What Is The Difference Between Bluetooth Beacon And Gateway?

In the era of the Internet of Things, the application of Bluetooth Gateway and Bluetooth Beacon is currently a relatively wide range of indoor positioning solutions. So what is the difference between the indoor positioning solution of Bluetooth gateway and Bluetooth Beacon? Skylab（天工测控） will introduce these two indoor positioning solutions based on Bluetooth in detail.

What are Bluetooth Gateways and Bluetooth Beacons?

The Bluetooth gateway is a gateway device that integrates BLE low energy Bluetooth and WiFi. The communication between BLE and Wifi is realized through the serial port.

The Bluetooth Beacon is a broadcast protocol based on the Bluetooth low energy protocol. It is also a low-power Bluetooth device with this protocol. But it cannot connect with any Bluetooth low energy host. It is usually placed in a fixed position in the room, so as to continuously broadcast to the surrounding.

What are the functions of Bluetooth gateway and Bluetooth Beacon?

The Bluetooth gateway is mainly used to scan Bluetooth devices and iBeacon devices. Then it enables remote cloud management. For example, it controls the BLE Bluetooth device remotely, receives data sent by the BLE Bluetooth device, and sends it to the server.

Bluetooth Beacon is a small information base station. Beacon technology captures and pushes information to mobile devices within communication range via Bluetooth Smart. Bluetooth Beacon is mainly used in indoor navigation, people flow analysis, item tracking, etc. For example, in department stores, Beacon pushes brand promotion information in a timely manner. Push cultural relics information to visitors at the museum Beacon.

How do Bluetooth gateways and Bluetooth beacons work?

1、The working principle of the Bluetooth gateway

When a Bluetooth device enters the range of a Bluetooth gateway, it connects and transmits current data. Then, the Bluetooth part of the Bluetooth gateway receives the data. Connect with the WiFi module through the serial port and transmit data.

Second, the Bluetooth gateway WiFi part uploads the data to the server through the wireless router. It makes control modifications to the current situation. Finally, the server displays the positioning information of the Bluetooth device on the front end after calculation and analysis. Control commands can also be transmitted to the WiFi of the Bluetooth gateway through the server. WiFi is transmitted to Bluetooth, and Bluetooth is transmitted to Bluetooth devices for control.

2、The working principle of Bluetooth Beacon

（1）Lay Bluetooth Beacon in the area that needs to be located. Generally, at least 3 Bluetooth Beacons need to be laid. Because the positioning algorithm requires that the RSSI values of at least three points be known to accurately calculate the positioning.

（2）The Bluetooth Beacon will broadcast a data packet to the surroundings at regular intervals.

（3）When the terminal device enters the signal coverage of the Bluetooth Beacon, the Bluetooth host will receive the data packets broadcast by the Bluetooth Beacon at intervals when performing the scanning action.

（4）When the Bluetooth host receives the broadcast packet, it will display which broadcast packet comes from. The MAC address of the Bluetooth Beacon slave and the current received and sent signal strength indicator RSSI.

（5）The RSSI value is the basis for determining the distance between the location of the Bluetooth host and the Bluetooth Beacon;

（6）Through the built-in positioning algorithm and the interaction with the map engine database, the current specific location of the Bluetooth host can be calculated.

Application of Bluetooth gateway and Bluetooth Beacon

The most commonly used function of the Bluetooth gateway is to perform reverse positioning. At the same time, the scanning range of the Bluetooth gateway can also be marked as a safe area. Once the Beacon device leaves the safe area, it can trigger the security alarm in the background. It can achieve the purpose of location tracking, which is also the key to safe care and material management.

The most commonly used function of Bluetooth Beacon is indoor positioning. Lay out the Beacon nodes in place. With the APP application, it can be easily applied in indoor navigation, people flow analysis, item tracking, etc.