SoC – BeaconZone Blog

NFC and Beacons

Now that some manufacturers have started including NFC in beacons, our customers have started asking about the differences between Beacons and NFC and why NFC is being included.

In proximity detection terms you can think of NFC as being an extension of ‘very near’ in iOS’s ‘near’, ‘far’ and ‘intermediate’ proximity classifications. The range is in the order of cm rather than m. In most applications a ‘near’ beacon or higher value RSSI on Android can perform a similar function as NFC. However, NFC can be made more secure in that it can provide for secure proximity detection in scenarios such as payments. So why have NFC in beacons?

NFC within the context of iBeacons can be used as a complementary technology. For example:

Enhanced Interaction: NFC could be used to provide immediate, zero-setup interaction with an iBeacon for configuration purposes or to trigger specific actions when a user intentionally brings their device close to the beacon. This can be particularly useful in situations where BLE interactions might require more steps or user permissions.

Security and Authentication: NFC’s short range can be advantageous for secure interactions. In scenarios where an iBeacon provides location-based services, NFC could add an additional layer of security by ensuring that certain actions (e.g., payments, access control) are only triggered when the user is very close to the beacon.

Information Retrieval: For cases where iBeacons signify users about something of interest nearby, an NFC tag could provide additional, detailed information or a direct action (like opening a website or downloading an app) without the need for the user to navigate through menus or apps. This could be especially useful in museums, exhibitions, or retail settings where quick information access enhances the visitor experience.

While NFC and iBeacons serve different primary functions, integrating both can lead to innovative applications that leverage the strengths of each technology for enhanced user experiences, particularly in proximity-based interactions and services.

Wireless Quarter Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in most beacons and number one supplier of SoCs for Bluetooth LE solutions, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of the Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:

AirSuite hazardous indoor conditions monitor
NNOXX health and fitness performance wearable
Wevolver perishable goods transport solution
GreaseBoss machinery lubrication management sensor
Coral Sense connected construction module using Bluetooth Mesh

There are also in-depth articles on Cellular IoT, how AI and machine learning are transforming IoT, Cellular IoT and DECT NR+, Smart Power Grids and Connected Construction.

Latest Nordic Wireless Quarter Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in most beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of the same Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:

A wearable that provides walk cueing for people with Parkinson’s disease
A new Casio watch offers 16 hour battery life with non-stop GPS
An electric jet board offering wireless remote control
Industrial Monitoring devices that detect equipment issues
An asset tracker that operates on harvested indoor light energy
An orthopaedic sensor that improves post-surgery patient outcomes

There’s an in-depth article on the ‘The Internet of Medical Things’ explaining how this will transform healthcare. An article on ‘Building the Clean Dream’ describes how IoT is promising cities a smarter way to manage the growing challenges of waste and pollution. A feature on ‘Safety First’ shows how the safety industry is using wireless solutions to protect us in our homes, at work and while we play.

Nordic Wireless Quarter Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in many beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:

The T1 Tomahawk smart tape measure
A beacon tag that enables a wireless manifest for helicopter crews
LocoTrack pallet tracking beacons
A pet tracker beacon that uses machine learning to detect animal health problems

The magazine also announces the new nRF54 Series of SoCs that have higher performance processing and much more on-board memory. We don’t expect these to end up in beacons because such performance isn’t required for beacons. Instead they will make their way into solutions such as Bluetooth gateways.

There’s an in-depth article on Retail that shows how wireless tech is improving the retail experience, maximising profits for the retailer and delivering value added convenience for customers. There’s mention of Stratosfy’s Tempgenie solution that uses temperature sensor beacons and a Bluetooth LE to Wi-Fi gateway to measure and alert on the ambient and surface temperature of front- and back-of-house
equipment.

Finally, there’s a useful article ‘Planet Bluetooth’ that charts the history of Bluetooth’s spread and evolution into areas and applications that were once unimagined.

Nordic Semiconductor Wireless Q Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in the majority of beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

This issue of the magazine highlights the use of Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:

Wearables providing seniors’ healthcare metrics
The Galaxy SmartTag
TraceTag and YardTag smart tags for livestock tracking
Connected rowing machines
A GPS bike computer

The magazine leads with a description of a new SoC the nRF7002 for Wi-Fi 6 IoT applications. There’s also a useful article on Amazon Sidewalk that allows devices to work better indoors and extend reach beyond the home. An in-depth article, ‘How the IoT Can Help Save the World’, explains how IoT is helping countries, communities and companies meet their green responsibilities. There are also two further articles on IoT in warehousing and the use of devices for health and assigned for seniors.

