Bluetooth
Overview
Use this screen to configure the iBeacon advertising settings for the Zyxel Device that supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Bluetooth Low Energy, which is also known as Bluetooth Smart, transmits less data over a shorter distance but consumes less power than classic Bluetooth.
Check the feature comparison table in Zyxel Device Product Feature Comparison to see which Zyxel Device models that support BLE. What You Need To Know
Beacon is Apple’s communication protocol on top of Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology. Beacons (Bluetooth radio transmitters) or BLE enabled devices broadcast packets to every device around it to announce their presence. Advertising packets contain their iBeacon ID, which consists of the Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), major number, and minor number. These packets also contain a TX (transmit) power measured at a reference point, which is used to approximate a device’s distance from the beacon. The UUID can be used to identify a service, a device, a manufacturer or an owner. The 2-byte major number is to identify and distinguish a group, and the 2-byte minor number is to identify and distinguish an individual.
For example, a company can set all its beacons to share the same UUID. The beacons in a particular branch uses the same major number, and each beacon in a branch can have its own minor number.
Company A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Branch x | Branch y | ||
Beacon 1 | Beacon 2 | Beacon 3 | |
UUID | EBAECFAF-DFE0-4039-BE5A-F030EED4303C | ||
Major | 10 | 10 | 20 |
Minor | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Developers can create apps that respond to the iBeacon ID that your Zyxel Device broadcasts. An app that is associated with the Zyxel Device’s iBeacon ID can measure the proximity of a customer to a beacon. This app can then push messages or trigger prompts and actions based on this information. This allows you to send highly contextual and highly localized advertisements to customers.
Bluetooth Advertising Settings
The Zyxel Device communicates with another BLE enabled device for advertisements. Use this screen to configure up to five beacon IDs to be included in the advertising packet.
The following table describes the labels in this screen.
Label | Description |
|---|---|
Edit | Click this to edit the selected entry. |
Activate | To turn on an entry, select it and click Activate. |
Inactivate | To turn off an entry, select it and click Inactivate. |
# | This field is a sequential value, and it is not associated with a specific entry. |
Status | This field shows whether or not the entry is activated. A yellow bulb signifies that this rule is active. A gray bulb signifies that this rule is not active. |
UUID | This field indicates the UUID to be included in the Bluetooth advertising packets. |
Major | This field indicates the major number to be included in the Bluetooth advertising packets. |
Minor | This field indicates the minor number to be included in the Bluetooth advertising packets. |
Apply | Click Apply to save your changes back to the Zyxel Device. |
Reset | Click Reset to return the screen to its last-saved settings. |
Edit Advertising Settings
Select an entry in the Configuration > Bluetooth > Advertising Settings screen and click the Edit icon to open the Edit Advertising screen. Use this screen to configure the beacon ID in the Bluetooth advertising packets.
The following table describes the labels in this screen.
Label | Description |
|---|---|
Activate | Select this option to enable the advertising settings. |
UUID | To specify a UUID for the Zyxel Device’s beacon ID, enter 32 hexadecimal digits in the range of “A-F”, “a-f” and “0-9”, split into five groups separated by hyphens (-). The UUID format is as follows: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx (8-4-4-4-12) |
Generate new UUID | Click this button to have the Zyxel Device generate a new UUID automatically. |
Major | Enter an integer from 0 to 65535 as the major value to identify the group to which the beacon belongs. |
Minor | Enter an integer from 0 to 65535 as the minor value to identify the individual beacon. |
OK | Click OK to save your changes back to the Zyxel Device. |
Cancel | Click Cancel to exit this screen without saving your changes. |