Manage Bluetooth Configuration

About this task

WiNG access points utilize a built-in Bluetooth chip for specific Bluetooth functional behaviors in a WiNG managed network. Both Bluetooth classic and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology are supported. Bluetooth classic-enabled radios sense other Bluetooth-enabled devices and report device data (MAC address, RSSI and device calls) to an ADSP server for intrusion detection. If the device presence varies in an unexpected manner, ADSP can raise an alarm.

WiNG model access points support Bluetooth beaconing to emit either iBeacon or Eddystone-URL beacons. The access point‘s Bluetooth radio periodically sends non-connectable, undirected low-energy (LE) advertisement packets. These advertisement packets are short and sent on Bluetooth advertising channels that conform to already-established iBeacon and Eddystone-URL standards. However, portions of the advertising packet are customizable via the Bluetooth radio interface configuration context.

To define a Bluetooth radio interface configuration:

Procedure

Select Configuration → Devices from the web UI.
The Device Configuration screen displays in the right-hand UI. This screen lists managed devices or peer controllers, service platforms, or access points.
Select a target access point in the lower left-hand side of the UI.
You can also select a target device by double-clicking it in the list in the Device Configuration screen.
Select Profile Overrides → Interface.
Select Bluetooth.

Profile Overrides - Bluetooth Screen

Set the following Bluetooth Radio Configuration parameters:


Admin Status	Select Enabled or Disabled to enable/disable support for Bluetooth beacon transmission on the selected access point. The default value is disabled.
Description	Define a 64 character maximum description for the access point‘s Bluetooth radio to differentiate this radio interface from other Bluetooth supported radio‘s that might be members of the same RF Domain.

Set the following Basic Settings:


Bluetooth Radio Functional Mode	Use this option to set the access point‘s Bluetooth radio functional mode. The options are:. bt-sensor – Select this option to enable the radio as a bt-sensor. BT sensors are Bluetooth classic sensors providing robust wireless connections for legacy devices. Typically these connections are not ideally suited for the newer BLE (Bluetooth low energy) technology supported devices. This is the default setting. le-beacon – Select this option to provide Bluetooth support for newer BLE technology supported devices. Le-beacons are newer Bluetooth low energy beacons ideal for applications requiring intermittent or periodic transfers of small amounts of data. Le-beacons are not designed as replacements for classic beacon sensors. If selecting this option, configure the Beacon transmission period and Beacon transmission pattern. Note: Setting the Bluetooth Radio Functional mode to 'le-becon' enables the 'Beacon Transmission Period' and 'Beacon Transmission Pattern' options. le-sensor – Select this option to provide Bluetooth support for LE (low energy) asset tracking. When enabled, it uses the AP‘s Bluetooth radio to detect BLE ‘asset tags‘ within the managed network. This information is reported to a backend server (for example, ExtremeLocation, ADSP, or a third-party server). The interval at which the AP scans for asset tags is determined by the Sensor policy applied on the AP's self or in the AP's RF domain context. For information on Sensor policies, see Sensor Policy. le-dual - Select this option to enable the AP to beacon and scan concurrently. As of now, WiNG APs can either perform beaconing or scanning operation. Starting with WiNG 7.3.1, APs can be configured to perform both operations concurrently. When not beaconing, the AP will switch to scanning. In the le-dual mode, by default, APs beacon once in every 60 seconds and scan the rest of the time. When performing scanning, the radio senses other BLE devices and sends the information to a backend server (ExtremeLocation, ADSP, or third-party). The backend server configuration is set in the AP's RF Domain context. Note: This feature is supported only on the following IoT enabled APs: AP510i/e, AP560i/h, AP7632, AP8432, AP8533.
Beacon Transmission Period	Use this spinner control to set the Bluetooth radio‘s beacon transmission period from 50 - 10,000 milliseconds. As the defined period increases, so does the CPU processing time and the number packets incrementally transmitted (typically one per minute). The default setting is 1,000 milliseconds. Note: This parameter is enabled when the functional mode is set to 'le-beacon'.
Beacon Transmission Pattern	Use this drop-down menu to set the beacon‘s transmission pattern. The options are: eddystone_url1 and eddystone_url2 - An eddystone-URL frame broadcasts a URL using a compressed encoding scheme to better fit within a limited advertisement packet. Once decoded, the URL can be used by a client for internet access. ibeacon - iBeacon was created by Apple for use in iOS devices (beginning with iOS version 7.0). Apple has made three data fields available to iOS applications: a UUID for device identification, a Major value for device class, and a Minor value for more refined information like product category. Note: This parameter is enabled when the functional mode is set to 'le-beacon'.
Beacon Transmission Power	Use this spinner control to set the Bluetooth radio‘s le-beacon transmit power. This determines how far a beacon can transmit data. <-15-31> – Specify a value from -15 to 31 dBM. The default value is -10 dBm.

Define the following Eddystone Settings if you have set the Beacon Transmission Pattern to either eddystone_url1 or eddystone_url2:


Eddystone Beacon Calibration Signal Strength	Set the Eddystone Beacon measured calibration signal strength, from -127 dBm to 127 dBm, at 0 meters. Mobile devices can approximate their distance to beacons based on received signal strength. However, distance readings can fluctuate since they depend on several external factors. The closer you are to a beacon, the more accurate the reported distance. This setting is the projected calibration signal strength at 0 meters. The default setting is -19 dBm.
URL-1 to Transmit Eddystone-URL	Enter a 64-character maximum Eddystone-URL1. The URL must be 17 characters or less once auto-encoding is applied. URL encoding is used when placing text in a query string to avoid confusion with the URL itself. It is typically used when a browser sends data to a web server.
URL-2 to Transmit Eddystone-URL	Enter a 64-character maximum Eddystone-URL2. The URL must be 17 characters or less once auto-encoding is applied. URL encoding is used when placing text in a query string to avoid confusion with the URL itself. It is typically used when a browser sends data to a web server.

Define the following iBeacon Settings if you have set the Beacon Transmission Pattern to ibeacon:


Beacon Calibration Signal Strength	Set the iBeacon measured calibration signal strength, from -127 dBm to 127 dBm, at 1 meter. Mobile devices can approximate their distance to beacons based on received signal strength. However, distance readings can fluctuate since they depend on several external factors. The closer you are to a beacon, the more accurate the reported distance. This setting is the projected calibration signal strength at 1 meter. The default setting is -60 dBm.
iBeacon Major Number	Set the iBeacon major value from 0 - 65, 535. Major values identify and distinguish groups. For example, each beacon on a specific floor in a building could be assigned a unique major value. The default value is 1,111.
iBeacon Minor Number	Set the iBeacon minor value from 0 - 65, 535. Minor values identify and distinguish individual beacons. Minor values help identify individual beacons within a group of beacons assigned a major value. The default setting is 2,222.
iBeacon UUID	Define a 32 hex character maximum Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID). The UUID classification contains 32 hexadecimal digits, split into 5 groups, separated by dashes – for example, `f2468da6-5fa8-2e84-1134- bc5b71e0893e`. The UUID distinguishes iBeacons in the network from all other beacons in networks outside of your direct administration.

Click OK to save the changes made to the Bluetooth configuration.
Click Reset to revert to the last saved configuration.