BlueBeacon Manager App for Android

The BlueBeacon Manager App has been developed by BlueUp to be able to manage the BlueUp beacons.
The app can be downloaded for free on the devices running Android 5.0 or newer.

Login

Once launched the app, you can choose to Login or to continue without an account. To login you need a BlueBeacon Cloud account (e-mail and password): if you do not have it, please contact BlueUp team at support@blueupbeacons.com to request account credentials.
The BlueBeacon Cloud account allows you to synchronize the configuration of the beacons to the cloud platform, but it is not mandatory to have it.
You can also continue without account, but in this case your beacon configuration settings will not be saved on BlueBeacon Cloud.

Scanning nearby beacons

After log-in (or access without account), the app will provide an empty list. Press the Press to scan button at the bottom to start scanning for nearby beacons.

Note: Only beacons of BlueBeacon series (with second-generation firmware) are listed. No other beacon or BLE device is listed.

For each beacon, the following information is provided:

• model and serial number
• icons (Eddystone, iBeacon, Quuppa, BlueUp Safety) according to the frames advertised by the beacon
• MAC address
• battery residual capacity (%, estimate)
• RSSI - received signal strength indicator (in dBm)
• Bluetooth icon representing if the beacon is connectable (icon present) or non-connectable (icon not present).

Filtering beacons

It is possible to filter nearby beacons. To do so, press on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Filter.

The possible filters are:

• RSSI: allows to filter the beacons that have higher or lower RSSI value with respect to the set one.
• Model: allows to choose a beacon model to visualize among available ones.
• Serial number: allows to insert a beacon serial number and to decide if to search the beacon with that SN or to search all the beacons that have greater or lower SN than the inserted one.
• Frame type: allows to filter beacons for frame type: Eddystone, iBeacon, Quuppa, BlueUp Safety.

When pressing on a beacon, a pop-up menu appears, from which it is possible to:

• Show frames to show the advertised frames and other information, if available;
• Configure to connect to the device and configure it;
• Trigger Alert, only on devices that support alerting function, that allows to send an alert to the tag.

The Trigger alert is composed by the following fields:

• Alert type that is the blinking modality of the LED;
• Alert time is the duration of the alert in seconds;
• Alert peripherals to select the peripherals to enable, among:
  • LED
  • Buzzer
  • Vibration.

Connect to a beacon

In case you logged-in with account credentials, the beacons that are registered on your BlueBeacon Cloud account are shown in blue.

With a press on a beacon, a pop-up menu will be shown. Select Configure.
App will start connection process to the beacon. Depending on several factors (number of nearby beacons, distance from beacon, smartphone model, Android release) this process can be immediate or last a few seconds.
In case the beacon is locked with a password, you will be asked to insert the password. Default password is blueup. In case password is not inserted correctly for three consecutive times or a 30-seconds period expires, the beacon automatically disconnects and enters non-connectable mode for 1 hour (but it continues to advertise as programmed).
If you logged-in with BlueBeacon Cloud account, you will not be asked for the beacon password, since it is retrieved from back-end.

Once the password has been correctly inserted, the app starts reading beacon information and configuration. Then, the main menu interface is provided, offering access to the following options:

• Device Information: access to beacon information (model, serial number, ...);
• Global Settings: configuration of global beacon parameters;
• Eddystone: configuration of Eddystone frames;
• iBeacon / Other Frames: configuration of iBeacon frames or other frames (Quuppa, Sensors);
• Safety: configuration of BlueUp proprietary Safety packet.

Device Information

Device Information menu contains the following uneditable beacon data:

• Manufacturer name: BlueUp;
• Model: varies depending on the model of the beacon;
• Serial number: varies depending on the beacon serial number;
• Hardware revision: refers to revision of beacon hardware;
• Firmware revision: refers to revision of beacon firmware: 5.0 or higher;
• Software revision: refers to revision of SDK used for firmware development.

