快速發展遠程藍牙信標的解決方案

　　信標技術旨在在短時間內向用戶提供信息，例如在零售商店或購物中心。雖然對基于幾百米傳輸信標能力的新興基于位置的應用程序感到興奮，但開發者受到了傳統的藍牙低能量（無線）收音機的限制。

　　為了解決遠程信標應用中出現的新問題，開發人員需要能夠提供更高傳輸功率輸出的抽象解決方案，以及能夠加速這些設計開發的開發工具。荷蘭半導體和硅實驗室的藍牙收發器通過在一個包中結合藍牙無線電和功率放大器來滿足這一需求。

　　本文將描述什么是信標，討論設計選項，并提供一些解決方案，以幫助開發人員快速地使用遠程啟用的信標實現并運行。

　　Beacons beckon for simple， long-range implementations

　　Beacon technology offers a relatively simple mechanism for building proximity-aware services. By periodically transmitting a unique identifier and other data， beacons advertise their presence within some limited physical area. By using Bluetooth wireless communications， beacon applications can exploit the nearly universal support for Bluetooth in smartphones and other mobile devices. Running on these mobile devices， app developers can exploit the presence of a specific beacon signal to present information pertinent to the mobile user’s physical location. For example， within a retail store， an app can use beacons to detect when an individual approaches a particular section or counter within a store and display relevant store coupons.

　　Although these short-range retail applications were among the first uses of beacons， long-range beacon opportunities are emerging in broader segments including asset management， transportation， mass transit， airline terminals， large events， and wherever proximity-aware services can create greater efficiency of movement of vehicles， packages， or individuals. In serving wide physical areas， however， suitable beacon hardware designs require the ability to advertise at ranges well beyond those supported in retail beacons. Yet， hardware designers find some fundamental constraints in extending the range of their wireless systems.