SE539145C2 - Improved ability to detect passive beacon receiver devices in a short-range wireless beacon communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

CF 029~Div 1 31 ABSTRACT A method for improving the ability to detect passive beacon receiver devices isdisclosed. According to the method, a beacon communication system Which comprisesone or more short-range Wireless beacon transmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3), at least oneof Which is configured to repeatedly transmit (210) a short-range Wireless beaconadvertisement signal (BA1-BA3) on a first beacon broadcast channel (UUID1), isoperated by causing (220) a device (B1; Bg; A2) among the short-range Wireless beacontransmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3) to temporarily transmit a short-range Wireless beaconrefresh signal (BR1; BRQ) on a second beacon broadcast channel (UUID2) at a definedoccasion. The beacon refresh signal is adapted to cause (230) one or more short-rangeWireless beacon receiver devices (P1) being in a passive mode to enter into a short-rangeWireless beacon scanning mode. A server (SS; SP) receives (S12, S30) respectivereports from beacon receiver devices (P1) being in the passive mode When havingdetected respective beacon advertisement signals (BA1-BA3) from the short-rangeWireless beacon transmitter devices (A1-A3) on the first beacon broadcast channel(UUIDl), registers (S 14, S32) a relation between the reporting beacon receiver device(P1) being in the passive mode and the beacon transmitter device (A1; A2) whose beaconadvertisement signal it detected, receives (S18, S40) an enquiry from one of the beacontransmitter devices (A1; A3), Wherein the enquiry identif1es at least one of the beacontransmitter devices (A1; A1-A2), and responds (S20, S42) to the enquiring beacontransmitter device (A1; A3) With information about beacon receiver devices (P1) being inthe passive mode for Which a relation With the identified the beacon transmitter device(A1; A1-A2) has been registered. To be published With Fig l0B

Description

IMPROVED ABILITY TO DETECT PASSIVE BEACON RECEIVER DEVICES INA SHORT-RANGE WIRELESS BEACON COMMUNICATION SYSTEM TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to the field of beacon communicationsystem comprising one or more short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices and oneor more short-range wireless beacon receiver devices. More specifically, the inventionrelates to a short-range wireless beacon communication system With improved ability todetect passive beacon receiver devices. The invention also relates to an associatedmethod.

BACKGROUND Short-range wireless beacons are used at various sites, such as shops,restaurants, cultural venues and sport arenas, to attract attention from nearby users ofmobile communication devices such as mobile terminals like smartphones or tablets.The abbreviated notion mobile devices will be used herein when referring to suchmobile communication devices.

For instance, the iBeacon technology from Apple allows for mobile devices tounderstand their location on a micro-local scale, and also allows delivery of hyper-contextual content to the users of mobile devices based on their current location. TheiBeacon technology is based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard, and moreparticularly on Generic Access Profile (GAP) advertising packets. There are severalother kinds of short-range wireless beacon technologies, for instance AltBeacon,URIBeacon and Eddystone, which are also based on BLE and GAP.

A basic short-range wireless beacon system is shown in Fig 1A. A beacondevice Bl repeatedly broadcasts a short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BAlin a 31-byte GAP BLE packet. The beacon advertisement signal BAl contains a 128-bituniversally unique identifier, UUID1. The beacon advertisement signal BAl alsoincludes a 32-bit major/minor portion. A location or region associated with the beacondevice Bl is represented by the universally unique identifier UUID1, and in someimplementations also by the major/minor portion. The universally unique identifierUUID1 can therefore be seen as a beacon broadcast channel upon which the beacondevice Bl makes local broadcasts intended for beacon receivers in the location or regionassociated with the beacon device Bl.

A conventional beacon device is typically static in the sense that it ispermanently placed at a stationary location at a site for which beacon-triggered servicesare to be provided. Mobile devices nearby may receive the short-range wireless beaconadvertisement signal BA1 if they are within the proximity zone, i.e. range, of the beacondevice B1.

To this end, each mobile device is provided with an application program, app,which is configured to handle the received short-range wireless beacon advertisementsignals, in this case signal BA1, as addressed by the respective universally uniqueidentifier contained in the signals, in this case the UUID1 transmitted by the beacondevice B1. These apps may be handled by the operating system of the mobile device indifferent modes. The most prominent mode is the active mode, in which the appexecutes in the foreground, and typically is capable to interact with the user of themobile communication device and also to communicate with another device or a servervia the short-range wireless beacon interface and/ or another communication interface.In Fig 1A, two mobile devices in the active mode are shown as A1 and A2. When, forinstance, mobile device A1 receives the beacon advertisement signal BA1, the app in themobile device A1 may detect that the UUIDl is contained therein and use it togetherwith the information in the maj or/minor portion as appropriate in some way which isbeneficial to the user and/or the host of the beacon device B1 and which often involvesinteraction between the app in the mobile device A1 and a service provider SP over acommunication network NW.

Examples of such beneficial use includes, without limitation, determining acurrent approximate position of the mobile device A1 by retrieving a predefined positionof the beacon device B1 from the service provider SP or by cross reference with locallookup data, or retrieving a content from the service provider SP.

A mobile device where the app is in active mode is referred to as an activemobile device in this document. An active mobile device A1, A2 may receive and reactto additional transmissions of the beacon advertisement signal BA1 from the beacondevice B1; this may be useful for instance if the content associated with the host of thebeacon device B1 is updated or changed.

Furthermore, an active mobile device may receive and react to beaconadvertisement signals from other beacon devices nearby, such as beacon device B2 inFig 1A, provided that they are already within the proximity zone of the respectivebeacon device (see mobile device A2 with respect to beacon device B2 in Fig 1A), or move closer to it (mobile device A1 and beacon device B2). This is so irrespective of whether the different beacon devices Bl and BZ broadcast on different channels(different UUIDs in the beacon advertisement signals), or on the same channel (sameUUID, UUID1, in the beacon advertisement signals BAl and BA2, like in Fig 1A). It isto be noticed that the same UUID/same single beacon broadcast channel is very oftenused for different beacon devices hosted by the same host, such as within the sameSupermarket, arena, fastfood restaurant, etc.

The operating system of the mobile devices may also handle apps in a passivemode. A purpose of the passive mode is power preservation, since the mobile devices are typically powered by batteries and since it is a general technical ambition to maximize the operational time of a mobile device between successive charging sessions.

In the passive mode, the app executes in the background or is only installed on themobile device.

Transitions between active mode and passive mode may be based on userinteraction, user preference settings in the app or the operating system, or program logicin the app or the operating system.

A mobile device where the app is in passive mode is referred to as a passivemobile device in this document. In the passive mode, the app typically cannot interactwith the user via the user interface, nor communicate with a server or another device -except for the following. Just like active mobile devices, a nearby passive mobile device(such as Pl in Fig 1A) may receive a short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal(such as BAl) if it is within the proximity zone of the beacon device in question (e.g.Bl). However, unlike active mobile devices, after a short beacon scanning mode duringwhich the beacon device Bl is discoverable and also communication with server oranother device is possible, and unless it switches to active mode, the passive mobiledevice Pl will n_ot be able to react to additional transmissions on the beacon broadcastchannel UUIDl from the beacon device Bl. Instead, after the short beacon scanningmode (which typically lasts for some seconds, such as about 10 seconds), the passivemobile device Pl will be “deaf° to, i.e. ignore, additional transmissions on the beaconbroadcast channel UUID1 for as long as it stays in passive mode and continues to detectany advertisement on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1, for instance because itremains within the proximity zone of the beacon device Bl and continues to detect itsbeacon advertisement signal BAl_ Only once the passive mobile device Pl has notreceived the beacon advertisement signal BAl, or any other communication, on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 for a certain time, such as 1-15 minutes, the passive mobile device P1 will again be susceptive of the beacon advertisement signal BA1, orany other communication, on the beacon broadcast channel UUID l.

