ Summary

▪ References