Because there is no open and interoperable specification for proximity beacons, Radius Networks has authored the AltBeacon specification as a proposal for how to solve this problem. This presentation reviews the details of the AltBeacon spec, why it has been developed as a completely open beacon specification and how you can get involved in furthering the evolution of AltBeacon.

1. AltBeacon
The Open and Interoperable Proximity Beacon Specification

2. Company Overview
● Founded 2011
● Washington DC HQ
● Experienced, Successful Team
● Recognized Leader in Developer
Community
● Largest Production Networks in
Industry
Proven Performance
Global experience with large
deployments
○ Major Pharmacy Deployments
○ QSRs
○ Gas Stations
○ Stadiums
○ US and International
○ C-Stores
○ App Integrations
Patented, deep technology stack
Multi-Platform support using interleaved
Multi-Beacon technology
We build and deploy innovative proximity and location
products that drive interactive customer behavior
About Radius Networks

3. Radius Networks Industry Leading Open Technology Stack
Proximity Developer
Tools
High Performance
Beacons
Campaign Kit
Proximity Kit
Director
Proximity Campaign Management that
Drives User Experience and Rich Content
Delivery
Beacon and Geofence Provisioning
Service with Proximity Analytics and
Reporting
Beacon Fleet Management with Status
Monitoring and Remote Plug-&-Play
Configuration
Mobile SDKs and Beacon Discovery,
Emulation and Test Tools
Multi-Beacons with iBeacon and AltBeacon
with a range of Form Factor, Power and
Connectivity Options

4. ● Bluetooth v4.0 transmitter
● Used to mark a place or a
thing
● Compatible mobile
devices can uniquely
identify and determine
proximity to a beacon
● Typical range of 25m to
40m
What is a Beacon?

5. Beacon advertisements
basically contain…
● Identifier - Represents a
specific place or thing
● Measured Power Value -
Represents the signal strength
of the beacon at 1m distance.
What is a Beacon?

6. ● The mobile app must specify
the beacons to be monitored
● App will be notified of region
enter and region exit events,
even when the app is in the
background or terminated.
● Can range for proximity zone
while in region by comparing
actual signal strength to
measured power value.
How Do Mobile Apps Use Beacons

7. ● iBeacon is the most popular beacon
type. Defined by Apple for use with
iOS mobile devices.
● AltBeacon is a complementary,
open-source alternative introduced
by Radius Networks for non-iOS
mobile devices.
● Samsung recently introduced
Placedge beacon technology,
developed in partnership with Radius
Networks.
● Other major mobile vendors hint at
future beacon alternatives
?
Different Kinds of Beacons

8. AltBeacon: The Open and Interoperable Proximity Beacon Specification
● Defines the format of a proximity advertisement message that Bluetooth Smart
(Low Energy) proximity beacons can broadcast.
● Intended to create an open, competitive market for proximity beacon
implementations.
● Free for all to implement, with no royalty or fees.
● Does not favor one vendor over another for any reason other than the technical
standards compliance of a vendor's implementation.
AltBeacon

9. Why is AltBeacon Needed?

10. AltBeacon Design Goals
● Provide a concise proximity advertising message for interchange of
proximity information between advertisers and scanners
● Maintain compliance with Bluetooth Specification Version 4.0 by
utilizing defined advertising PDU and advertising data structures
● Encourage adoption by all interested parties by avoiding any
obvious implementation and licensing restrictions
● Enable the implementation of vendor-specific features, if possible

11. AltBeacon Implementation
● AltBeacon proximity advertising can be incorporated as a feature of
any device that is Bluetooth Smart (Low Energy) compliant
● AltBeacon advertisements are encapsulated as the 28 byte payload
of a non-connectable undirected advertising PDU
(ADV_NONCONN_IND)

12. AltBeacon Advertisement Details
Field Name Description Accepted Values
AD LENGTH
[MFG SPECIFIC]
Length of the type and data portion of the
Manufacturer Specific advertising data
structure.
0x1B (27)
AD TYPE
[MFG SPECIFIC]
Type representing the Manufacturer Specific
advertising data structure.
0xFF (255)
MFG ID The beacon device manufacturer's company
identifier code.
The beacon device manufacturer's BLUETOOTH
SIG company code
BEACON CODE The AltBeacon advertisement code 0xBEAC
BEACON ID A 20-byte value uniquely identifying the
beacon
16 bytes representing the advertiser's
organizational unit
4 byte identifier that may be subdivided as
needed for the use case.
REF RSSI A 1-byte value representing the average
received signal strength at 1m distance
A signed 1-byte value from 0 to -127
MFG RSVD Reserved for use by the manufacturer to
implement special features
A 1-byte value defined by the manufacturer and is
to be evaluated based on the MFG ID value

13. ● Multi-beacons solve the
fragmentation problem of multiple,
incompatible beacon advertisement
types.
● A multi-beacon transmits multiple
beacon advertisement formats
concurrently.
● Proximity services are delivered
equally to iOS and Android devices.
● RadBeacons from Radius Networks
are multi-beacons supporting both
iBeacon and AltBeacon.
What is a Multi-Beacon?

14. RadBeacon Multi-Beacons
RadBeacon X2
2 AA battery powered
Ruggedized &
weatherproof
Multi-Beacon with
iBeacon & AltBeacon
RadBeacon USB
USB powered
Standalone or
integrated with existing
equipment
Multi-Beacon with
iBeacon & AltBeacon
RadBeacon Tag
Coin-cell battery
powered
Small in size and
flexibly deployable
Multi-Beacon with
iBeacon & AltBeacon
RadBeacon X4
4 AA battery powered
Ruggedized &
weatherproof
Multi-Beacon with
iBeacon & AltBeacon

15. Developer Tools & Libraries
OS X
Tools
Developer
Hardware
iOS
Tools
Open
Source
Tools
AltBeacon Locate
App
AltBeacon Open Source
Proximity Beacon
AltBeacon QuickBeacon
App
Beacon Locate
App
QuickBeacon
App
RadBeacon Configuration
App
MacBeacon for
OS X
QuickBeacon for
OS X
ScanBeacon for
OS X
RadBeacon Tag (Battery) RadBeacon USB
PiBeacon

16. Visit AltBeacon.org
● Get a copy of the specification
● Submit comments, open issues and contribute to the future
direction of AltBeacon
● Access the Android AltBeacon Proximity Library
● Access implementation examples, sample code and
development & testing tools
Get Involved in AltBeacon!

17. David Helms
Chief Product Officer
dhelms@radiusnetworks.com
Questions and Next Steps