The present inventors have identified several problems associated with theabove.

It is a problem for the host of the beacon device B1, since it will prevent thehost from advertising for new or updated content. It is also a problem to the passivemobile device P1, since it will be deprived of an opportunity to react on the beaconadvertisement signal BA1 on the beacon broadcast channel UUlDl during the periodwhen it is “deafened out”.

This also means that When there are several beacon devices nearby, a passivemobile device will be locked to the beacon device (or more specifically, to its beaconbroadcast channel UUlDl) which it first discovered for as long as it stays within thatbeacon device”s proximity zone. In the example of Fig 1A, the passive mobile device P1has first discovered the first beacon device B1_ It then moves towards and enters into theproximity zone of the second beacon device BZ while remaining within reach of the firstbeacon device B1_ Since the two beacon devices B1 and BZ broadcast their beaconadvertisement signals BA1 and BAZ on the same beacon broadcast channel (sameUUlDl), the passive mobile device P1 will not be able to discover the second beacondevice BZ and react to its beacon advertisement signal BAZ.

This is, again, problematic both from the point of view of the passive mobiledevice P1 itself and for the host of the second beacon device BZ, for the reasonsexplained above. In addition to this, the host of the second beacon device BZ will not beable to track the movement of the passive mobile device P1 and broadcast an adaptedservice offer to the user of the passive mobile device P1 as a result of the movement(such as, for instance, offering a first content when the user is in a first subarea wherethe first beacon device B1 is located and a different, second content when the user is in asecond subarea where the second beacon device BZ is located).

Moreover, if the app in the passive mobile device uses beacon-basedlocalization functionality, the passive mobile device will not be able to update itsestimated location caused by the movement, since the second beacon device BZ will notbe detected when the passive mobile device P1 is still within range of the first beacondevice B1.

In recent time, applications have been introduced which are based on mobilebeacon devices rather than stationary. For instance, the present applicant has taken leadership in developing a new beacon-based technology which considerably facilitates for users of mobile devices which are proximate to each other to interact by, forinstance, sharing content or conducting social media interaction.

The technology, which can be referred to as a “bubble” concept, is based onshort-range wireless beacon broadcast messaging for establishing a dynamic, proximity-based network. Interaction between the users of the mobile devices in the network issupported by broadband communication with a server. Details are disclosed in theSwedish patent applications SE 1451203-2 “COMMUNICATION DEVICE FORIMPROVED SHARING OF CONTENT”, SE 1400535-9 “SELECTIVE USERINTERACTION IN A DYNAMIC, PROXIMITY-BASED GROUP OF WIRELESSCOMMUNICATION DEVICES”, SE 1451433-5 “DYNAMIC TIMING FORIMPROVED COMMUNICATION HANDLING BETWEEN COMMUNICATIONDEVICES”, SE 1451509-2 “COMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR IMPROVEDESTABLISHIN G OF A CONNECTION BETWEEN DEVICES” and SE 1550486-3“TEMPORARY PROXIMITY BASED LICENSE FOR APPLICATION ACCESS”,the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.

A short-range wireless beacon system based on mobile beacon devices isshown in Fig lB. While it can generally be used for various different purposes, thesystem in Fig lB is advantageously used for implementing the above-mentioned bubbleconcept. To this end, each mobile device A1, A2, A3, P1 is provided with an app which(together with the operating system and hardware in the mobile device) is configured tohandle transmission as well as reception of short-range wireless beacon advertisementsignals. Hence, unlike the basic static beacon system in Fig 1A, in the bubble system ofFig lB, each mobile device can act as a beacon transmitting device as well as a beaconreceiving device. In Fig lB, the mobile device A1 is in active mode and repeatedlybroadcasts its short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1, containing thel28-bit universally unique identifier UUIDl as a beacon broadcast channel indicatorand a device identifier uidAl within the 32-bit major/minor portion of the beaconadvertisement signal.

Other active mobile devices A2, A3 within the proximity zone PZ1 of themobile device BA1 can receive the beacon advertisement signal BA1, read the UUIDland the uidAl, and as a result contact a system server SS over a communicationnetwork NW. The app in the receiving mobile device may decide, for instance based onuser interaction, user preference settings and/or program logic in the app, to join thebubble of the mobile device A1, wherein the system server SS will register the receivingmobile device as belonging to the bubble of the mobile device A1. This is seen for the active mobile devices A2 and A3 in Fig lB. The users of the bubble members A1-A3may then, for instance, share content or conduct social media interaction supported by asystem server SS and/or a service provider SP over the communication network NW.

There may also be passive mobile devices Within the proximity zone PZ1 of theactive mobile device A1. This is seen for a passive mobile device P1 in Fig lB. Thepassive mobile device P1 will also receive the beacon advertisement signal BA1 on theUUIDl channel. However, if the mobile device P1 remains in passive mode, it will notbe able to react to additional transmissions on the beacon broadcast channel UUIDlfrom the active mobile device A1 for the reasons explained above with respect to FiglA. The passive mobile device P1 will therefore not be susceptive of additional trans-missions of the beacon advertisement signal BA1 from the active mobile device A1 foras long as it stays within its proximity zone PZ1_ This problematic situation is complicated further by the fact that in a bubblesystem, all active mobile devices are potential senders as well as receivers of beaconadvertisement signals. As seen in Fig IC, the other active mobile devices A2 and A3may also send respective beacon advertisement signal BA2 and BA3 to generate arespective bubble of nearby mobile devices within their respective proximity zones PZ2and PZ3. These transmissions typically occur on the same common beacon broadcastchannel UUIDl, Wherein the transmissions are individualized by including a respectivedevice identifier uidA2 and uidA3 within the 32-bit major/minor portion of therespective beacon advertisement signal BA2 and BA3.

While the active mobile devices A1 and A3 may react to the beacon advertise-ment signal BA2 and hence join the bubble of the active mobile devices A2 (andcorrespondingly for the active mobile devices A1 and A2 with respect to the activemobile device A3), this is not so for the passive mobile device P1 since it has alreadydetected the beacon advertisement signal BA1 of the first active mobile device A1 andthus been deafened out on the beacon broadcast channel UUIDl.

A problem from the point of view of the passive mobile device P1 is that it willnot have any opportunity to hear the beacon advertisement signals BA2 or BA3 on thecommon beacon broadcast channel UUIDl and as a result not be given any opportunityto join other bubbles than the bubble of the first active mobile device A1. A problemfrom the point of view of the active mobile devices A2 and A3 is correspondingly thatthey will not be aware of the presence of the passive mobile device P1 within theirproximity zones PZ2 and PZ3, nor announce their availability as bubble creators to the passive mobile device P1_ As is clear from the above descriptions of the exemplifying situations in FigslA-lC, the present inventors have identified several problem with beacon systems ofthe prior art, both ones that are based on one or more static beacon devices, and thosethat are based on mobile beacon devices.

