AWARE: iBeacon

Requirements

iOS 13 or later

Installation

You can integrate this framework into your project via Swift Package Manager (SwiftPM) or CocoaPods.

SwiftPM

1. Open Package Manager Windows

   • Open Xcode -> Select Menu Bar -> File -> App Package Dependencies...

2. Find the package using the manager

   • Select Search Package URL and type git@github.com:awareframework/com.awareframework.ios.sensor.ibeacon.git

3. Import the package into your target.

CocoaPods

com.aware.ios.sensor.ibeacon is available through CocoaPods. To install it, simply add the following line to your Podfile:

pod 'com.awareframework.ios.sensor.ibeacon'

Setup

Add NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription and NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription keys into Info.plist

If you need persistent background ranging for beacons, you'll need to activate the Background Modes capability (Location Updates) for your application.

Import com.awareframework.ios.sensor.ibeacon library into your source code.

import com_awareframework_ios_sensor_ibeacon

Public functions

IBeaconSensor

• init(config:ibeaconSensor.Config?) : Initializes the IBeacon sensor with the optional configuration.
• start(): Starts the IBeacon sensor with the optional configuration.
• stop(): Stops the service.

IBeaconSensor.Config

Class to hold the configuration of the sensor.

Fields

• regions: Array<CLBeaconRegion> Regions that you use to detect Bluetooth beacons.
• sensorObserver: IBeaconObserver? A sensor observer for monitoring sensor events
• enabled: Boolean Sensor is enabled or not. (default = false)
• debug: Boolean enable/disable logging to Logcat. (default = false)
• label: String Label for the data. (default = "")
• deviceId: String Id of the device that will be associated with the events and the sensor. (default = "")
• dbEncryptionKey Encryption key for the database. (default = null)
• dbType: Engine Which db engine to use for saving data. (default = Engine.DatabaseType.NONE)
• dbPath: String Path of the database. (default = "aware_ibeacon")
• dbHost: String Host for syncing the database. (default = null)

Broadcasts

Fired Broadcasts

• IBeaconSensor.ACTION_AWARE_IBEACON fired when ibeacon saved data to db after the period ends.

Received Broadcasts

• IBeaconSensor.ACTION_AWARE_IBEACON_START: received broadcast to start the sensor.
• IBeaconSensor.ACTION_AWARE_IBEACON_STOP: received broadcast to stop the sensor.
• IBeaconSensor.ACTION_AWARE_IBEACON_SYNC: received broadcast to send sync attempt to the host.
• IBeaconSensor.ACTION_AWARE_IBEACON_SET_LABEL: received broadcast to set the data label. Label is expected in the IBeaconSensor.EXTRA_LABEL field of the intent extras.

Data Representations

iBeacon Data

Contains the raw sensor data.

Field	Type	Description
uuid	String	The unique ID of the beacons being targeted.
major	Int16	The value identifying a group of beacons. (16bit)
minor	Int16	The value identifying a specific beacon within a group. (16bit)
rssi	Int	The received signal strength of the beacon, measured in decibels.
identifier	String	The identifer of the beacon.
proximity	Int	The relative distance to the beacon. (0=unknown, 1=immediate, 2=near, 3=far)
accuracy	Double	The accuracy of the proximity value, measured in meters from the beacon.
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
deviceId	String	AWARE device UUID
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
timestamp	Int64	Unixtime milliseconds since 1970
timezone	Int	Timezone of the device
os	String	Operating system of the device (ex. android)

iBeacon Region State Data

Field	Type	Description
identifier	String	The identifer of the beacon.
state	Int	The current state of the device with reference to a region. (0=unknown, 1= inside, 2=outside)
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
deviceId	String	AWARE device UUID
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
timestamp	Int64	Unixtime milliseconds since 1970
timezone	Int	Timezone of the device
os	String	Operating system of the device (ex. android)

iBeacon Region Event Data

Field	Type	Description
identifier	String	The identifer of the beacon.
state	Int	The event of region enter and exit events (0=exit, 1=enter)
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
deviceId	String	AWARE device UUID
label	String	Customizable label. Useful for data calibration or traceability
timestamp	Int64	Unixtime milliseconds since 1970
timezone	Int	Timezone of the device
os	String	Operating system of the device (ex. android)

Example usage

Import ibeacon sensor library (com_aware_ios_sensor_ibeacon) to your target class.

import com_awareframework_ios_sensor_ibeacon

Generate an ibeacon sensor instance and start/stop the sensor.

let ibeacon = IBeaconSensor(IBeaconSensor.Config().apply{config in
    let uuid =  UUID.init(uuidString: "D8219342-6770-4AA4-8075-02E4A10084D9")
    let regionA = CLBeaconRegion(proximityUUID:uuid!, identifier: "Test")
    config.addRegion(regionA)
    config.sensorObserver = Observer()
})

ibeacon?.start()

ibeacon?.stop()

class Observer:IBeaconObserver{
    func didDetermineState(region: IBeaconRegionStateData) {
        // Your code here
    }

    func didRangeBeacons(beacons: [IBeaconData]) {
        // Your code here
    }

    func didEnterRegion(region: IBeaconRegionEventData) {
        // Your code here
    }

    func didExitRegion(region: IBeaconRegionEventData) {
        // Your code here
    }
}

Author

Yuuki Nishiyama (The University of Tokyo), nishiyama@csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Related Links

• Apple | iBeacon
• Apple | Getting Started with iBeacon

License

Copyright (c) 2021 AWARE Mobile Context Instrumentation Middleware/Framework (http://www.awareframework.com)

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.