and security. Bluetooth 3.0 again improved transfer speed up to 24 Mbit/s. In 2010 Bluetooth 4.0 (Low Energy) was released with its main focus being reduced power consumption. Before Bluetooth 4.0 the majority of connections using Bluetooth were two way, both devices listen and talk to each other. Although this two way communication is still possible with Bluetooth 4.0, one way communication is also possible. This one way communication allows a bluetooth device to transmit information but not listen for it. These one way "beacons" do not require a paired connection like previous Bluetooth devices so they have new useful applications. Design Battery powered Bluetooth beacons operate using the Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy standard so battery powered devices are possible. Battery life of devices varies depending on manufacturer. The Bluetooth LE protocol is significantly more power efficient than Bluetooth Classic. Several chipsets makers, including Texas Instruments and Nordic Semiconductor now supply chipsets optimized for iBeacon use. Power consumption depends on iBeacon configuration parameters of advertising interval and transmit power. Battery life can range between 1–48 months. Apple's recommended setting of 100 ms advertising interval with a coin cell battery provides for 1–3 months of life, which increases to 2–3 years as advertising interval is increased to 900 ms. Battery consumption of the phones is a factor that must be taken into account when deploying beacon enabled apps. A recent report has shown that older phones tend to draw more battery power in the vicinity of iBeacons, while the newer phones can be more efficient in the same environment. In addition to the time spent by the phone scanning, number of scans and number of beacons in the vicinity are also significant factors for battery drain. An energy efficient iBeacon application needs to consider these aspects in order to strike a good balance between app responsiveness and battery consumption. USB powered Bluetooth beacons can also come in the form of USB dongles. These small USB beacons can be powered by a standard USB port which makes them ideal for long term permanent installations. Uses Advertising Bluetooth beacons can be used to send a packet of information that contains a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID). This UUID is used to trigger events specific to that beacon. In the case of Apple's iBeacon the UUID will be recognized by an app on the user device that will trigger an event. This event is fully