One possible solution that could have been considered by those of ordinaryskill in the art would be to use difference beacon broadcast channels for the differentbeacon devices. Beacon device Bl/active mobile device A1 would use a first beaconbroadcast channel UUlDl, beacon device BI/active mobile device A2 would use asecond beacon broadcast channel UUID2, active mobile device A3 would use a thirdbeacon broadcast channel UUID3, and so on. However, this is not attractive formanufacturers of operating systems for mobile devices, since it would require enormousresources to allocate unique beacon broadcast channels to all possible beacondevices/mobile devices. In reality, an operating system manufacturer typically onlyallows for a few different UUIDs to be used by a certain mobile device app, whichrenders this solution clearly unfeasible.

Another possible solution that could have been considered by those of ordinaryskill in the art would be to use push messages from a central instance via a network,such as the service provider SP or system server SS via the communication networkNW in Figs lA-lC, to reach all mobile devices in a certain proximity zone. This wouldhowever have several disadvantages in itself. All mobile devices would have to monitorfor such push messages on a frequent basis, which would require both modification ofall mobile devices and increase of the power consumption. Adding a push notificationservice would require registering the app to push notification and also implementingsome appropriate push notification code at the back end of the system, which of coursehas an expense. Also, uncertainty as regards when the user can be reached by anotification in time would be introduced, since push notification messages cannot beguaranteed to arrive.

As will be clear from the following description, the present inventors haveinstead invented a different solution which will solve, eliminate, alleviate, mitigate or reduce at least some of the problems referred to above.

SUMMARYlt is accordingly an object of the invention to offer improvements in thetechnical field of short-range wireless beacon communication systems, and to solve, eliminate, alleviate, mitigate or reduce at least some of the problems referred to above.

One aspect of the present invention is a beacon communication systemcomprising one or more short-range Wireless beacon transmitter devices, Wherein adevice among the short-range Wireless beacon transmitter devices is configured torepeatedly transmit a short-range Wireless beacon advertisement signal on a first beaconbroadcast channel, and Wherein a device among the short-range Wireless beacontransmitter devices is configured to temporarily transmit a short-range Wireless beaconrefresh signal on a second beacon broadcast channel, the beacon refresh signal beingadapted to cause one or more short-range Wireless beacon receiver devices being in apassive mode to enter into a short-range Wireless beacon scanning mode. The beaconcommunication system is characterized in its entirety by the features of the attachedindependent system claim.

Hence, a beacon communication system With improved ability to detect passivebeacon receiver devices has been provided.

Another aspect of the present invention is a method of operating a beaconcommunication system which comprises one or more short-range wireless beacontransmitter devices, at least one of Which is configured to repeatedly transmit a short-range Wireless beacon advertisement signal on a first beacon broadcast channel. Themethod involves causing a device among the short-range Wireless beacon transmitterdevices to temporarily transmit a short-range Wireless beacon refresh signal on a secondbeacon broadcast channel, the beacon refresh signal being adapted to cause one or moreshort-range Wireless beacon receiver devices being in a passive mode to enter into ashort-range Wireless beacon scanning mode. The method is characterized in its entiretyby the features of the attached independent method claim.

Accordingly, a method of operating a beacon communication system Withimproved ability to detect passive beacon receiver devices has been provided.

Other aspects, objectives, features and advantages of the disclosed embodi-ments Will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependentclaims as Well as from the draWings. Generally, all terms used in the claims are to beinterpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitlydefined otherwise herein.

All references to "a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]" areto be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, device,component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of anymethod disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig 1A illustrates a basic short-range wireless beacon system having at least one static-location beacon device and a plurality of mobile devices acting as beaconreceivers.

Figs 1B-1C illustrates an alternative short-range wireless beacon system havinga plurality of mobile devices acting as beacon transmitters as well as beacon receivers.

Fig 2 illustrates a general method according to the invention of operating ashort-range wireless beacon communication system with improved ability to detectpassive beacon receiver devices.

Figs 3A-3C are illustrations of a chain of events occurring in a beacon systemgenerally designed according to one embodiment of the system in Fig 1A when beingsubjected to the operating method of Fig 2.

Figs 4A-4C are illustrations of a chain of events occurring in a beacon systemgenerally designed according to another embodiment of the system in Fig 1A whenbeing subjected to the operating method of Fig 2.

Figs 5A-5C are illustrations of a chain of events occurring in a beacon systemgenerally designed according to an embodiment of the system in Figs 1B-1C whenbeing subjected to the operating method of Fig 2.

Figs 6A and 6B are schematic views of a mobile communication deviceaccording to two respective embodiments.

Fig 7 is a schematic view of components of the mobile communication devicein Figs 6A or 6B.

Fig 8 is a schematic view of a computer-readable medium.

Fig 9 is a schematic view of components of a beacon device.

Figs 10A and l0B are schematic timeline charts illustrating exemplifyingoperation of the beacon system in Figs 5A-5C.

Fig 11 is a graph diagram illustrating relation information managed by asystem server about mobile devices in the beacon system in Figs 5A-5C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The disclosed embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the inventionare shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these lO embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Fig 2 illustrates a general method 200 of operating a short-range wirelessbeacon communication system with improved ability to detect passive beacon receiverdevices. The method may be applied, for instance, in the short-range wireless beaconcommunication system shown in Fig 1A, or in the short-range wireless beacon com-munication system shown in Figs lB-lC.

In a first step 210, at least one short-range wireless beacon transmitter devicerepeatedly transmits a short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal on a firstbeacon broadcast channel. This represents the normal modus operandí of any typicalshort-range wireless beacon communication system. In Fig 1A, step 210 maycorrespond to the beacon device B1 repeatedly transmitting its short-range wirelessbeacon advertisement signal BA1 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1.Similarly, in Fig 1B, step 210 may correspond to the first active mobile device A1repeatedly transmitting its short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 on thefirst beacon broadcast channel UUID 1.

As explained above, the transmission of the short-range wireless beaconadvertisement signal BA1 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1 will causereactions from other active mobile devices A1-A2 (Fig 1A)/A2-A3 (Fig lB) in theproximity zone PZ1_ The transmission on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1may also be detected by one or more passive mobile devices P1 in the proximity zonePZ1. However, as explained above in the Background section, each passive mobiledevice Pl will then not be susceptive of, i.e. reactive to, additional transmissions on thefirst beacon broadcast channel UUID1 as long as it remains Within reach of the sendingbeacon device B1/first active mobile device A1. The subsequent step 220 of the generalinventive method addresses this situation.

In step 220, a short-range wireless beacon transmitter device in the beaconsystem is caused to temporarily transmit a short-range wireless beacon refresh signal ona second beacon broadcast channel. As seen in step 230, the beacon refresh signal willcause one or more short-range wireless beacon receiver devices being in a passivemode, e. g. the aforementioned passive mobile device P1, to enter into a short-rangewireless beacon scanning mode. This will in effect serve as a poke signal to awake thepassive mobile device from its deafened condition, and hence again allow it to receive ll wireless beacon advertisement signals on the first beacon broadcast channel during thebeacon scanning mode and potentially switch to active mode.

Figs 3A-3C illustrate what happens to one embodiment of the beacon system inFig 1A when subjected to the Operating method of Fig 2. In this embodiment, thebeacon system only has a single, static-location beacon device Bl. The situation in step210 is represented by Fig 3A; the beacon device Bl repeatedly transmits its short-rangewireless beacon advertisement signal BAl on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1.Active mobile devices Al-Al may receive and react upon the beacon advertisementsignal BAl as previously discussed. Passive mobile device Pl may detect thetransmission of the sliort-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BAl on the firstbeacon broadcast channel UUID1, but unless it switches to active mode, it will betemporarily deafened out from reacting on further transmissions on the first beaconbroadcast channel UUID 1.

