ble-beacon

BLE beacon based on nRF51822 MCU.

Capabilities

• Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 compatible
• Switching between Apple's iBeacon and Google's Eddystone beacon standards
• Compatible with nRF Beacon and nRF Beacon for Eddystone mobile applications
• Additional data included in scan response for iBeacon (voltage and temperature)
• Ability to switch to connectable mode and, when connected:
  • set advertised manufacturer data (major and minor version, company ID, UUID, and reference RSSI for iBeacon mode)
  • configure advertising interval
  • enable or disable LED indication
  • handle Nordic LED Button Service
  • perform Buttonless DFU over BLE (Nordic Secure DFU)

System architecture

Pure bare-metal architecture using nRF5 SDK, SoftDevice, and the Application Scheduler library.

BLE Services

Service	Service UUID	Characteristic	Characteristic UUID	Properties	Permissions	Descriptors	Description
Advertising Data	—	Battery Service (BAS)	0x180F	Broadcast	—	—	Battery level advertised in BLE advertising packet
Advertising Data	—	Health Thermometer Service	0x1809	Broadcast	—	—	Temperature advertised in BLE advertising packet
Nordic LBS	00001523-1212-efde-1523-785feabcd123	Button	00001524-1212-efde-1523-785feabcd123	Read, Indicate	Read	CCC (0x2902)	Button state
Nordic LBS	00001523-1212-efde-1523-785feabcd123	LED	00001525-1212-efde-1523-785feabcd123	Write	Write Authenticated	—	LED control
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Beacon UUID	955a1524-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	iBeacon UUID (16 bytes)
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Calibration	955a1525-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Measured RSSI @1m (int8, dBm)
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Major & Minor	955a1526-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Major + Minor (2x uint16, big-endian)
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Manufacturer ID	955a1527-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	BLE company identifier (e.g. 0x004C for Apple iBeacon)
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Connection Interval	955a1528-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Preferred connectable advertising interval (uint16, ms)
Beacon Config	955a1523-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	LED Config	955a1529-0fe2-f5aa-a094-84b8d4f3e8ad	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	LED behavior configuration
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Capabilities	a3c87501-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read	Read	—	Supported frames, slots, features
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Active Slot	a3c87502-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Currently selected advertising slot
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Advertising Interval	a3c87503-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Advertising interval (ms)
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Radio Tx Power	a3c87504-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Radio transmit power (dBm)
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	(Advanced) Advertised Tx Power	a3c87505-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Calibrated Tx power in frame
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Lock State	a3c87506-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Beacon lock status
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Unlock	a3c87507-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Unlock challenge/response
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Public ECDH Key	a3c87508-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read	Read	—	Public key for secure config
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	EID Identity Key	a3c87509-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read	Read	—	Identity key for EID
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	ADV Slot Data	a3c8750a-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Frame data (UID/URL/TLM/EID)
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	(Advanced) Factory Reset	a3c8750b-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Write	Write	—	Reset configuration to defaults
Eddystone Config	a3c87500-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	(Advanced) Remain Connectable	a3c8750c-8ed3-4bdf-8a39-a01bebede295	Read, Write	Read, Write	—	Keep device connectable flag
Buttonless DFU Service (Exp)	8e400001-f315-4f60-9fb8-838830daea50	Buttonless DFU	8e400001-f315-4f60-9fb8-838830daea50	Write, Notify	Write	CCC (0x2902)	Trigger DFU mode (jump to bootloader)
Secure DFU Service	0xFE59	DFU Packet	8ec90002-f315-4f60-9fb8-838830daea50	Write Without Response	Write	—	Firmware data / command objects
Secure DFU Service	0xFE59	DFU Control Point	8ec90001-f315-4f60-9fb8-838830daea50	Write, Notify	Write	CCC (0x2902)	DFU commands and responses

User Interface

• Button 0 – Switch to connection mode / Enter bootloader on startup

• LED 0 – Advertising / Connectable advertising / Connected / Bootloader mode indication

• Button 1 – Button for Nordic LBS

• LED 1 – LED for Nordic LBS

Tools

• CMake 3.20.0
• Ninja 1.11.1
• Arm GNU Toolchain 13.2.rel1 (Build arm-13.7) 13.2.1 20231009
• JLink v796k
• nrfutil 8.0.0

External libraries

• nRF5 SDK v12.3.0
• SoftDevice s130_nrf51_2.0.1

Build

Generate ninja files

cmake --preset <hw_version>_<config>

Generate private key for DFU

cmake --build build --target generate_key --parallel

Build project

cmake --build --preset <hw_version>_<config>

External links

nRF51822 revisions

Android nRF Beacon for Eddystone