Latest Nordic Wireless Quarter Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in many beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of Nordic SoCs in the following Bluetooth solutions:

Bluetooth LE wildlife tracking solution
Tracker notifications to parents if their child wanders off from a caregiver
Bluetooth 5 monitor for refrigeration equipment
Indoor asset tracking platform monitoring essential medical equipment in hospitals

It’s interesting that some of these companies have chosen to create their own hardware even though these scenarios are achievable using generic beacons. Sometimes, a custom hardware product has more credibility for investors and customers. However, similar levels of kudos can be achieved by branding and/or over-casing generic devices with much less cost and risk.

The magazine also has an interesting article on how smart toy manufacturers are engaging and educating children.

Read Nordic Semiconductor Wireless Quarter

Nordic Wireless Q Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in many beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of the SoC in the following Bluetooth solutions:

A smart animal tracking and management system.
A handheld device used by students to answer test questions, record their attendance, answer surveys and provide class feedback.

There are also some interesting articles on:

How Bluetooth IoT sensors are enabling insurers to manage risks and mitigate claims by advancing accident prediction and prevention.
An explanation of the global chip shortage, manufacturing challenges and mitigations.
How IoT data can be used with AI machine learning to improve decision-making.

Read Nordic Semiconductor Wireless Quarter

New Nordic Wireless Quarter Magazine

Nordic Semiconductor, the manufacturer of the System on a Chip (SoC) in many beacons, has published the latest online issue of Wireless Quarter Magazine. It showcases the many uses of Nordic SoCs.

The latest issue of the magazine highlights the use of the SoC in the following Bluetooth solutions:

Leak detectors that harvest energy from water
A smart lock that can be retrofitted to most doors
Future wearables that can detect Alzheimer’s disease

There are also articles on how IoT is forecast to save eight times more energy than it consumes, a piece on smart homes and an in-depth explanation how advanced wearables are moving beyond fitness to provide better health outcomes.

Read Nordic Semiconductor Wireless Quarter

Programmable Beacons

Many people come to us asking for “programmable beacons” when in fact they want beacons with configurable iBeacon UUID, major and minor. All beacons allow the UUID, major and minor to be changed, usually via an iOS and/or Android app and sometimes via USB/UART for changing the values, over time, via a program. This is changing the settings rather than programming.

Truly programmable beacons are those where the internal software can be updated. The beacon contains a system on a chip that’s small computer running code to implement the beacon functionality. In most cases, the software can be updated via pads on the PCB:

Programming requires use of a programmer:

It can be difficult to program larger numbers so a custom-made jig is used:

It’s not possible to see and update the existing code in a beacon. Any newly uploaded program has to be created from scratch using c/c++ code. This is called embedded programming, is non-trivial and takes of the order of months.

Read about Beaconzone custom solutions

No Firmware NanoBeacon SoC

Almost all beacons are slight derivations of a few standard circuit designs and firmware provided by Texas Instruments, Dialog and Nordic who produce the System On a Chip (SoC) inside beacons. The SoCs are general purpose devices that can do a lot more than just advertise as beacons but the beacon manufacturers only provide fixed firmware that performs just this one function, occasionally with additional sensing.

The use of firmware-based SoCs for beacons means there’s a lot of hardware and software (SDKs) that goes into creating a beacon. Much of this isn’t needed if the chip is designed for the single purpose of being a beacon. We previously mentioned the AK1594 but have yet to see any designs making use of this device.

The InPlay NanoBeacon IN100 is a newer device that has recently received Bluetooth 5.3 certification. It’s small (DFN8 is 2.5 x 2.5mm), inexpensive (designs using it are expected to be <$1) and no firmware or SDK is required.

The IN100 uses only 650nA when used with 1 minute advertising intervals that means it will last a very long time under battery power. The range can be up to several hundred meters. It’s configured using a programmer board connected by USB. A smartphone app is used for configuration. InPlay have a video demonstrating configuration:

We expect this SoC will end up being embedded in products rather than being used stand-alone in beacons because beacon manufacturers are already heavily invested into firmware-based beacons.