The situation in step 220 is represented by Fig 3B. Here, the beacon device Bltemporarily suspends transmission on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1 andinstead switches to transmit a short-range wireless beacon refresh signal BRl on asecond beacon broadcast channel UUID2, where UUID2 is different from UUID1.

The situation in step 230 is represented by Fig 3C. The beacon refresh signalBRl from step 220 will have awakened the passive mobile device Pl from its deafenedcondition and caused it to enter into the short-range wireless beacon scanning mode.Meanwhile, the beacon device Bl has resumed its ordinary transmission of the wirelessbeacon advertisement signal BAl on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1. Hence,since it has now been caused into the beacon scanning mode, the passive mobile devicePl will again be able to receive the wireless beacon advertisement signal BAl on thefirst beacon broadcast channel UUID1, and potentially switch to active mode from thebeacon scanning mode. This is illustrated in F ig 3C as the former passive mobile devicePl now being an active mobile device All.

Figs 4A-4C illustrate what happens to another embodiment of the beaconsystem in Fig 1A when subjected to the operating method of Fig 2. In this embodiment,the beacon system still has the static-location beacon device Bl which repeatedlytransmits its short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BAl on the first beaconbroadcast channel UUlDl, see Fig 4A and step 210 in Fig 2. Active mobile devices Al-A2 may receive and react upon the beacon advertisement signal BAl as previouslydiscussed. Passive mobile device Pl may detect the transmission of the short-range wireless beacoii advertisement signal BAl on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1, l2 but again, unless it switches to active mode, it will be temporarily deafened out fromreacting on further transmissions on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID 1.

The situation in step 220 is represented by Fig 4B. Unlike in the previousembodiment (Fig 3B), the beacon device B1 in Fig 4B continues to transmit its short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 on the first beacon broadcast channelUUID1. Instead, a separate beacon device Bg is provided to temporarily transmit ashort-range wireless beacon refresh signal BR2 on a second beacon broadcast channelUUID2, where UUID2 again is different from UUIDl. The separate beacon device BZmay be a static-location beacon device, like the ordinary beacon device B1, or it may bea mobile device, like any of the mobile devices A1-A2 when being enabled to act asshort-range wireless beacon transmitter devices as well as short-range wireless beaconreceiver devices (i.e., like the active mobile devices A1-A3 referred to in conjunctionwith Figs lB-lC above).

The transmission of the wireless beacon refresh signal BR; on the secondbeacon broadcast channel UUID2 by the separate beacon device BZ will cause awake-ning of the passive mobile device P1, as previously discussed, even when thetransmission of the short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 by theordinary beacon device B1 continues uninterrupted on the first beacon broadcast channelUUID1. Hence, since it has now been caused into the beacon scanning mode, thepassive mobile device P1 will again be able to receive the wireless beacon advertisementsignal BA1 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUlDl, and potentially switch toactive mode from the beacon scanning mode. Similarly to Fig 3C, this is illustrated inFig 4C as the former passive mobile device P1 now being an active mobile device A11.

One additional advantage of applying the present invention particularly to abeacon system like the ones shown in Fig 1A, i.e. where several static beacon devicesare sending beacon advertisement signals on the same beacon broadcast channel, is thatit will be easier for the host of the beacon devices, or the designer of the beacon system,to put the beacon devices closer to each other. By repeatedly awakening passive mobiledevices in the beacon system, the chances of them reacting to different beacon deviceswhile moving are increased.

Figs 5A-5C illustrate what happens to an embodiment of the beacon system inFigs lB-lC when subjected to the operating method of Fig 2. In this embodiment, thebeacon system is based on mobile devices which are capable of acting both as short- range wireless beacon receiver devices and, when in active mode, as short-range 13 Wireless beacon transmitter devices. As has already been explained, the system in Figs1B-1C is preferably used for implementing the above-mentioned bubble concept.

The situation in step 210 of Fig 2 is represented by Fig 5A. One or more of theactive mobile devices repeatedly transmit a short-range wireless beacon advertisementsignal on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1. More specifically, in the situationin Fig 5A, first and second active mobile devices A1-A2 both repeatedly broadcasts itsrespective short-range Wireless beacon advertisement signals BA1 and BA2, bothcontaining the l28-bit universally unique identifier UUID1 as the beacon broadcastchannel indicator. The beacon advertisement signals BA1 and BA2 are individualized bythe device identifiers uidAl and uidA2, respectively, as previously discussed.

Active mobile devices nearby, including the active mobile devices A1 and A2as Well as other active mobile devices Within the respective proximity zone, may receiveand react upon the respective beacon advertisement signal BA1 and BA2, as previouslydiscussed. Passive mobile device P1 may detect the transmission of the short-rangeWireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 or BA2 on the first beacon broadcast channelUUID1, but unless it sWitches to active mode, it Will be temporarily deafened out fromreacting on further transmissions on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID 1.

The situation in step 220 of Fig 2 is represented by Fig 5B. Here, one of theactive mobile devices A1 and A2 temporarily suspends transmission on the first beaconbroadcast channel UUID1 and instead sWitches to transmit a short-range Wirelessbeacon refresh signal BR2 on a second beacon broadcast channel UUID2, where UUID2is different from UUID1. More specifically, in Fig 5B, the second active mobile deviceA2 is the one that temporarily sWitches to transmission of the beacon refresh signal BR2on the second beacon broadcast channel UUID2.

The situation in step 230 is represented by Fig 5C. The beacon refresh signalBR2 from the second active mobile device A2 in step 220 Will have awakened thepassive mobile device P1 from its deafened condition and caused it to enter into theshort-range Wireless beacon scanning mode. Meanwhile, the second active mobiledevice A2 may have resumed its ordinary transmission of the wireless beaconadvertisement signal BA2 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1. Hence, both thefirst and the second active mobile devices A1 and A2 are again transmitting theirWireless beacon advertisement signals BA1 and BA2 on the first beacon broadcastchannel UUID1. Moreover, additional active mobile devices, such as a third activemobile device A3 as seen in Fig 5C, may have appeared to transmit its or their Wireless beacon advertisement signal(s) BA3 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1. 14 As a result, since it has now been caused into the beacon scanning mode by thebeacon refresh signal BR2 from the second active mobile device A2 in step 220, thepassive mobile device Pl will in step 230 again be able to receive any of the wirelessbeacon advertisement signals BAl- BA3 on the first beacon broadcast channel UUIDl,and potentially switch to active mode from the beacon scanning mode. This isillustrated in Fig SC as the former passive mobile device Pl now being an active mobiledevice All. ln an alternative embodiment, the temporary transmission of the short-rangewireless beacon refresh signal on the second beacon broadcast channel UUID2 is madeby a separate beacon device (like beacon device B2 in Fig 4B), wherein all of the activemobile devices Al-Ag, may transmit only beacon advertisement signals and solely on thefirst beacon broadcast channel UUID l.

The beacon refresh signal transmitting device Bl; B2; A2 may be configured totransmit the short-range wireless beacon refresh signal BRl; BR2 on the second beaconbroadcast channel UUID2 at a defined occasion.

