BLE Beacon Example¶

Description¶

The Beacon Example implements a transmitter beacon that broadcasts information to all compatible devices in its range as Manufacturer Specific Data in the advertisement packets.

This information includes:

• A 128-bit UUID to identify the beacon's provider.
• An arbitrary Major value for coarse differentiation between beacons.
• An arbitrary Minor value for fine differentiation between beacons.
• The RSSI value of the beacon measured at 1 meter distance, which can be used for estimating the distance from the beacon.

Building the example¶

You can find the source code and the project file of the example in the following folder: examples/nrf5-sdk/ble_app_beacon.

Open terminal and navigate to the directory with the example Makefile:

cd ./examples/nrf5-sdk/ble_app_beacon/armgcc

Run make merge to build the application and merge with the Softdevice:

make merge

Programming the firmware¶

If compiled successfully, the firmware is located in ble_app_beacon/armgcc/_build with the name nrf52840_xxaa_s140.hex.

Connect the debugger USB port to your PC using the provided USB-C Cable. A disk drive called M2-DOCK will be automatically detected by the computer.

Run the following command in ble_app_beacon/armgcc to program the board:

make flash_all

Testing¶

Test the Beacon Example with nRF Connect by performing the following steps:

1. After application starts, observe that GREEN LED is blinking. This indicates that the beacon is advertising.

2. After starting discovery in nRF Connect, observe that the beacon is advertising with its Bluetooth device address without a Device Name.

3. Tap the device to view the full advertisement data.

Reference¶

• iBeacon Resource from Apple Developer

Create an Issue¶

Interested in contributing to this project? Want to report a bug? Feel free to click here:

Create an Issue