<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
protocol	O
developed	O
by	O
Apple	O
and	O
introduced	O
at	O
the	O
Apple	O
Worldwide	O
Developers	O
Conference	O
in	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
vendors	O
have	O
since	O
made	O
iBeacon-compatible	O
hardware	O
transmitters	O
–	O
typically	O
called	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
–	O
a	O
class	O
of	O
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
Low	I-General_Concept
Energy	I-General_Concept
(	O
BLE	O
)	O
devices	O
that	O
broadcast	O
their	O
identifier	O
to	O
nearby	O
portable	O
electronic	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technology	O
enables	O
smartphones	B-Application
,	O
tablets	O
and	O
other	O
devices	O
to	O
perform	O
actions	O
when	O
in	O
proximity	O
to	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
is	O
based	O
on	O
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
low	I-General_Concept
energy	I-General_Concept
proximity	O
sensing	O
by	O
transmitting	O
a	O
universally	O
unique	O
identifier	O
picked	O
up	O
by	O
a	O
compatible	O
app	O
or	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
identifier	O
and	O
several	O
bytes	O
sent	O
with	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
device	O
's	O
physical	O
location	O
,	O
track	O
customers	O
,	O
or	O
trigger	O
a	O
location-based	B-Application
action	O
on	O
the	O
device	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
check-in	O
on	O
social	O
media	O
or	O
a	O
push	O
notification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
an	O
application	O
as	O
an	O
indoor	B-Device
positioning	I-Device
system	I-Device
,	O
which	O
helps	O
smartphones	B-Application
determine	O
their	O
approximate	O
location	O
or	O
context	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
help	O
of	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
smartphone	B-Application
's	O
software	O
can	O
approximately	O
find	O
its	O
relative	O
location	O
to	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
in	O
a	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Brick	O
and	O
mortar	O
retail	O
stores	O
use	O
the	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
for	O
mobile	B-Application
commerce	I-Application
,	O
offering	O
customers	O
special	O
deals	O
through	O
mobile	O
marketing	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
enable	O
mobile	O
payments	O
through	O
point	O
of	O
sale	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
differs	O
from	O
some	O
other	O
location-based	B-Application
technologies	O
as	O
the	O
broadcasting	O
device	O
(	O
beacon	O
)	O
is	O
only	O
a	O
1-way	O
transmitter	O
to	O
the	O
receiving	O
smartphone	B-Application
or	O
receiving	O
device	O
,	O
and	O
necessitates	O
a	O
specific	O
app	O
installed	O
on	O
the	O
device	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
ensures	O
that	O
only	O
the	O
installed	O
app	O
(	O
not	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
transmitter	O
)	O
can	O
track	O
users	O
as	O
they	O
walk	O
around	O
the	O
transmitters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
compatible	O
transmitters	O
come	O
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
form	O
factors	O
,	O
including	O
small	O
coin	O
cell	O
devices	O
,	O
USB	O
sticks	O
,	O
and	O
generic	O
Bluetooth	O
4.0	O
capable	O
USB	B-Device
dongles	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
deployment	O
consists	O
of	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
devices	O
that	O
transmit	O
their	O
own	O
unique	O
identification	O
number	O
to	O
the	O
local	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
on	O
a	O
receiving	O
device	O
may	O
then	O
look	O
up	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
and	O
perform	O
various	O
functions	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
notifying	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Receiving	O
devices	O
can	O
also	O
connect	O
to	O
the	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
to	O
retrieve	O
values	O
from	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
's	O
GATT	O
(	O
generic	B-General_Concept
attribute	I-General_Concept
profile	I-General_Concept
)	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
do	O
not	O
push	O
notifications	O
to	O
receiving	O
devices	O
(	O
other	O
than	O
their	O
own	O
identity	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
mobile	O
software	O
can	O
use	O
signals	O
received	O
from	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
to	O
trigger	O
their	O
own	O
push	O
notifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
opposed	O
to	O
monitoring	O
,	O
which	O
enables	O
users	O
to	O
detect	O
movement	O
in-and-out	O
of	O
range	O
of	O
the	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
,	O
ranging	O
provides	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
detected	O
in	O
a	O
given	O
region	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
estimated	O
distance	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
device	O
to	O
each	O
beacon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ranging	O
works	O
only	O
in	O
the	O
foreground	O
but	O
will	O
return	O
(	O
to	O
the	O
listening	O
device	O
)	O
an	O
array	O
(	O
unlimited	O
)	O
of	O
all	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
found	O
along	O
with	O
their	O
properties	O
(	O
UUID	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
iOS	O
device	O
receiving	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
transmission	O
can	O
approximate	O
the	O
distance	O
from	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
distance	O
(	O
between	O
transmitting	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
and	O
receiving	O
device	O
)	O
is	O
categorized	O
into	O
3	O
distinct	O
ranges	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
broadcast	O
has	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
approximate	O
when	O
a	O
user	O
has	O
entered	O
,	O
exited	O
,	O
or	O
lingered	O
in	O
region	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maximum	O
range	O
of	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
transmission	O
will	O
depend	O
on	O
the	O
location	O
and	O
placement	O
,	O
obstructions	O
in	O
the	O
environment	O
and	O
where	O
