How to Overcome Operational Challenges in Getting Consistent Beacon Behavior?

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Intro

• The usage of Beacon is increasingly getting
  prevalent especially in segments such as
  hospitality and retail to provide special offers
  in line with various loyalty programs to its
  regular customers and the customers get
  notifications about unique offers while they are
  in the premises of casino, restaurant, store etc.
  The several challenges are likely to be
  encountered while utilizing Beacon power at its
  best.
• Challenge 1 Difference distance detection ranges
  for iOS and Andoid
• - In the real world scenario, iOS devices and
  Android devices have remarkable difference in
  their Beacon detection ranges.
• Challenge 2 Signal fluctuation
• - The consistency of Beacon signals does rely
  upon various factors and hindrance in those
  factors may cause the signal fluctuations
  eventually affecting the expected outcomes.
• - Team Azilen carries out in-depth research to
  overcome these challenges and finally came up
  with the optimum solution. The challenges and
  solutions both are described below with all
  relevant details.

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Challenge 1 Difference distance detection ranges
for iOS and Andoid

• iOS works in accordance with iBeacon protocol
  while Android considers Beacon as a Bluetooth
  device. Hence, they both react in a different
  manner when it comes to detecting Beacon signals.
• For example, in general, we can consider that iOS
  devices detect Beacon signals at 7 8 meters
  whereas Android devices detect Beacon signals at
  15 18 meters.

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• gt If the Beacon is there at the range of 10
  meters, Android device will start receiving the
  Beacons signals from about 15 to 18 meters and
  it will consider the Beacon IN.
• gt On the other hand, iOS device considers the
  Beacon IN when the proximity in NEAR. iOS is not
  stable to get NEAR proximity at 10 meters and
  gives fluctuated or uncertain experiences in
  detecting the Beacon.
• Solutions
• We had several experiments with Beacons RSSI
  function in line with Beacons optimum
  calibration.

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• GUI testing and ease of functionality A robust
  and open-source software testing
  frameworkSelenium automation framework is used
  for this purpose.
• Solving execution time issue Selenium automation
  framework is integrated with Saucelabs that just
  needs the platform configuration for the test
  case to run on multiple environments parallel
  with other test cases.
• Reduced infrastructure cost With the integration
  of tools like Selenium and Saucelabs with Jenkins
  server, it offers continuous integration of data
  for ease in testing.

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• Beacon Calibration Calibration is a process of
  defining the signal strength that the Beacon can
  transmit to the receiver mobile device at the
  reference point of 1 meter. The first step in our
  solution is to calibrate the Beacon as per
  requirement.
• RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator is the
  strength of the Beacons signal which gets
  displayed on the signal receiving device. Android
  works complying with RSSI. So we defined ideal
  RSSI value after Beacons calibration. We got -97
  to -100 dbm at Beacons last spot of range. We
  defined separate RSSI for each beacon.

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• Consequential Outcomes We could detect beacon at
  near about exact (/- 1 to 2 meter variation)
  range of its calibrated region for both Android
  and iOS platforms.

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Challenge 2 Signal fluctuation

• Up to some extent, the consistency of Beacon
  signals does rely upon several factors such as
  surrounding infrastructure as sizeable metal or
  wooden article can cause reflections or
  attenuations that affect the signal level.
  Sometimes, other disruptions occurred or even an
  object passing through between the mobile device
  and the Beacon can cause signal fluctuation. The
  mobile device keeps getting OUT and IN due to
  such hindrance.

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• Solution
• Beacon IN/OUT cycle The mobile device
  continuously receives the signals for each beacon
  and update the beacons state as IN/OUT as per
  RSSI and IN/OUT threshold.
• As discussed earlier we have defined IN/OUT
  threshold for each beacon as 8 seconds for IN and
  10 seconds for OUT. Therefore, if any object
  comes between Beacon and the mobile device
  application will start cycle to region OUT and on
  the next interval application will get strong
  signals so OUT cycle will reset and keep beacon
  IN. Thus, based on IN/OUT cycle we could resolve
  fluctuation issue.

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• Conclusion
• Development experiments often make us realize
  that sometimes, complex or complicated sounding
  challenges can be addressed by very simple
  solutions. And this is how with a
  straightforward and solution oriented approach,
  we could manage to get consistent Beacon behavior
  for both Android and iOS even in environment.

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• Let's Discuss Your Requirement!
•  info_at_azilen.com  1-972-325-2243

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• Original Source
• http//www.azilen.com/blog/overcome-challenges-in-
  getting-consistent-beacon-behavior/

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