Available for an ArcGIS organization licensed with the ArcGIS IPS extension.
Creating beacon features is required for Bluetooth survey-less indoor positioning system (IPS) deployments, but is also recommended for survey-based IPS deployments to assist with accuracy. Accurately mapping and maintaining information about your Bluetooth beacon infrastructure can help streamline troubleshooting workflows and better monitor the performance of your beacon deployment.
Creating beacon features involves the following high-level steps:
- Create a beacon placement plan.
- Deploy and configure the beacons.
- Finalize beacon attributes.
These steps are explained further in the sections below.
Create a beacon placement plan
A beacon emits Bluetooth signals at a fixed transmission power and time interval. Each beacon is uniquely identified in a network by three key attributes: UUID, Major, and Minor. Beacons can be mapped using the IPS_Beacons feature class from the ArcGIS IPS Information Model.
You can plan the placement of Bluetooth beacons in the IPS area to ensure accurate indoor positioning. Both the number of signals and the strength of those signals play a key role in achieving reliable positioning. Positioning accuracy becomes unreliable with less than 4 signals, while improvements to accuracy beyond 20 signals are minimal. Optimal performance is typically achieved with 10 signals per positioning point.
The following guidelines are recommended for an optimal balance of signal coverage and strength:
Note:
These guidelines are intended for typical office environments, with beacons configured to transmit at a power level of approximately -81 dBm. If you are working with a different environment or beacon configuration, contact Esri Professional Services for detailed guidance.
- Beacon spacing—Place the beacons between 10 and 15 meters (30 to 50 feet) apart to ensure sufficient signal overlap and avoid oversaturation.
- Corridor layout—In corridors, position the beacons in a zigzag pattern along the path. This layout helps distribute the signals more evenly, reducing dead zones and ensuring consistent coverage throughout the corridor.
- Open area layout—For open areas, place the beacons around the perimeter of the room. If the room is wider than 30 meters (100 feet), install additional beacons in the central part of the room arranged in a regular grid layout as much as the environment allows. This layout helps maintain consistent coverage across the space and minimizes dead zones. Coverage can be verified with a generic beacon-scanning application or, if available, the app provided by the beacon vendor.
- Walls and signal overlap—If the facility has lightweight walls, such as those made of drywall, glass, or wood, be mindful of beacon placement on either side. Beacons placed too close to each other on opposite sides of these walls can cause excessive signal overlap, potentially exceeding the recommended maximum of 20 signals at a single point.
- Wall snapping—Use the snapping tool in ArcGIS Pro to precisely align beacon features with wall boundaries. This ensures that beacons are correctly positioned along the edges of walls and not mistakenly placed inside wall polygons. Proper alignment is crucial for the signal propagation algorithm to function as expected.
To create a beacon placement plan, complete the following steps:
- Open the map that you created for IPS, or create a new map.
- Add the IPS_Beacons feature class to the map.
- Add the Walls feature class of the facility to the map.
- Optionally, configure the map and layers as floor aware.
Note:
This is recommended for multifloor environments as it allows you to use the floor filter to visualize and modify data by floor.
- On the Edit tab in the Features group, click Create
.The Create Features pane appears and lists the feature templates defined for the active map.
- In the Create Features pane, click the IPS_Beacons feature template.
The IPS_Beacons template expands, showing the tool palette.
- On the IPS_Beacons template, click Open the active template pane
.The tool palette and feature attribute table for the IPS_Beacons template appear.
- In the active template pane, set the LEVEL_ID field value to the level where the beacons are being planned.
- In the Create Features pane, click Point
to create a point feature. - Create beacon features on wall boundaries according to the planned guidelines.
The creation of beacon features on wall boundaries ensures that the GIS implementation follows real-world deployment of beacons on the walls. Do not create or place beacon features inside wall polygons. If required, use snapping to ensure accurate beacon placement.
- Click Save in the Manage Edits group to save the edits.
- Use the floor filter to select the next level where you want to plan beacon placement, and repeat steps 3 through 10 to create its beacon placement plan.
Deploy and configure the beacons
After finalizing the beacon placement plan, you must configure and deploy the beacons within the facility. Use the ArcGIS IPS Setup app for this process. Follow the installation and configuration instructions to ensure optimal results. During deployment, the app allows you to adjust beacon locations from the placement plan and update attribute values of the features directly on-site.
Finalize beacon attributes
The following beacon attributes must be populated for each beacon feature to create an IPS positioning dataset using the survey-less method:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
LEVEL_ID | The identifier of the level where the beacon is deployed |
RSSI_1M | The signal strength (RSSI) at 1 meter from the beacon |
UUID | The unique identifier (UUID) of the beacon, as defined by the iBeacon protocol |
MAJOR | The group identifier assigned to the beacon |
MINOR | The identifier of the beacon within its group |
At the end of the beacon deployment process, each beacon feature must have either the BEACON_ID or MAC_ADDRESS field populated. These fields serve as keys for importing the remaining attribute values into the IPS_Beacons feature class. Additionally, the LEVEL_ID field must be populated, as it links the beacon to the correct level features.
Note:
Before finalizing the beacon attributes, ensure that you have a .csv file that contains the latest configurations of the deployed beacons. This file is typically provided by the beacon vendor.
To finalize the beacon attributes, complete the following steps:
- Start ArcGIS Pro.
- Open the map that you created for IPS, or create a new map.
- On the ribbon, click the Analysis tab, and click Tools
.The Geoprocessing pane appears.
- In the Geoprocessing pane, click the Toolboxes tab.
- Expand Data Management Tools > General, and click Append.
The Append tool opens in the Geoprocessing pane.
- Set the Append tool parameters as follows:
- Input Datasets—Use the beacon .csv file you obtained from the beacon vendor.
- Target Dataset—Select the IPS_Beacons feature class.
- Field Matching Type—Specify Use the field map to reconcile field differences.
- Field Map—Ensure that the following fields are mapped: UUID, MAJOR, MINOR, and RSSI_1M
Note:
Some beacon vendors may not provide the explicit value for the RSSI_1M field. Instead, they may provide a simplified transmission power level and a separate document mapping power levels to RSSI at 1 meter. In such cases, you can populate the RSSI_1M field later using the Calculate Field tool in the Data Management toolbox.
- Update Options—Ensure that the following are selected:
- Target Fields—Select BEACON_ID or MAC_ADDRESS depending on which field was populated during the beacon deployment process.
- Input Fields—Select the corresponding field from the .csv file.
- Click Run.
The beacon features can be used for generating a survey-less IPS positioning dataset.
Optionally, you can configure the TRANSMITTER_ID field. This is useful for comparing beacon features with the generated IPS positioning signals. To do so, use the Calculate Field tool to define the value as the concatenation of the UUID, MAJOR, and MINOR fields, separated by periods.