Challenge #1:Making all devices communicate with each otherIssue #1: Making all devices communicate with each other as part of a network:
** Using A1, A2,A3 to reduce amount of typing...
** most of these is contained within the patent itself...
A beacon address has 3 major elements - A1,A2,A3. The combination of A1+A2+A3 uniquely identifies a beacon:
A1= universally unique identifier [UUID]
A2 = first profile identifier - can be used to notionally collect beacons into a group
A3 =second profile identifier - can identify individual beacons within a group
To make a group of beacons work as a network there is a need to synchronize the address of each beacon to form the network. To complicate this:
- There are multiple standards/protocols (iBeacon from Apple, AltBeacon from Radius Network, Eddystone from Google, sBeacon, etc) used for beacon technology determining among other things how beacons are identified
- There is a large number of beacon manufacturers
Typically, each manufacturer ships its beacons with the identical default A1, although A2 and A3 may differ (e.g. they may be assigned randomly). The user or installer of the beacons sets A1, A2 and A3 to appropriate values so that they will be recognized by the logic of the software program executing on the receiving device.
For example, a chain of retail stores may set:
- all of the beacons in all of its locations to have identical A1 so that a dedicated mobile phone software application for that chain of retail stores would search for beacons having that A1.
- all of the beacons in a particular store location may be given the same A2 to identify that store location, and then
- individual beacons may be given different A3 to denote different locations within the store.
In a multi-beacon environment, A1, A2 and A3
must be set individually for each beacon in order to distinguish the beacons from one another. This is a
time-consuming process, since it requires sufficient proximity to the beacon whose values are being changed. Moreover, having manufacturers ship beacons with the A1, A2 and A3 pre-set to the desired values is not a viable solution, since it still requires the user or installer to individually determine the A1, A2 and A3 for each beacon (i.e. which pre-set beacon is which) to ensure that each beacon is positioned where it should be positioned.
Accordingly, the
labour-intensive process required to set or determine the A1, A2 and A3 for each beacon deployed presents a significant obstacle to the adoption of beacon technology.
Solution from this patent: A master beacon automatically detects each beacon that needs to be added to the network and automatically changes either the A2
or A3 for each of the beacons. The change is such that A2 or A3 is identical for each beacon in the set of beacons and is also associated with the master beacon.
The newly assigned address scheme can then be used as a proxy for the individual beacons when developing applications that make use of the beacons.
This automated process will significantly reduce to cost of setting up the network