Bluetooth Beacon Enabled Mobility Services and Opportunities in Public Transit

Bluetooth beacon is a short-range wireless communication device emitting simple advertisement messages in regular intervals, and this data can be detected by devices like smartphones and conveyed to the backend system for further processing. Beacons are small, affordable and very easy to install nearly everywhere due to long lasting (3-5 years) battery power. As a result of these convenient properties, it has been estimated that up to 400 million dedicated beacon transmitter will be installed in our living environment setting challenges to management of such a set-up. To ease this problem, this paper presents a prototype solution for open co-sharing of beacon installations between applications and services. This paper examines the requirements for management of co-shared beacon infrastructure in the highly dynamic context of public transportation and describes the related data model and experiences from a trial case