Global settings

In global settings it is possible to change certain beacon settings:

• Remain Connectable. By default, BlueBeacon beacons broadcast a proprietary connectable (ADV_IND) frame, containing device name (based on model number and serial number). This packet can be configured as non-connectable (ADV_NONCONN_IND), by disabling "Remain Connectable" option. This means that it will not be possible to connect to the beacon to modify settings. In order to modify settings it is required to power-cycle the beacon: in non-connectable mode, the beacon is connectable for the first 30 seconds.
  Regardless of this configuration, advertising frames, configured in one or more of the 8 available slots, are always non-connectable.
• Anonymous Mode. By default, BlueBeacon beacons broadcast a proprietary connectable (ADV_IND) frame, containing device name (based on model number and serial number). It is possible to stop advertising the broadcast of this packet, by enabling "Anonymous Mode". The beacon will not be listed in the BlueBeacon Manager App list of nearby beacons. In order to visualize and eventually modify settings it is required to power-cycle the beacon: in "Anonymous Mode", the beacon is visible and connectable for the first 30 seconds.
  Regardless of this configuration, non-connectable advertising frames, configured in one or more of the 8 available slots, are always broadcast according to configuration settings.
• Advertising Daily Schedule. By default, BlueBeacon beacons continuously (24/7) broadcast non-connectable advertising frames, according to configuration of one or more slots. By enabling "Advertising Daily Schedule", it is possible to program a daily advertising time, in order to start and stop advertising at a certain hour, between 0:00 and 23:59. Using this mode, it is possible, for instance, to enable advertising only during business hours of a shop or museum (e.g., from 8am to 6pm), thus reducing battery consumption. During off-period, the beacon continues to broadcast the proprietary packet with name, and is listed in the BlueBeacon Manager nearby beacons list (unless "Anonymous Mode" is enabled).
• Accelerometer-based Mode. This option is presently available only in BlueBeacon Tag and Card, that integrate 3-axis accelerometer. By enabling Accelerometer-based Mode, it is possible to set an operating mode based on accelerometer status. By pressing the blue button, four options are available:
  1. Down-to-Sleep: when placed horizontally, the beacon stops broadcasting all frames. This implies that the beacon will not be visible in the list of nearby beacons, until it is in horizontal position. As soon as it is moved from the horizontal position, it goes back in the programmed mode.
  2. Down-to-Unset: when placed horizontally, the beacon stops broadcasting all non-connectable advertising frames configured in slots, but continues broadcasting the packet with name. This means that the beacon will still be visible in the list of nearby beacons. As soon as it is moved from the horizontal position, it goes back in the programmed mode.
  3. Advertise-on-Move: when moved, the beacon starts advertising frames configured in slots (advertising of packet with name is always performed; three levels of sensitivity for motion detection are available, low, medium, high).
  4. Advertise-on-Shake: when moved, the beacon starts advertising frames configured in slots (advertising of packet with name is always performed).
• Button. This option allows to configure single and double click functionalities, among disabled, reboot, factory reset and toggle advertising.

When pressing on the three dots in the upper right corner an additional settings menu appears, from which it is possible to:

• Update beacon;
• Unlock and Disconnect: by default, BlueUp beacons are provided with Lock state enabled, i.e., password is required to connect to the beacon. When choosing this option, beacon will be updated in Unlock mode, i.e., no password required to connect and modify it. We strongly suggest to use this option only for internal test and development activities;
• Change Password and Disconnect: with this option, you can change the Lock password. For maximum security, you will be asked to insert old password and twice new password;
• Factory Reset option is used to restore the beacon with manufacturer default settings;
• Reboot for DFU allows to reboot beacon in DFU (Direct Firmware Upgrade) mode, for OTA (Over-The-Air) firmware upgrade. At present, free app nRF Toolbox from Nordic Semiconductors is required for firmware upgrade operation, available for Android and iOS.
  Beacon will remain in DFU mode for 30 seconds, then will start working as configured.
  Alternatively, you can use BlueBeacon Manager app for iOS, that includes the entire procedure for firmware upgrade;
• Configure BlueUp Advertising to configure the advertising of the proprietary BlueUp packet.

Advertising frames configuration

It is possible to configure up to 8 slots for non-connectable (ADV_NONCONN_IND) advertising frames, with the following properties:

• 4 slots are dedicated to Eddystone frames, and can be configured as URL, UID, TLM and/or EID (with more slots configurable for the same frame-type, but maximum one Eddystone-EID frame available);
• additional 4 slots are dedicated to iBeacon frame, Quuppa frame or proprietary Sensors frame (with more slots configurable for the same frame-type).

