How does Apple iBeacon Technology work?

Sometimes the major changes in technology include the smallest beginnings. In 2013 summer Apple announced iBeacon, a nerdy-sounding feature of its new operating system that would "provide apps a whole new level of location awareness". It takes few months to come out in the real world, but from Apple's shops, CES to grocery stores – iBeacon currently seems to be popping up all over.

The term iBeacon and Beacon are often used interchangeably. iBeacon is the name for Apple’s technology standard, which allows Mobile Apps running on both iOS and Android devices to listen for signals from beacons in the physical world and respond accordingly. In essence, iBeacon technology allows Mobile Apps to understand their position on a micro-local scale, and deliver hyper-contextual content to users based on location.

With iBeacons set up, businesses can send messages regarding their special offers and goods to potential customers. When one walk near an iBeacon the technology lets businesses set up transmitters which can tell nearby smartphones of their presence. It may possibly not sound like much, but combined with the correct software, it opens up a considerable number of possibilities.

How does Apple iBeacon technology work?

below you can find the working principle of Apple iBeacon technology.Before going through the working of iBeacon first we have to know that what is iBeacon?

What is iBeacon?

iBeacon is a new technology developed by Apple built into its operating system that extends Location Services in iOS. iBeacon arrived in iOS7, which means it works with iPhone 4s or later, iPad (third generation and onward) iPad mini and iPod touch (fifth generation or later). The same BLE technology is also attuned with Android 4.3. and over. An iOS device can alert apps when you move toward or go away a location with an iBeacon. In addition to monitoring location, an app can estimate your nearness to an iBeacon. Instead of using latitude and longitude to describe the locality, iBeacon uses a Bluetooth low energy signal, which iOS devices recognize.

By means of iBeacon set up, shops might send customers special offers for goods they are walking past, prepare pre-ordered items for pickup the minute someone comes through the door or remind the customer about their shopping list – fish when they are standing at the fish counter, bread at the bakery, and so on.

How does it work?

The beacons themselves are cheap, small Bluetooth transmitters. Apps installed on your iPhone snoop out for the signal transmitted by the beacons and when the phone comes into range it responds accordingly.

For example, if you pass a beacon in a shop, the retailer's app (assuming you have it installed) could display a special offer alert for you. On a visit to a museum, the museum's app would provide information about the closest display, using your distance from beacons placed near exhibits to work out your position. As such iBeacon could be a much better option for in-door mapping - which GPS struggles with.

iBeacons are unconnected devices that continually send out Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) using Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy. The iBeacon devices can come in different form features. Any device that has a Bluetooth 4.0 LE radio on board can be modify into an iBeacon device, hence you can locate them on iPhones, Android phones, Small PCBs, USBs, MAC laptops and Apple TVs.
iBeacons are based on BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and they generate a different method of providing location-based information and services to iPhones and other iOS devices. BLE communication consists of two major parts:

• Advertising
• Connecting

Advertising is a one-way detection mechanism used by iBeacon. Devices which want to be discovered can transmit packets of data in intervals from 1 to 10 seconds. The shorter the interval, the shorter the battery life, but the faster the device can be discovered. BLE (iBeacon) devices can function in a non-connectable advertisement-only mode where all the information is contained in the advertisement, but they can also allow connections.

A connection can be established once a device is discovered. After that it is likely to read the services offered by the BLE device, and for each service there are characteristics. Every characteristic provides some value, which can be either read, written, or both read/written.
iBeacon functions as an indoor positioning system, that allows businesses to market their presence to Smartphone in close proximity. This technology brings about a paradigm move in the means brands are in touch with consumers. It must be excited to see where iBeacon technology goes in the next few years as it put forward a digital expansion into the physical world.