Basics of the technology

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a wireless technology for transmitting information up to about 100 meters. It is widely used in cars, computers, smartphones, audio devices and other devices. ( Fan, Sterling, Polonetsky , p. 2)

Bluetooth low energy (BLE)

Beacons

Beacons consist of a chip and other electronic components (e.g. antenna) on a small circuit board. It is essentially a radio transmitter that transmits a (BLE) signal to equipment equipped for this purpose. They are manufactured in various sizes, are small, inexpensive and designed for many months or years on batteries. Beacons become increasingly popular because they can provide an enhanced or personalized user experience. They are inexpensive and easy to implement and are supported by most mobile operating systems (Apple, Android, Microsoft). ( Fan, Sterling, Polonetsky , p. 3) They use the same bandwidth as WLAN, automatic garage doors and cordless phones (2.4 GHz ISM band). Beacon signals are transmitted over a limited range of about 30 meters. To receive the signal, Bluetooth must be activated on the mobile devices. In addition, an appropriate app should be installed for an indoor experience. ( GSMA , p. 4)

iBeacon

The role of beacons in retail

Advantages:

• Large range e.g. in outdoor areas approx. 300m ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• Lower monitoring costs because of the range ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• Multiple devices can simultaneously communicate with one beacon ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• Insensitivity to signal strength variations ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• Low battery consumption for operation (signal output) ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• No compelling internet connection required for localization ( Bruhn, p. 340)
• Data can be viewed and analyzed ( Bruhn, p. 340)

Disadvantages:

• The advertised ranges are only ideal cases, the spatial outsourcing (concrete walls, security doors, ...) can have large effects on the signals ( Bruhn, p. 341).
• Overlaps with other signals (WLAN, Bluetooth, ...) This may cause data / messages to arrive too early or too late ( Bruhn, p. 341)
• The promised lifetime of the battery is not usually realistic defined ( Bruhn, p. 341).
• Weaker batteries can also affect signals as well ( Bruhn,p. 341)
• Possible data protection problems, since the data is transferred to an app by the provider ( Bruhn, p. 341).

Indoor navigation with beacons

Indoor navigation with beacons

Functionality of the beacon technology

Information exchange

Information exchange

As soon as a Bluetooth enabled device has entered the region of a beacon, it is recognized by the beacon. If the device owner has not downloaded an associated app, the beacon knows nothing about that person and cannot retrieve or collect information about the device or that person. A beacon can help an app determine how far a smartphone is within range. An emerging process called 'trilateration' can also be used for beacon-guided indoor navigation. This in turn requires an app download and Bluetooth 'Opt-in'. Beacons themselves cannot detect smartphone location and smartphone owners cannot track movements. ( Fan, Sterling, Polonetsky , p. 5)

Is BLE a suitable choice for indoor positioning systems with smartphones?

BLE has some advantages over other hardware technologies. It is designed to consume less power so that the battery life of both the transmitter and receiver lasts longer. The costs of a single beacon are comparatively low. Maintenance of the beacons is minimal, their MAC addresses may need to be stored in a database, but it is not necessary to set up some kind of network to use them. Together with a smartphone, BLE is a platform that offers its own hardware, as many people already own a smartphone and most new smartphones are BLE-compatible. ( Hultgren, Papathanopoulos , p. 11)

Location-based advertising as a field of application for beacons

Location-based advertising (LBA) refers to the sending of advertising messages that can be received on mobile devices, depending on the current location of the recipient. "LBA is a part of mobile advertising that generally describes the sending of advertising to mobile devices." This area of application can also be classified as part of Location-based Services (LBS). LBS refers to electronic services that determine the current position of mobile devices and can thus provide the user with location-related information. ( Altpeter , p. 17) "A distinction is made between the two approaches push and pull for LBA." At a certain point in time or depending on the current location of the mobile device, advertising messages are sent according to the push principle, without the consumer calling them up. "In the case of the pull principle, advertising is only sent on demand of the consumer. The decision for one or the other approach depends strongly on the application purpose." The advantage of beacons for LBA is that consumers can be addressed automatically. ( Altpeter , p. 17)

Use cases

Esprit

Ikea

SportScheck

Scientific feasibility study

• Waitrose (UK)

• Macy’s (USA)

• Penny (Italy)

• Carrefour (Romania)

Including these, there are currently few publicly available surveys on customer acceptance or usage behavior in relation to beacons.

Study on smartphones and Beacons in purchasing

An online survey was used to survey 203 people on topics such as shopping behaviour, smartphone usage while shopping, awareness of beacons, attitudes and location-based advertising, and personal data. 17.2% of respondents already use one or more apps from discounters, supermarkets or department stores on their mobile devices. In addition, more than a quarter of the participants actively use the smartphone while shopping. However, most respondents have concerns about the collection of personal or location-related data. Only 35 out of 203 people say they have little or no concerns. Despite this, a good third would voluntarily make their data available as soon as added values such as discounts, vouchers, personalised offers or navigation occur. However, there are mixed feelings about in-store navigation. ( Leopold, Reuter , p. 362 f.)

Outlook

Evaluation based on criteria

Criterion	Description
Range	Can exchange information within a 30 metre radius (GSMA, p.32; Altpeter, p. 8).
Accuracy	It is possible to tune the range of a beacon to less than 1 meter (GSMA, p.32; Altpeter, p. 14).
Power consumption	Bluetooth low energy technology is the key to Beacons. BLE designed to consume less power so that the battery life of both the transmitter and receiver lasts longer (Hultgren, Papathanopoulos; Altpeter, p. 12; Gu, Lo, Member, et. al., p. 37).
Life span	The battery life of a beacon is at least 1 year. Many beacons can be operated for up to 10 years using proprietary beacon protocols (GSMA, p. 31; Altpeter, p. 16).
Bit rate	The maximum transmission speed is 1 Mbit/s (Altpeter, p. 12; Bernau).
Disturbing factor	Measurement accuracy is influenced by the human body, which contains 50% water that absorbs the 2.4 GHz radio signal (Süßel; Gu, Lo, Member, et. al., p. 38).
Embedding (no additional Hardware required)	Smartphone: Bluetooth & App To receive the signal of a Beacon, Bluetooth must be activated on the mobile devices. In addition, an appropriate app should be installed for an indoor experience (GSMA, p. 6). A beacon can help an app determine how far a smartphone is within range (Fan, Sterling, Polonetsky, p. 6).