Such a defined occasion may for instance be the occurrence of a predefinedtime value being monitored by the beacon refresh signal transmitting device Bl; B2; A2.Hence, in the exemplifying situations in Figs 3A-3 C, 4A-4C and 5A-5C, the ordinarystatic-location beacon device Bl, the separate beacon device B2 or the active mobiledevice A2 may be configured to determine when a current value from an intemal orextemal clock device matches the predefined time value. The predefined time valuemay be cyclic in the sense that it states a time value in seconds and/or minutes (and/orpossibly hours), which thus occurs repeatedly throughout the course of a day.

Altematively, a defined occasion may for instance be the expiration of apredefined timer value being monitored by the beacon refresh signal transmitting deviceBl; B2; A2. Hence, in the exemplifying situations in F igs 3A-3C, 4A-4C and 5A-5C, theordinary static-location beacon device Bl, the separate beacon device B2 or the activemobile device A2 may be configured to set an internal or external timer device anddetermine when it expires.

The predefined time value or timer value may have been provided to thebeacon refresh signal transmitting device Bl; B2; A2 upon manufacture of the device,upon installation of certain software therein (such as the aforementioned bubble app), orby subsequent configuration by the user of the device. ln turn, the predefined time value or timer value may be stated in or derived from information contained in refresh control data RCD sent by a server in the form of a system server SS, service provider SP or any other external device to the beacon refreshsignal transmitting device Bl; B2; A2. Reception of such refresh control data RCD isschematically indicated in Figs 3B, 4B and 5B.

Alternatively, such refresh control data from the system server SS, serviceprovider SP or another external device to the beacon refresh signal transmitting deviceBl; B2; A2 may contain a refresh command. Reception of the refresh Command will thentrigger the beacon refresh signal transmitting device Bl; B2; A2 to enter step 220 in Fig2, i.e. to transmit the short-range wireless beacon refresh signal BRl; BR2 on the secondbeacon broadcast channel UUID2.

More advanced criteria for generating the beacon refresh signal may apply,particularly for embodiments which are based on a beacon system like the ones shownin Figs 1B-C and 5A-C, i.e. where several mobile devices may act both as short-rangewireless beacon receiver devices and as short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices.This aspect will be returned to later on in this document. Reference is first made to Figs10A and 10B, which illustrate two different exemplifying timeline charts for theembodiment shown in Figs 5A-C.

In Fig 10A, the first active mobile device Al broadcasts its short-range wirelessbeacon advertisement signal BAl on the first beacon broadcast channe1UUID1 in stepS10. It is received by the second active mobile device A2 (that may have broadcasted itsown wireless beacon advertisement signal BA2 prior to this; not shown in Fig 10A butseen in Fig 5A).

The short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BAl from the first activemobile device Al is also received by the passive mobile device Pl. In response, thepassive mobile device Pl registers this by transmitting in step S12 a report to the systemserver SS over the communication network NW. In step S14, the system server SSregisters that active mobile device Al has been heard by passive mobile device Pl.

As seen at S16, even though having heard the beacon advertisement signal BAlfrom the first active mobile device Al, the passive mobile device Pl decides not to enteractive mode but remains in passive mode. As a result, the passive mobile device Pl willbe deafened out from reacting to any further transmissions on the first beacon broadcastchannel UUID1, as previously discussed.

Nevertheless, as seen at S18 and thanks to the prior registration by the systemserver SS in step S14, the first active mobile device Al may enquire the system serverSS about which passive mobile devices that have heard its the beacon advertisement signal BAl. In response, the system server SS will inform the enquiring first active 16 mobile device A1 in step S20 about the fact that the passive mobile device P1 hasreported that it has heard the first active mobile device A1.

In step S22, the second active mobile device A2 determines that it is appro-priate to send a beacon refresh signal BR2 instead of the normal beacon advertisementsignal BA2. In one embodiment, this determination is made based on the fact that thesecond active mobile device A2 detected the first active mobile device”s A1 transmissionof the beacon advertisement signal BA1 in step S10. Since this broadcast was made onthe same channel UUID1 as the second active mobile device”s A2 uses for its ownbroadcast of the advertisement signal BA2, the second active mobile device A2 canconclude that there is a risk for passive device(s) nearby having been deafened out bythe other transmitter (device A1) on the common beacon broadcast channel UUID1.

In another embodiment, the determination about the need for refresh in stepS22 is made based on that no passive mobile devices have reported hearing of thebeacon advertisement signal BA2 (cf steps S12-S14 for the beacon advertisement signalBA1 of the first active mobile device A1). The second active mobile device A2 maydetermine this fact by sending an enquiry to the system server SS, corresponding to theenquiry made by the first active mobile device A1 in step S18 as described above.

The second active mobile device A2 executes the refresh in step S24 bytransmitting the beacon refresh signal BR2 on the second beacon broadcast channelUUID2. When the passive mobile device P1 detects the beacon refresh signal BR2 onthe second beacon broadcast channel UUID2, it will enter into the beacon scanningmode, as seen at S26 and as previously discussed.

The passive mobile device P1 will thus be able to hear and react on furthertransmissions on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1 during the beacoii scanningmode, in the form of beacon advertisement signals BA1-BA3 from the active mobiledevices A1-A3 currently in the beacon system, see steps S28 and S30.

As a result, the passive mobile device P1 may decide to enter active mode instep S32 and thus enjoy the full functionality (e.g. bubble services) provided in thebeacon system.

The timeline chart in Fig 10B differs from the above in that in this latterexample, the passive device P1 does not decide to enter active mode after having beenawakened by the refresh signal. Still, valuable functionality is provided to participantsof the beacon system, as will now be described.

The functionality up to and including step S28 is identical between Figs 10Aand 10B. l7 In Fig l0B, even though the passive mobile device P1 does not decide to enteractive mode, it is still in the beacon scanning mode (S26) When receiving the beaconadvertisement signal BA2 of the second active mobile device A2, as sent in step S28. Asa result, the passive mobile device P1 Will report to the system server SS in step S30 thatit heard the second active mobile device A2, and the system server SS Will register thisin step S32.

The passive mobile device P1 exits the beacon scanning mode and resumespassive mode in step S34. As a result, it Will not be able to react on the beacon adverti-sement signal BA3 from the third active mobile device A3, as subsequently sent in stepS38. From the point of view of the third active mobile device A3, the passive mobiledevice P1 Would seem to be invisible. However, the third active mobile device A3 haspreviously received the beacon advertisement signal BA1 from the first active mobiledevice A1, step S36, as Well as the beacon advertisement signal BA2 from the secondactive mobile device A2, step S28. The third active mobile device A3 may use thisknowledge to enquire the system server in step S40 about what passive mobile devicesthat have reported in as a result of hearing the beacon advertisement signal from one orall of the other active mobile devices A1, A2 in the beacon system.

The system server SS Will respond to the enquiry in step S42, Wherein the thirdactive mobile device A3 Will discover that the passive mobile device P1 is indeedpresent in the beacon system, even though not having reported hearing the third activemobile device A3 itself. Hence, the third active mobile device A3 Will be given anapproximation of the current bubble When it comes to passive mobile devices currentlypresent therein.

In one embodiment, the enquiry in step S40 Will be made only for the oneamong the other active mobile devices A1, A2 Which according to relative locationinformation available to the enquiring third active mobile device A3 can be assumed tobe closest to the third active mobile device A3. The rationale for this is that the closestother active mobile device can be expected to have the highest likelihood of havingdetected passive mobile devices Which are relevant to (i.e. nearby) the enquiring thirdactive mobile device A3. In one embodiment, db range information included in thebeacon advertisement signals BA1, BA2 from the other active mobile devices A1, A2 isused as such relative location information.

