Location-Specific Services via BLE Beacons
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods of location-based services using Wi-Fi signals are difficult to secure and rely on cumbersome authentication protocols, preventing automatic and frictionless notifications and transactions between business and non-business users.
Innovation Solution
The technology connects users with non-business subscriptions to a telecommunications network with business subscribers using business beacons that provide location-specific services over short-range communications, employing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals for secure and automatic interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If Wi-Fi signals are used for location-based services, then service coverage is extended, but security vulnerabilities and authentication complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons as intermediary devices that operate independently of Wi-Fi networks. These beacons serve as mediator objects that enable location-based services without requiring Wi-Fi connectivity, thereby resolving the security vulnerability inherent in Wi-Fi-based solutions while maintaining service coverage through decentralized beacon deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the Wi-Fi communication mechanism with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. This substitution eliminates dependence on complex Wi-Fi authentication protocols and network infrastructure, providing a simpler, more secure short-range communication mechanism that maintains location-based service functionality without Wi-Fi's security vulnerabilities.
2Reliability
If Wi-Fi authentication protocols are implemented, then service security is improved, but operational complexity and user friction increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authentication requirement entirely from the location-based service flow by using BLE beacons that operate without authentication protocols. The system removes the cumbersome Wi-Fi login and authentication steps, allowing users to receive location-based services automatically without any authentication friction while maintaining security through the inherent security model of BLE technology.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a self-service mechanism where BLE beacons automatically provide location-based services without requiring user authentication or interaction. The system handles service delivery autonomously based on proximity detection, eliminating the need for users to engage with authentication protocols while maintaining secure operation through BLE's built-in security features.
3Ease of operation
If Bluetooth Low Energy beacons are deployed, then authentication complexity is reduced, but service coverage area is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the service coverage area into multiple zones, each covered by individual BLE beacons deployed at strategic locations. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simple authentication at each beacon while collectively achieving extensive coverage through the distributed network of beacons, effectively resolving the contradiction between local simplicity and global coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple BLE beacon coverage areas into a comprehensive service network. By deploying numerous beacons throughout the target area and integrating their coverage zones, the system achieves extensive overall coverage while each individual beacon maintains the simplicity of short-range BLE communication without requiring complex authentication.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables enhanced, secure, and automatic location-based services, allowing businesses to provide contextually relevant advertisements and notifications to users without the need for cumbersome authentication protocols.
Implementation Method 1
The technology employs UHF radio waves in the ISM bands, from 2.402 GHz to 2.48 GHz
Data Source
AI summary
A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a system to enable a location-based service. The location-based service is associated with a business subscriber of the telecommunications network and is based on input from a user subscriber of the telecommunications network. The system receives a first indication that the user device is at a first location based on a first signal strength of a beacon signal broadcast at a business site by a beacon of the business subscriber. The system causes the user device to present a first content based on the first location. The system receives a second indication that the user device is at a second location based on a second signal strength of the beacon signal. The system causes the user device to present a second content that is different from the first content and is based on the second location.