Beacon Protocols

Explore BLE beacon protocols, their advertising formats, frame types, and platform compatibility.

iBeacon

2013

iBeacon by Apple -- BLE proximity detection using UUID/Major/Minor values.

Creator Apple

Eddystone

2015

Eddystone by Google -- open BLE beacon with URL, UID, TLM, and EID frames.

Creator Google
Open Standard Oui

AltBeacon

2014

AltBeacon -- open-source BLE beacon protocol by Radius Networks.

Creator Radius Networks
Open Standard Oui

Exposure Notification

2020

Exposure Notification -- BLE contact tracing beacon by Apple and Google.

Creator Apple & Google
Open Standard Oui

Bluetooth Mesh Beacon

2017

Bluetooth Mesh Beacon -- network identification for BLE Mesh.

Creator Bluetooth SIG
Open Standard Oui