Corresponding reporting by passive mobile devices to the system server aboutthem having heard a beacon refresh signal from any of the active mobile devices on the second beacon broadcast channel UUID2 may be made, i.e. like in steps Sl2-Sl4 and 18 S30-S32, but for the hearing of the beacon refresh signal instead of the beaconadvertisement signal. Hence, enquiries corresponding to steps SIS-S20 and S40-S42may be made to the system server SS by any of the active mobile devices. Such enquiryresponses may then include information about passive devices having heard an activemobile device on the first beacon broadcast channel UUID1, on the second beaconbroadcast channel UUID2, or both.

Such registration by the system server SS of passive mobile devices havingheard a beacon refresh signal from an active mobile device can be used for intelligentscheduling of when it is appropriate for a specific active mobile device to send a (new)beacon refresh signal (like in step S22). The functionality will now be described withreference to Fig 11.

Each time a passive mobile device P1, P2, P3 hears a beacon refresh signal BR1,BR2 from an active mobile devices A1, A2 on the second beacon broadcast channelUUID2, it reports this to the system server SS as previously described for step S12 orS30 in Figs 10A-B. The system server SS registers this like in step S14 or S32 bycreating, in a data structure 1100, a relation e. g. in the form of a logical link 1110between the passive mobile device, e. g. P1, and the active mobile device, e.g. A1, fromwhich it heard the beacon refresh signal, e. g. BR1. With the link 1110 the system serverSS also registers a current time timel and a signal strength value dbl as perceived bythe reporting passive mobile device P1.

When a passive mobile device P1, P2, P3 no longer receives beacon refreshsignals from an active mobile device on the second beacon broadcast channel UUID2, itagain reports this to the system server SS by way of an unheard message similar to theheard report previously described for step S12 or S30 in Figs 10A-B. The system serverSS will then remove the logical link between the active mobile device and passivemobile device. This is seen for the active mobile device A2 and passive mobile deviceP3 in Fig 1 1, the logical link 1120 being removed is indicated by a dashed line.

Each active mobile device may enquire the system server SS for informationpertaining to passive mobile devices being associated therewith on the second beaconbroadcast channel UUID2 by sending an enquiry like in step S18 or S40 in Figs 10A-B.When the enquiring active mobile device, e. g. A2, notices from the information in theenquiry response (like in S20 or S42 in Figs 10A-B) that there are currently no passivemobile devices associated with it (link 1120 in Fig 11 having been removed) as regardsthe second beacon broadcast channel UUID2, or at least less than a threshold number of passive mobile devices associated with it, the enquiring active mobile device A2 may 19 determine that it is now appropriate to make a new refresh by sending the beaconrefresh signal BR; on the second beacon broadcast channel UUID2.

Since the data structure 1100 contains time information timel, time2, time3,time4 about when the respective registration was made, the system server SS may detectwhen the time elapsed since registration exceeds a threshold value, and “manually” (i.e.without receiving a report from a passive mobile device) remove the logical linkbetween the active mobile device and passive mobile device. This may be useful toprevent misalignment in the data structure 1100 due to failure by the passive mobiledevice to send the unheard report, or failure by the system server SS to receive and dulyregister the report.

Corresponding registrations and data structure 1100 may be made by thesystem server SS for passive mobile devices hearing the beacon advertisement signalsfrom active mobile devices on the beacon advertisement channel UUID1.

Figs 6A and 6B generally show a mobile, or wireless, communication device600 which may implement any of the mobile devices A1-A3, P1 referred to above.Referring to Fig 6A, the wireless communication device is a mobile telecommuni-cations terminal in the form of a smartphone or a tablet computer (arranged with awireless communication interface), comprising a housing 610 in which a display 620 isarranged. In one embodiment the display 620 is a touch display. In other embodimentsthe display 620 is a non-touch display. Furthermore, the smartphone 600 comprises twokeys 630a, 630b. In this embodiment there are two keys 630, but any number of keys ispossible and depends on the design of the smartphone 600.

In one embodiment the smartphone 600 is configured to display and operate avirtual key 635 on the touch display 620. It should be noted that the number of virtualkeys 635 depends on the design of the smartphone 600 and an application that isexecuted on the smartphone 600. The smartphone 600 may also be equipped with acamera 660. The camera 660 may be a digital camera that is arranged to take video orstill photographs by recording images on an electronic image sensor (not shown). In oneembodiment the camera 660 may be an external camera. In one embodiment the cameramay altematively be replaced by a source providing an image stream. The smartphone600 may also be equipped with a loudspeaker 640 and a microphone 645.

Referring to Fig 6B, a laptop computer 600 comprises a display 620 and ahousing 610. The housing comprises a controller or CPU (not shown) and one or morecomputer-readable storage media (not shown), such as storage units and internal memory. Examples of storage units are disk drives or hard drives. The laptop computer 600 further comprises at least one data port. Data ports can be Wired and/or wireless.Examples of data ports are USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports, Ethernet ports or WiFi(according to IEEE standard 802.11) ports. Data ports are configured to enable thelaptop computer 600 to connect With other computing devices or a server.

The laptop computer 600 further comprises at least one input unit such as akeyboard 630. Other examples of input units are computer mice, touch pads, touchscreens or joysticks, to name a few.

The laptop computer 600 may further be equipped With a camera 660. Thecamera 660 may be a digital camera that is arranged to take video or still photographsby recording images on an electronic image sensor (not shown). In one embodiment thecamera 660 may be an external camera. In one embodiment the camera may altemati-vely be replaced by a source providing an image stream. The laptop computer 600 mayalso be equipped with a loudspeaker 640 and a microphone 645. The wirelesscommunication device 600 according to Fig 6A or Fig 6B may be configured to detectand track an object, for instance a hand of a user, via the camera 660.

Fig 7 shows a schematic view of the general structure of a communicationdevice according to Fig 6A or F ig 6B. The device 700 comprises a controller 710 whichis responsible for the overall operation of the wireless communication device 700 and ispreferably implemented by any commercially available CPU ("Central ProcessingUnit"), DSP ("Digital Signal Processor") or any other electronic programmable logicdevice. The controller 710 is configured to read instructions from a memory 740 andexecute these instructions to control the operation of the wireless communication device200. The memory 740 may be implemented using any commonly known technology forcomputer-readable memories such as ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM, CMOS, FLASH,DDR, SDRAM or some other memory technology. The memory 740 is used for variouspurposes by the controller 710, one of them being for storing application data andprogram instructions 750 for various software modules in the wireless communicationdevice 700. The software modules may include a real-time operating system, drivers fora user interface 720, an application handler as well as various applications 750.

The wireless communication device 700 further comprises the user interface720, which in the devices 700 of Figs 6A and 6B is comprised of the display 620 andthe keys 630, 635. The user interface may also comprise the microphone 645 and theloudspeaker 644.

The wireless communication device 700 further comprises wireless com- munication means 730, which is adapted to allow the wireless communication device 21 700 to communicate with other devices through the use of different radio frequencytechnologies. More specifically, the wireless communication means 730 comprises afirst communication interface 732 for short-range wireless beacon broadcast messaging.The first communication interface 732 may, advantageously, be implemented as aniBeacon and/or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)/Bluetooth 4.0 compliant communicationinterface.

