A Practical Guide to Configure Minew BLE Beacon for Accuracy and Reliability

Introduction

In the previous article, we selected a wide range of representative Bluetooth® beacons throughout history and explored how Bluetooth® and Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) technologies facilitate IoT beacon devices to achieve robust and high-precision performance in terms of indoor positioning and location tracking. Recognizing Bluetooth® beacons as powerful IoT tools is only half the battle. Configuring and deploying BLE beacons to maximize their reliability, accuracy, and usefulness in real-world settings is another challenge. We understand that not everyone is expected to be an expert in the realm of Bluetooth® beacons. This article aims to fill information and knowledge gaps by providing step-by-step instructions for BLE beacon configuration and deployment using Minew BLE beacons as an example.

Minew: Leading Designer and Provider of BLE Beacons

BLE beacons, commonly known as Bluetooth® Low Energy beacons, are IoT hardware transmitters that utilize Bluetooth® wireless connectivity and protocols to broadcast their identifiers to nearby connected peripheral devices within the same network (Bluetooth® Low Energy Beacon, 2024). The transmitted signal can measure and determine the proximity of one device to the beacon. Peripheral devices, such as wireless asset trackers, BLE sensor tags, and Bluetooth® personnel wearable tags, are attached to target objects. Once the target object enters the detection area monitored by BLE beacons, signals will be captured as the target object moves around.

Minew BLE beacons are gaining increasing popularity and have become iconic for their user-friendly, cutting-edge sleek design and versatile applications in various commercial and industrial settings. First and foremost, Minew beacons often come with portable and lightweight exterior designs, making them easier to install, deploy, and embed, especially within complex settings and rigid environments where space is limited. Device replacement in harsh environments is not as effortless as people typically suppose. Therefore, Minew BLE beacons are equipped with extended battery capacity. Many of Minew’s BLE beacons can operate for up to 10 years without battery replacement, ensuring robust and reliable performance. Additionally, leveraging the power of IoT and Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) connectivity, Minew’s BLE beacons offer ultra-long wireless communication and data transmission with minimal energy consumption.

Configuring BLE beacons: Step-by-step Instruction

Configuring BLE beacons involves certain key steps that require technical knowledge and an IoT professional background. Each beacon device may be assembled with different firmware, so the configuration procedures won’t be identical. To address this, Minew has prepared and offered two all-in-one user-friendly apps, BeaconSET and BeaconSET Plus, to simplify, visualize, and standardize the configuration steps for different beacon devices. Both BeaconSET and BeaconSET Plus are dedicated mobile applications for scanning and configuring the parameters of IoT beacon devices. How do they differ? The BeaconSET app is often used with devices supporting MBeacon firmware. In contrast, BeaconSET Plus is more tailored to beacon devices with Beacon Plus.

According to research, over 90% of Minew’s beacons are equipped with Beacon Plus. Thus, in the following section, we will discuss both apps with a major focus on BeaconSET Plus.

Step 1 Download and Install BeaconSET Plus Apps

Both BeaconSET and BeaconSET Plus are now available through various app stores and platforms, such as the Apple Store, Google Play, and Huawei App Gallery. Users with an Android 4.3 and above operating system can download both BeaconSET and BeaconSET Plus with ease. After download and installation, users are strongly advised to turn on Bluetooth®, the background running function, and location permission so that both apps can search the devices accurately.

Step 2 Scan and Connect BLE Beacons to BeaconSET Plus

In both apps, users can simply click on the app icon to enter scanning and configuration mode. The interface can be reloaded to scan and update the latest information about beacons detected around. What if there are too many beacons? The “Edit Filter” function can quickly search out devices by name, MAC Address, and RSSI Value. (See image 1#)

When you see the beacon devices are connectable, you can then input the password. Once the round dot turns green, it means the device has been successfully connected to your app. Otherwise, if the red dot is on, it means your beacon devices remain disconnected. After inputting a valid password, users will be directed to configuration mode for further setup. (See image 2#)

Step 3 Configure SLOTs

Once entering configuration mode, users can easily find that there are six configurable SLOTs. Each SLOT remains independent. Typically, the following SLOTs can be configured via BeaconSET Plus and we will walk through each one of them.

Frame Type

The frame type refers to the format of the advertising data packet. Each beacon has a total of six different frame types: UID, iBeacon, URL, TLM, Info, and Empty. Users can switch and choose the relevant frame types according to the actual case of usage. For example, when the iBeacon frame is selected, the UUID, major and minor values provide identifying information. If Acc. Sensor is selected, for example, the beacon with Acc. Sensors will be activated to broadcast accelerometer data when an object is moving.

Adv. Content

Besides frames, the adv. content section is just adjustable. Each frame comes with its own adv. content. For example, when selecting an iBeacon frame type, users can see and configure major, UUID, and minor values. If the frame type is UID, its corresponding adv. content would then turn into InstanceID and NamespaceID. Confused about all the technical terminologies? No worries! Minew provides value-adding supportive services that will accelerate configuration and deployment. To see the full picture of frames and their corresponding adv. content, please refer to the table below.

Trigger and Trigger Settings

The term “trigger condition” describes the need that a certain device advertisement frame must meet in order for the device to begin promoting. In order to enable and adjust “trigger conditions”, users should stick to the steps below:

1. Select the slot that needs configuration, then turn on the “Trigger Params” button.

2. Click “Button double tap” as the selected button type.

3. Adjust the “Adv Interval” and “Radio Txpower” parameter values.

4. Click the “Config” button below.

5. When the configuration is successful, the device will operate according to the set “Adv Interval” and “Radio Txpower” parameter values when the trigger conditions are met.

Trigger condition can be configurable when the beacon device has a push button and loads sensor such as movement accelerometer, temperature humidity, light, and others.

Summary

Minew BLE beacons are an ideal solution for indoor location tracking and positioning because of its cutting-edge exterior design and advanced Bluetooth® Low-energy (LE) technology embedded. There is no uniform answer to the question of how to configure BLE beacons. However, the question directly impacts beacon device performance.

After downloading the suitable BeaconSET or BeaconSET Plus, scanning and filtering target beacon devices, and inputting valid passwords will lead users to the configure mode. There are six SLOTs in total within the configure mode, whereas not everyone can be configured. After selecting the frame type appropriately, users can also adjust trigger conditions if the beacon devices come with a push button and sensors.