Battery life depends on advertising interval and TX power. At 1 Hz, 0 dBm TX: CR2450 coin cell lasts 2-3 years. At 10 Hz (faster detection): 6-12 months. Lower TX power extends life but reduces range. Some beacons use AA batteries or USB power for multi-year deployments. Extended advertising (BLE 5.0) enables longer payloads without proportional power increase.

Positioning accuracy?

RSSI-based beacon positioning achieves 3-5 meter accuracy with 3+ beacons and fingerprinting. Environmental factors (people, furniture, walls) cause 10-20 dB RSSI variation. BLE 5.1 AoA improves to sub-meter using antenna arrays on receivers. For best results, deploy beacons every 8-10 meters at 2.5-3 m height, calibrate RSSI-distance model per environment.

Wireless Protocols

Bluetooth Beacon

Q: iBeacon vs Eddystone?

iBeacon (Apple, 2013) broadcasts UUID + major + minor identifiers. Requires a companion app to interpret. Eddystone (Google, 2015) supports three frame types: UID (identifier), URL (physical web), and TLM (telemetry: battery, temperature, uptime). Eddystone-URL could trigger Chrome notifications without an app. Both use standard BLE advertising.

A Bluetooth Beacon is a BLE device that periodically broadcasts advertising packets containing identifiers (UUID, major, minor for iBeacon; namespace, instance for Eddystone) used for indoor positioning, proximity marketing, asset tracking, and wayfinding. Beacons transmit non-connectable advertising at configurable intervals (100 ms to 10 s) and TX power (−20 to +4 dBm), with battery life from 6 months to 5+ years depending on settings.

Category: Wireless Protocols

Battery: 1-5 years

Understanding Bluetooth Beacons

Beacons are transmit-only devices that advertise on BLE's three primary advertising channels (37, 38, 39) at 2402, 2426, and 2480 MHz. A smartphone or gateway within range receives the advertising packet, extracts the identifier and RSSI, and uses this information to determine proximity zone (immediate, near, far) or compute position via trilateration.

Deployment density determines accuracy: 1 beacon per room enables room-level presence; 3+ beacons with overlapping coverage enable 3-5 m trilateration. BLE 5.1 AoA direction finding upgrades accuracy to sub-meter with antenna array receivers.

RSSI-Distance Model

Log-distance path loss:
RSSI(d) = RSSI(d₀) − 10·n·log₁₀(d/d₀)
d₀ = 1 m, n = 2.0-3.5 (environment)

Typical RSSI at 1 m: −59 dBm (0 dBm TX)
At 10 m: −79 dBm (n=2.0)

Beacon Protocol Comparison

Protocol	Vendor	Payload	App Required
iBeacon	Apple	UUID+Major+Minor	Yes
Eddystone-UID	Google	Namespace+Instance	Yes
Eddystone-URL	Google	URL (17 chars)	No (Chrome)
AltBeacon	Radius Networks	Flexible 20 B	Yes

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

iBeacon vs Eddystone?

iBeacon: UUID+major+minor, app required. Eddystone: UID, URL (no app), TLM (telemetry). Both standard BLE advertising.

Battery life?

1 Hz at 0 dBm: 2-3 years on CR2450. 10 Hz: 6-12 months. Lower TX extends life, reduces range. Some beacons use USB power.

Accuracy?

RSSI: 3-5 m with 3+ beacons. BLE 5.1 AoA: sub-meter. Deploy every 8-10 m at 2.5-3 m height. Calibrate per environment.

Related Terms

← Bluetooth Backscatter Channel Sounding →

BLE Beacons

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