the	O
device	O
is	O
being	O
stored	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Standard	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
have	O
an	O
approximate	O
range	O
of	O
70	O
meters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Long	O
range	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
can	O
reach	O
up	O
to	O
450	O
meters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
frequency	O
of	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
transmission	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
configuration	O
of	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
and	O
can	O
be	O
altered	O
using	O
device	O
specific	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
rate	O
and	O
the	O
transmit	O
power	O
have	O
an	O
effect	O
on	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
battery	O
life	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
come	O
with	O
predefined	O
settings	O
and	O
several	O
of	O
them	O
can	O
be	O
changed	O
by	O
the	O
developer	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
rate	O
,	O
the	O
transmit	O
power	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Major	O
and	O
Minor	O
values	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Major	O
and	O
Minor	O
values	O
are	O
settings	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
specific	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
or	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
multiple	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
deployment	O
at	O
a	O
venue	O
will	O
have	O
the	O
same	O
UUID	O
,	O
and	O
use	O
the	O
major	O
and	O
minor	O
pairs	O
to	O
segment	O
and	O
distinguish	O
subspaces	O
within	O
the	O
venue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Major	O
values	O
of	O
all	O
the	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
in	O
a	O
specific	O
store	O
can	O
be	O
set	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
value	O
and	O
the	O
Minor	O
value	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
identify	O
a	O
specific	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
within	O
the	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
LE	I-General_Concept
protocol	O
is	O
significantly	O
more	O
power	O
efficient	O
than	O
Bluetooth	O
Classic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
chipsets	O
makers	O
,	O
including	O
Texas	O
Instruments	O
and	O
Nordic	O
Semiconductor	O
now	O
supply	O
chipsets	O
optimized	O
for	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Power	O
consumption	O
depends	O
on	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
configuration	O
parameters	O
of	O
advertising	O
interval	O
and	O
transmit	O
power	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
study	O
on	O
16	O
different	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
vendors	O
reports	O
that	O
battery	O
life	O
can	O
range	O
between	O
1	O
–	O
24	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
older	O
phones	O
tend	O
to	O
draw	O
more	O
battery	O
in	O
the	O
vicinity	O
of	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
,	O
while	O
the	O
newer	O
phones	O
can	O
be	O
more	O
efficient	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
time	O
spent	O
by	O
the	O
phone	O
scanning	O
,	O
number	O
of	O
scans	O
and	O
number	O
of	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
in	O
the	O
vicinity	O
are	O
also	O
significant	O
factors	O
for	O
battery	O
drain	O
,	O
as	O
pointed	O
out	O
by	O
the	O
Aislelabs	O
report	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
follow-up	O
report	O
,	O
Aislelabs	O
found	O
a	O
drastic	O
improvement	O
in	O
battery	O
consumption	O
for	O
iPhone5S	O
,	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
5C	O
versus	O
the	O
older	O
model	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
4S	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
10	O
surrounding	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
,	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
4S	I-Operating_System
can	O
consume	O
up	O
to	O
11%	O
of	O
battery	O
per	O
hour	O
whereas	O
iPhone5S	O
consumes	O
a	O
little	O
less	O
than	O
5%	O
battery	O
per	O
hour	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
energy	O
efficient	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
application	O
needs	O
to	O
consider	O
these	O
aspects	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
strike	O
a	O
good	O
balance	O
between	O
app	O
responsiveness	O
and	O
battery	O
consumption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2013	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
and	O
experts	O
wrote	O
about	O
how	O
it	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
help	O
the	O
retail	O
industry	O
by	O
simplifying	O
payments	O
and	O
enabling	O
on-site	O
offers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
6	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
Apple	O
activated	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
across	O
its	O
254	O
US	O
retail	O
stores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
May	O
2014	O
,	O
different	O
hardware	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
purchased	O
for	O
as	O
little	O
as	O
$5	O
per	O
device	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
$30	O
per	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
of	O
these	O
different	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
have	O
varying	O
default	O
settings	O
for	O
their	O
default	O
transmit	O
power	O
and	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisement	O
frequency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
hardware	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
advertise	O
at	O
frequencies	O
as	O
low	O
as	O
1Hz	O
while	O
others	O
can	O
be	O
as	O
high	O
as	O
10Hz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
technology	O
is	O
still	O
in	O
its	O
infancy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
well-reported	O
software	O
quirk	O
exists	O
on	O
4.2	O
and	O
4.3	O
Android	B-Application
systems	I-Application
whereby	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
bluetooth	O
stack	O
crashes	O
when	O
presented	O
with	O
many	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
reportedly	O