Moreover, the wireless communication means 730 comprises a secondcommunication interface 734 for communicating with a server like the system server SSand/or the service provider SP via the communication network NW. The communi-cation with the server typically occurs at a substantially higher bandwidth than theshort-range wireless beacon broadcast messaging. The server may be a standalonecomputing resource extemal to the wireless communication device 700, a cloud-based(distributed) computing resource, or, in alternative embodiments, implemented at leastpartly in and by the wireless communication device 700. The second communicationinterface 734 may, advantageously, be implemented as a communication interfacecompliant with IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, ZigBee, WirelessHART, WiFi, Bluetooth®,WCDMA, HSPA, GSM, UTRAN, UMTS, and LTE, to name a few. It should be notedthat, as is commonly known, the wireless communication means 730 may be arrangedto communicate according to more than one technology and many differentcombinations may therefore be available; for example, a smartphone is commonlyarranged to communicate according to the Bluetooth® standard, the WiFi standard andthe LTE standard.

The wireless communication device 700 is further equipped with a camera 760.The camera 760 is a digital camera that is arranged to take video or still photographs byrecording images on an electronic image sensor (not shown). The camera 760 isoperably connected to the controller 710 to provide the controller with a video stream765, i.e. the series of images captured, for further processing possibly for use in and/oraccording to one or several of the applications 750. In one embodiment the camera 760is an external camera or source of an image stream.

Fig 9 shows a schematic view of the general structure of a communicationdevice 900 which may implement any of the beacon devices Bl or Bl as describedherein. The device 900 comprises a controller 910 which is responsible for the overalloperation of the wireless communication device 900 and is preferably implemented byany commercially available CPU ("Central Processing Unit"), DSP ("Digital Signal Processor“) or any other electronic programmable logic device. The controller 910 is 22 configured to read instructions from a memory 940 and execute these instructions tocontrol the operation of the wireless communication device 900. The memory 940 maybe implemented using any commonly known technology for computer-readablememories such as ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM, CMOS, FLASH, DDR, SDRAM orsome other memory technology. The memory 940 is used for various purposes by thecontroller 910, one of them being for storing application data and program instructions750 for software which defines the device°s 900 operating as a beacon transmittingdevice.

The wireless communication device 900 further comprises wireless com-munication means 930, which is adapted to allow the wireless communication device900 to communicate with other devices. More specifically, the wireless communicationmeans 930 comprises at least a first communication interface 932 which supports short-range wireless beacon broadcast messaging and may, advantageously, be implementedas an iBeacon® and/or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)/Bluetooth 4.0 compliantcommunication interface.

The wireless communication means 930 may also comprise a second com-munication interface 934 for communicating with a server like the system server SSand/or the service provider SP via the communication network NW. The second com-munication interface 934 will receive the refresh control data RCD when applicable andmay, advantageously, be implemented as a communication interface compliant withIEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, ZigBee, WirelessHART, WiFi, B1uetooth®, WCDMA,HSPA, GSM, UTRAN, UMTS, and LTE, to name a few.

References to 'computer-readable storage medium', 'computer programproduct', 'tangibly embodied computer program' etc. or a 'controller', 'computer','processor' etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having differentarchitectures such as single /multi- processor architectures and sequential (VonNeumann)/parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific circuits (ASIC), signalprocessing devices and other devices. References to computer program, instructions,code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor orfirmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whetherinstructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gatearray or programmable logic device etc.

Fig 8 shows a schematic view of a computer-readable medium as described in the above. The computer-readable medium 830 is in this embodiment a data disc 830. In 23 one embodiment the data disc 830 is a magnetic data storage disc. The data disc 830 isconfigured to carry instructions 831 that when loaded into a controller, such as aprocessor, executes a method or procedure according to the embodiments disclosedabove. The data disc 830 is arranged to be connected to or within and read by a readingdevice 832, for loading the instructions into the controller. One such example of areading device 832 in combination with one (or several) data disc(s) 830 is a hard drive.It should be noted that the computer-readable medium can also be other media such ascompact discs, digital video discs, flash memories or other memory technologiescommonly used.

The instructions 831 may also be downloaded to a computer data readingdevice 834, such as a laptop computer or other device capable of reading computercoded data on a computer-readable medium, by comprising the instructions 831 in acomputer-readable signal 833 which is transmitted via a wireless (or Wired) interface(for example via the Internet) to the computer data reading device 834 for loading theinstructions 831 into a controller. In such an embodiment the computer-readable signal833 is one type of a computer-readable medium 830. The instructions may be stored ina memory (not shown explicitly in Fig 8, but referenced as 740 in Fig 8) of thecomputer data reading device 834.

References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understoodto encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example,the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, orconfiguration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logicdevice etc.

The various functionality described in this document may be performed in partor fully in a wireless communication device 700 or 900 comprising a controller asdisclosed above with reference to Figs 6A, 6B, 7 and 9, and/or caused to be performedby executing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium as disclosed withreference to Fig 8.

An additional advantage of applying the present invention to a beacon systemis that it will facilitate use of db range check functionality. Typically, beacon transmitterdevices send the beacon advertisement signal at full strength. It may be desired forbeacon receiver devices to be able to react selectively depending on distance to thetransmitter. However, for reasons explained previously in this document, there is a riskthat passive mobile beacon receiver devices become deafened out already when first detecting the beacon transmitter device at a long distance, wherein they will be 24 prevented from db range check selectivity. The present invention may serve to relievethis problem situation as Well.

The location of applications programs, or apps, as referred to in this documentWith respect to a hierarchical software model is not critical; hence, they may be locatedat an application layer or alternatively at a lower layer, such as for instance being part ofan operating system.

Even though the embodiments described above are based on beacon systemsWhere a first beacon broadcast channel is represented by a first universally uniqueidentifier and a second beacon broadcast channel is represented by a second universallyunique identifier Which is different from the first universally unique identifier, theinvention may be applied also to other types of beacon systems. For instance, theinvention may be applied to beacon system like AltBeacon, URIBeacon and Eddystone,Which do not use a UUID but another form of identity (such as a tiny URL) in the 31-byte GAP BLE packet for the beacon advertisement signal.

The invention has mainly been described above With reference to a fewembodiments. HoWever, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, otherembodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of theinvention, as defined by the appended patent claims.

Claims (22)

1. A beacon communication system comprising: one or more short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3);and a server (SS; SP), Wherein a device (B1-B2; A1-A3) among the short-range Wireless beacontransmitter devices is configured to repeatedly transmit a short-range Wireless beaconadvertisement signal (BA1-BA3) on a first beacon broadcast channel (UUID1), Wherein a device (B1; BZ; A2) among the short-range Wireless beacoiitransmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3) is configured to temporarily transmit a short-rangeWireless beacon refresh signal (BR1; BRZ) on a second beacon broadcast channel(UUID2) at a defined occasion, the beacon refresh signal being adapted to cause one ormore short-range Wireless beacon receiver devices (P1) being in a passive mode to enterinto a short-range Wireless beacon scanning mode, and Wherein the server (SS) is configured for: receiving (S12, S30) respective reports from beacon receiver devices (P1) beingin the passive mode when having detected respective beacon advertisement signals(BA1-BA3) from the short-range Wireless beacon transmitter devices (A1-A3) on the firstbeacon broadcast channel (UUID 1); registering (S14, S32) a relation between the reporting beacon receiver device(P1) being in the passive mode and the beacon transmitter device (A1; A2) whose beaconadvertisement signal it detected; receiving (S18, S40) an eiiquiry from one of the beacon transmitter devices(A1; A3), Wherein the enquiry identifies at least one of the beacon transmitter devices(An Ai-Afl; and responding (S20, S42) to the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A1; A3) Withinformation about beacon receiver devices (P1) being in the passive mode for Which arelation with the identified beacon transmitter device (A1, A1-A2) has been registered.

2. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, Wherein the firstbeacon broadcast channel is represented by a first universally unique identifier (UUID 1)and the second beacon broadcast channel is represented by a second universally uniqueidentifier (UUID2), different from the first universally unique identifier. 26

3. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, Wherein thedefined occasion is one of the following: the occurrence of a predefined time value being monitored by the beaconrefresh signal transmitting device (Bl, B2; A2), or the expiration of a predefined timer value being monitored by the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (Bl, B2; A2).

4. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, Wherein thedefined occasion is determined (S22) by the beacon refresh signal transmitting device(A2) as a result of having detected transmission on the first beacon broadcast channel(UUIDl) by another device (A1) among the short-range Wireless beacon transmitterdevices (A1-A3).

5. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, Wherein thedefined occasion is determined (S22) by the beacon refresh signal transmitting device(A2) as a result of having been informed by the server that no passive mobile deviceshave registered (S12-S14) hearing the short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal(BA2) from the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (A2).

6. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1 or 3, Wherein thedefined occasion is based on refresh control data (RCD) sent by the server to the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (B1; B2; A2).

7. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 6, Wherein therefresh control data (RCD) contains a refresh command, the refresh command triggeringthe beacon refresh signal transmitting device (Bl, B2; A2) to transmit the short-rangeWireless beacon refresh signal (BR1; BR2) on the second beacon broadcast channel(UU1D2).

8. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, Wherein theenquiring beacon transmitter device (A3) is different from the identified transmitterdevice (A1, A2). 27

9. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, wherein theenquiring beacon transmitter device (A1) is the identified beacon transmitter device (A1)-

10. l0. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 1, wherein theserver (SS) is configured for: receiving respective reports from beacon receiver devices (P1-P3) being in thepassive mode when having detected respective beacon refresh signals (BR1-BR3) fromthe short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices (A1-A3) on the second beaconbroadcast channel (UUID2); registering a relation (1110, 1120) between the reporting beacon receiverdevice (P1, P3) being in the passive mode and the beacon transmitter device (A1, A2)whose beacon refresh signal it detected; receiving an enquiry from one of the beacon transmitter devices (A2), and responding to the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2) with informationpertaining to registered relations between the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2)and beacon receiver devices (P1) being in the passive mode, wherein the informationserves to enable the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2) to determine whether a beacon refresh signal (BR2) is to be sent.

11. The beacon communication system as defined in claim 10, wherein theserver (SS) is further configured for: removing a registered relation (1120) between a beacon receiver device (P3)being in the passive mode and a beacon transmitter device (A2) either upon receiving areport from the beacon receiver device (P3) being in the passive mode that it no longerreceives beacon refresh signals from the beacon transmitter device (A2), or when athreshold time has elapsed since the registration of the relation (1120).

12. A method of operating a beacon communication system which comprisesone or more short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3), at least oneof which is configured to repeatedly transmit (210) a short-range wireless beaconadvertisement signal (BA1-BA3) on a first beacon broadcast channel (UUID1), whereinthe method involves: causing (220) a device (B1; B2; A2) among the short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices (B1-B2; A1-A3) to temporarily transmit a short-range wireless beacon 28 refresh signal (BR1, BR2) on a second beacon broadcast channel (UUID2) at a definedoccasion, the beacon refresh signal being adapted to cause (230) one or more short-range wireless beacon receiver devices (P1) being in a passive mode to enter into ashort-range wireless beacon scanning mode, wherein the method further involves: receiving (S12, S30), by a server (SS; SP), respective reports from beaconreceiver devices (P1) being in the passive mode when having detected respective beaconadvertisement signals (BA1-BA3) from the short-range wireless beacon transmitterdevices (A1-A3) on the first beacon broadcast channel (UUID1); registering (S14, S32), by the server, a relation between the reporting beaconreceiver device (P1) being in the passive mode and the beacon transmitter device (A1,A2) whose beacon advertisement signal it detected; receiving (S18, S40), by the server, an enquiry from one of the beacontransmitter devices (A1, A3), wherein the enquiry identifies at least one of the beacontransmitter devices (A1, A1-A2), and responding (S20, S42), by the server, to the enquiring beacon transmitterdevice (A1, A3) with information about beacon receiver devices (P1) being in the passivemode for which a relation with the identified the beacon transmitter device (A1, A1-A2) has been registered.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, Wherein the first beacon broadcastchannel is represented by a first universally unique identifier (UUID 1) and the secondbeacon broadcast channel is represented by a second universally unique identifier(UUID2), different from the first universally unique identifier.

14. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein the defined occasion is one ofthe following: the occurrence of a predefined time value being monitored by the beaconrefresh signal transmitting device (B1, B2, A2), or the expiration of a predefined timer value being monitored by the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (B1, B2, A2).

15. The method as defined in claim 12, Wherein the defined occasion isdetermined (S22) as a result of the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (A2) having 29 detected transmission on the first beacon broadcast channel (UUIDl) by another device(A1) among the short-range Wireless beacon transmitter devices (A1-A3).

16. The method as defined in claim 12, Wherein the defined occasion isdetermined (S22) as a result of the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (A2) havingbeen informed by a server (SS; SP) that no passive mobile devices have registered (S12-S14) hearing the short-range Wireless beacon advertisement signal (BA2) from the beacon refresh signal transmitting device (A2).

17. The method as defined in claim 12, Wherein the defined occasion is basedon refresh control data (RCD) sent by a server (SS; SP) to the beacon refresh signaltransmitting device (B1; B2; A2).

18. The method as defined in claim 17, Wherein the refresh control data (RCD)contains a refresh command, the refresh command triggering the beacon refresh signaltransmitting device (B1; B2; A2) to transmit the short-range Wireless beacon refreshsignal (BR1; BR2) on the second beacon broadcast channel (UUID2).

19. The method as defined in claim 12, Wherein the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A3) is different from the identified transmitter device (A1, A2).

20. The method as defined in claim 12, Whereiii the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A1) is the identified beacon transmitter device (A1).

21. The method as defined in claim 12, further comprising: receiving respective reports from beacon receiver devices (P1-P3) being in thepassive mode When having detected respective beacon refresh signals (BR1-BR3) fromthe short-range wireless beacon transmitter devices (A1-A3) on the second beaconbroadcast channel (UUID2); registering a relation (1110, 1120) between the reporting beacon receiverdevice (P1, P3) being in the passive mode and the beacon transmitter device (A1, A2)whose beacon refresh signal it detected; receiving an enquiry from one of the beacon transmitter devices (A2), and responding to the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2) With information pertaining to registered relations between the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2) and beacon receiver devices (P1) being in the passive mode, Wherein the informationserves to enable the enquiring beacon transmitter device (A2) to determine Whether abeacon refresh signal (BR2) is to be sent.

22. The method as defined in claim 21, further comprising: removing a registered relation (1120) between a beacon receiver device (P3)being in the passive mode and a beacon transmitter device (A2) either upon receiving areport from the beacon receiver device (P3) being in the passive mode that it no longerreceives beacon refresh signals from the beacon transmitter device (A2), or When athreshold time has elapsed since the registration of the relation (1120).