IoT Morioka private / Mbed OS mbed-os-example-ble-Beacon

This example creates a BLE beacon: a method of advertising a small amount of information to nearby devices. The information doesn't have to be human-readable; it can be in a format that only an application can use. Beacons are very easy to set up: the code for all beacons is the same, and only the information you want to advertise - the beacon payload - needs to change. he canonical source for this example lives at https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os-example-ble/tree/master/BLE_Beacon

readme.md@2:401488de6e22, 2016-07-28 (annotated)

Committer:
Vincent Coubard
Date:
Thu Jul 28 23:32:47 2016 +0100
Revision:
2:401488de6e22
Parent:
1:2fd54f1254fe
Child:
3:41f6be68aefb
Sync with mbed-os-5.1.0-rc3

Who changed what in which revision?

UserRevisionLine numberNew contents of line
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 1 This example creates a BLE beacon: a method of advertising a small amount of information to nearby devices. The information doesn't have to be human-readable; it can be in a format that only an application can use.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 3 Beacons are very easy to set up: the code for all beacons is the same, and only the information you want to advertise - the beacon payload - needs to change.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 5 This example advertises a UUID, a major and minor number and the transmission strength. The major and minor numbers are an example of information that is not (normally) meaningful to humans, but that an application can use to identify the beacon and display related information. For example, if the major number is a store ID and the minor number is a location in that store, then a matching application can use these numbers to query a database and display location-specific information.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 7 # Running the application
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 8
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 9 ## Requirements
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 11 The sample application can be seen on any BLE scanner on a smartphone. If you don't have a scanner on your phone, please install :
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 13 - [nRF Master Control Panel](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.nordicsemi.android.mcp) for Android.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 15 - [LightBlue](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/lightblue-bluetooth-low-energy/id557428110?mt=8) for iPhone.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 17 Hardware requirements are in the [main readme](https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os-example-ble/blob/master/README.md).
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 19 ## Building instructions
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 21 Building instructions for all samples are in the [main readme](https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os-example-ble/blob/master/README.md).
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 23 ## Checking for success
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 25 **Note:** Screens captures depicted below show what is expected from this example if the scanner used is *nRF Master Control Panel* version 4.0.5. If you encounter any difficulties consider trying another scanner or another version of nRF Master Control Panel. Alternative scanners may require reference to their manuals.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 27 1. Build the application and install it on your board as explained in the building instructions.
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 28 1. Open the BLE scanner on your phone.
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 29 1. Start a scan.
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 30
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 31 ![](img/start_scan.png)
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 32
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 33 **figure 1** How to start scan using nRF Master Control Panel 4.0.5
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 35 1. Find your device; it should be tagged as an `iBeacon` and observe its advertisements (there is no need to connect to the beacon).
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 37 ![](img/discovery.png)
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 38
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 39 **figure 2** Scan results using nRF Master Control Panel 4.0.5
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 41 1. View the beacon's details; the exact steps depend on which scanner you're using.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 43 ![](img/beacon_details.png)
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 44
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 45 **figure 3** Beacon details using nRF Master Control Panel 4.0.5
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 47
Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 48 **Tip:** If you are in an area with many BLE devices, it may be difficult to identify your beacon. The simplest solution is to turn your board off and on, initiate a new scan on your BLE scanner every time, and look for the beacon that appears only when your board is on.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 50 If you can see the beacon and all its information, the application worked properly.
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Vincent Coubard 2:401488de6e22 52 For more information, see the [mbed Classic version of this application](https://developer.mbed.org/teams/Bluetooth-Low-Energy/code/BLE_iBeacon/).