Each slot can be individually configured with different advertising interval (0.1 to 5 seconds) and transmission power (-40 to +4dBm).

It is also possible to advertise just one iBeacon frame or more simultaneously. To advertise only one iBeacon frame you just need to configure one slot (any between 5, 6, 7 and 8) in the iBeacon/Other Frames menu. All others slots (including Eddystone slots) must be not set. It is also possible to broadcast up to 4 iBeacon frames at the same time, each with its own value for UUID, major, minor, and also for advertising period and power.

The same applies to Eddystone-UID and URL frames (theoretically it should be possible also to broadcast multiple Eddystone-TLM, Quuppa or Sensors frames, but it is meaningless). Only 1 Eddystone-EID frame is supported. To advertise only one Eddystone-URL frame you just need to configure one slot (any between 1, 2, 3 and 4) in the Eddystone menu, with Eddystone-URL frame. All others slots (including iBeacon/Other Frames slots) must be not set.

Eddystone configuration

Eddystone menu allows to configure up to 4 slots for Eddystone frames. Each slot can be configured as Eddystone-UID, URL, TLM or EID (with the only limitation that you can configure maximum 1 EID frame).

You can configure each slot according to your needs. For Eddystone-UID you need to specify NameSpace ID (10 bytes) and Instance ID (6 bytes).

For Eddystone-URL you need to specify URL address (URL scheme can be selected by pressing on the bold URL scheme section).

For Eddystone-TLM specify the advertising interval, TX power and (optionally) the calibrated RSSI at 1 meter.

To configure Eddystone-EID the registration of the beacon on Google Cloud account is required.
Select EID as frame format: namespace and instance ID are editable (namespace and instance ID are static ID's used to register the beacon on Google Cloud). As other frames, you need to specify also advertising interval and transmission power.

To update beacon with modified Eddystone configuration you can:

• press option at the top right and select "Update beacon";
• press Back: you will be asked to update beacon with new configuration data.

You will be asked to select a Google account (accept the next request).
Successively, select the project created on your account where you want to register the beacon.
Now the beacon is successfully registered (EID rotation period, namespace and instance ID are no more editable).

For all configured slots, you need to specify advertising interval and transmission power. Additionally you can modify default calibrated RSSI at 0 meter (according to Eddystone specifications), but please consider that modifying default value can affect proximity estimation (contact us before doing such modification). If you do not need Eddystone-frame broadcast, you simply need to disable ("Not Set") all slots from Slot 1 to Slot 4.

In order to update beacon with modified Eddystone configuration you can:

• press option at the top right and select Update beacon;
• press Back: you will be asked to update beacon with new configuration data.

iBeacon / Other frames configuration

iBeacon / Other Frames menu allows to configure up to 4 slots for iBeacon frames or other frames that at present are: Quuppa packet, Sensors packet.
Each slot can be configured as iBeacon, Quuppa or Sensors (this latter option is available only on BlueBeacon Sensor beacon).

You can configure each slot according to your needs.

For iBeacon you need to specify UUID (16 bytes), major and minor (2 bytes each, integer from 0 to 65535).

For Quuppa you need to specify if tag ID is MAC address or custom identifier (to be inserted).

Sensor frame is available only on BlueBeacon Sensor beacon.

For all configured slots, you need to specify advertising interval and transmission power. Additionally, for iBeacon, you can modify default calibrated RSSI at 1 meter (according to iBeacon specifications), but please contact us before doing such modification. If you do not need any among iBeacon, Quuppa or Sensors frames, you just need to disable ("Not Set") all slots.

In order to update beacon with iBeacon (or Quuppa or Sensors) configuration you can:

• press option at the top right and select Update beacon;
• press Back: you will be asked to update beacon with new configuration data.

Safety configuration

If the Safety slot is enabled it is possible to configure Safety settings.

The configuration parameters are similar to the iBeacon ones, with the difference that the minor number is used to broadcast battery and trigger data.
The triggers that have to be notified must be chosen when configuring the Safety Slot.