Bluetooth low energy

Bluetooth low energy

A Bluetooth low energy device is a wireless personal area network technology that

  • enables enhanced location services for mobile devices

  • transmits universally unique identifiers (UUIDs), major and minor fields for device identity and context, and

  • allows smartphones and APs to detect BLE signals for various use cases, including interferer identification, asset tracking, and targeted notifications.

These details are picked up by Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and devices. The location information of these devices is sent to the corresponding back-end server. Relevant advertisements and other important information are then delivered to the devices using this location-specific information.

Additionally, information about missing tags can be obtained. This feature can determine rogue and malicious tags using the unique identifier associated with each tag (or family of tags) against a predetermined allowed list from a customer. The management function can display or send email alerts based on rogue tags, missing tags, or moved tags.


Note

This feature is not related to the Indoor IoT Services feature set that is part of Cisco Spaces.

It describes how APs and Catalyst 9800 detect BLE devices as wireless interferers using CleanAir, rather than the BLE radio available on some AP models. This feature is not intended for BLE-based asset tracking, environmental monitoring, or tag management use cases. These use cases are powered by Cisco Spaces.

For details about the full functionality of BLE-related use cases in the Cisco solution, refer to the Cisco Spaces configuration guides for Indoor IoT services.

Limitations of BLE Feature

  • The wireless infrastructure must support Cisco CleanAir.

  • The feature supports a maximum of only 250 unique BLE beacons (cluster entries) and 1,000 device entries.

  • The Cisco CleanAir feature is supported only on Cisco Aironet 3700 Series APs with Hyperlocation module RM3010. On Wave 2 and Wi-Fi 6 APs, the BLE feature works differently (through cloud beacon center) and is not covered by this feature.

Areas of Use

The BLE feature provides granular location details of devices, such as smartphones or Bluetooth-enabled devices, which helps deliver context-sensitive advertising and other information to users. Possible areas of application include retail stores, museums, zoos, healthcare, fitness centers, security, and advertising.

Enable Bluetooth low energy beacon (GUI)

Enable detection of Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons in your wireless network for enhanced interference management using the GUI.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Configuration > Radio Configurations > CleanAir > 2.4 GHz Band > General.

Step 2

Check the Enable CleanAir check box.

Step 3

From the Available Interference Types list, select and move BLE Beacon to the Interference Types to Detect list.

Step 4

Click Apply.

Enable Bluetooth low energy beacon (CLI)

Bluetooth low energy (BLE) detection is enabled by default. Use the procedure given below to enable BLE when it is disabled.

Before you begin

  • The wireless infrastructure must support Cisco CleanAir.

  • Cisco CleanAir configuration and show commands are available only in Mobility Controller (MC) mode.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the global configuration mode.

Example:

Controller# configure terminal

Step 2

Enable the BLE feature on the 802.11b network.

Example:

Controller(config)# ap dot11 24ghz cleanair device ble-beacon

Use the no form of the command to disable BLE feature on the 802.11b network.

Step 3

Return to the privileged EXEC mode.

Example:

Controller(config)# exit

Step 4

(Optional) Display the BLE beacon configuration.

Example:

Controller# show ap dot11 24ghz cleanair config
						Interference Device Settings:
						Interference Device Reporting................ : Enabled
						Bluetooth Link........................... : Enabled
						Microwave Oven........................... : Enabled
						BLE Beacon............................... : Enabled

Step 5

(Optional) Display the BLE beacon device-type information.

Example:

Controller# show ap dot11 24ghz cleanair device type ble-beacon
						DC    = Duty Cycle (%)
						ISI   = Interference Severity Index (1-Low Interference, 100-High Interference)
						RSSI  = Received Signal Strength Index (dBm)
						DevID = Device ID
						No    ClusterID          DevID  Type           AP Name               ISI  RSSI  DC   Channel
						---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
						1   2c:92:80:00:00:22  0xa001 BLE Beacon     5508_3_AP3600_f839      --   -74   0    unknown