BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE)
What makes BLE stand out amongst other ‘Internet of Things’ technologies is the global adoption of its standards, and the fact it is built in to almost all smart phones as standard. They can therefore be used as both a ‘beacon’ and a ‘receiver’. The cost of a BLE based reader infrastructure can therefore be relatively low, but since BLE tags contain a battery they have a finite lifetime before they must be re-charged or replaced. Battery management must therefore be built into any business case considering this technology. Solar powered tags are beginning to appear on the market, which do away with the battery. They can function off indoor lighting down to 200 lux, but the slower beacon rate under these conditions must be taken into account.
BLE beacons are becoming smarter, and are beginning to incorporate sensors – movement and temperature for example. The additional data is delivered in a data 'payload' as part of the beacon message.
Integration with Lime
Codegate's eVantage software can be used to collect tracking data from BLE-tagged assets. We offer eVantage embedded hardware in the form of low cost anchors and a rugged Autonomous Gateway which is suitable for vehicle installation. These solutions offer zonal based location only, siting it relative to the nearest anchor point.
Codegate’s Lime Asset Inventory software can be used on Android devices to inventory and locate assets tagged with BLE beacons.
eVantage BLE
datasheet
Codegate is collaborating two BLE providers to fully integrate their tracking solutions with our Lime asset tracking middleware. Please note this work is still under construction.
Wirepas anchors communicate over a mesh network. That means no cables, fully battery operated, and therefore very low infrastructure costs. This can be particularly beneficial in sites where there are major IT restrictions on networks and equipment integration. This highly scalable solution offers asset traceability with zonal granularity.
Quuppa is a leading provider of Bluetooth based Real-Time Locating Systems, with 2600+ deployments in 55+ countries and over 200 partners worldwide. Bluetooth wireless technology is combined with Direction Finding signal processing (Angle of Arrival) to deliver superior positioning accuracy compared to solutions based on Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).
Bluetooth RTLS in action
Quuppa
explained