fixed	O
in	O
Android	B-Application
4.4.4	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
low	I-General_Concept
energy	I-General_Concept
devices	O
can	O
operate	O
in	O
an	O
advertisement	O
mode	O
to	O
notify	O
nearby	O
devices	O
of	O
their	O
presence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
simplest	O
form	O
,	O
an	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
low	I-General_Concept
energy	I-General_Concept
device	O
emitting	O
advertisements	O
following	O
a	O
strict	O
format	O
,	O
that	O
being	O
an	O
Apple-defined	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
prefix	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
variable	O
UUID	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
major	O
,	O
minor	O
pair	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisement	O
frame	O
could	O
look	O
like	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertising	O
is	O
just	O
an	O
application	O
of	O
the	O
general	O
Bluetooth	B-General_Concept
Low	I-General_Concept
Energy	I-General_Concept
advertisement	O
,	O
the	O
above	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
emitted	O
by	O
issuing	O
the	O
following	O
commands	O
on	O
Linux	O
to	O
a	O
supported	O
Bluetooth	O
4	O
Low	O
Energy	O
device	O
on	O
a	O
modern	O
kernel	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Devices	O
running	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
prior	O
to	O
version	O
4.3	O
can	O
only	O
receive	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisements	O
but	O
cannot	O
emit	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Android	B-Application
5.0	O
(	O
"	O
Lollipop	O
"	O
)	O
added	O
the	O
support	O
for	O
both	O
central	O
and	O
peripheral	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
iOS	O
,	O
Android	B-Application
does	O
not	O
have	O
native	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
this	O
,	O
to	O
use	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
on	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
a	O
developer	O
either	O
has	O
to	O
use	O
an	O
existing	O
library	O
or	O
create	O
code	O
that	O
parses	O
BLE	O
packets	O
to	O
find	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BLE	O
support	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
Android	B-Application
Jelly	I-Application
Bean	I-Application
with	O
major	O
bug	O
fixes	O
in	O
Android	B-Application
KitKat	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stability	O
improvements	O
and	O
additional	O
BLE	O
features	O
have	O
been	O
progressively	O
added	O
there	O
after	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
major	O
stability	O
improvement	O
in	O
version	O
6.01	O
of	O
Android	B-Application
Marshmallow	I-Application
that	O
prevents	O
inter-app	O
connection	O
leaking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
design	O
,	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisement	O
frame	O
is	O
plainly	O
visible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
leaves	O
the	O
door	O
open	O
for	O
interested	O
parties	O
to	O
capture	O
,	O
copy	O
and	O
reproduce	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
advertisement	O
frames	O
at	O
different	O
physical	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
simply	O
by	O
issuing	O
the	O
right	O
sequence	O
of	O
commands	O
to	O
compatible	O
Bluetooth	O
4.0	O
USB	B-Device
dongles	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Successful	O
spoofing	O
of	O
Apple	O
store	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
was	O
reported	O
in	O
February	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
security	O
flaw	O
in	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
per	O
se	O
,	O
but	O
application	O
developers	O
must	O
keep	O
this	O
in	O
mind	O
when	O
designing	O
their	O
applications	O
with	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
PayPal	O
has	O
taken	O
a	O
more	O
robust	O
approach	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
is	O
purely	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
a	O
complex	O
security	O
negotiation	O
(	O
Challenge	O
–	O
response	O
authentication	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
not	O
likely	O
to	O
be	O
hacked	O
,	O
nor	O
is	O
it	O
likely	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
disrupted	O
by	O
copies	O
of	O
beacons	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Listening	O
for	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
using	O
the	O
following	O
commands	O
with	O
a	O
modern	O
Linux	O
distribution	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MAC	O
address	O
of	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
along	O
with	O
its	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
payload	O
is	O
clearly	O
identifiable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
sequence	O
of	O
commands	O
in	O
technical	O
details	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
reproduce	O
the	O
iBeacon	B-General_Concept
frame	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Android	B-Application
Devices	O
with	O
Bluetooth	O
4.0	O
+	O
and	O
Android	B-Application
OS	I-Application
4.3	I-Application
+	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Protocol
Phone	I-Protocol
devices	O
with	O
Bluetooth	O
4.0	O
+	O
and	O
the	O
Lumia	O
Cyan	O
update	O
or	O
above	O
(	O
reports	O
suggest	O
support	O
is	O
not	O
included	O
with	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Phone	I-Protocol
8.1	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
the	O
NFC	O
environment	O
is	O
very	O
different	O
,	O
and	O
has	O
many	O
non-overlapping	O
applications	O
,	O
it	O
still	O
compares	O
with	O
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
iBeacons	B-General_Concept
have	O
a	O
significantly	O
higher	O
range	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
's	O
first	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
model	O
containing	O
NFC	O
chips	O
was	O
the	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
6	O
,	O
introduced	O
September	O
2014	O
,	O
but	O
most	O
modern	O
phones	O
have	O
had	O
Bluetooth	O
4.0	O
or	O
later	O
capability	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
prior	O
to	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
