How to identify which beacon is exiting, beacon notification seen when beacon is out of range

Question

I am trying to detect beacon devices using my device, and so monitoring them and also listening to the range notifications.

I am using this library and the library-reference app. I managed to listen to a custom beacon using the set beacon layout method.

Step1. I set the layout in the application class Step 2. I mke the baseactivity implement beaconconsume where it performs ranging.

When starting the range monitoring service/method we use "myRangeUniqueId" but the didexit and didenter methods use "backgroundId" I think. Why is that so?

So the situation is this I move the beacon device some few meters away , I still get I see a beacon notification and I do not see a beacon.. These messages keep changing alternatively even when the beacon is far.

Do I have to do anything to prevent this? Please help.

the code snippets include below:

1. The application class implements BootstrapNotifier and the code is as under

   BeaconManager beaconManager = org.altbeacon.beacon.BeaconManager.getInstanceForApplication(this);
   beaconManager.getBeaconParsers().add(new BeaconParser().setBeaconLayout("LAYOUT_HERE"));
   
   Region region = new Region("backgroundRegion",
           null, null, null);
   regionBootstrap = new RegionBootstrap(this, region);
   
   // simply constructing this class and holding a reference to it in your custom Application
   // class will automatically cause the BeaconLibrary to save battery whenever the application
   // is not visible.  This reduces bluetooth power usage by about 60%
   backgroundPowerSaver = new BackgroundPowerSaver(this);
   
   
   
    @Override
    public void didEnterRegion(Region arg0) {
         // In this example, this class sends a notification to the user whenever a Beacon
        // matching a Region (defined above) are first seen.
       Log.d(TAG, "did enter region.");
       if (!haveDetectedBeaconsSinceBoot) {
           Log.d(TAG, "auto launching MainActivity");
           haveDetectedBeaconsSinceBoot = true;
       } else {
           // i am not sending out any notification here since there could be multiple beacons and i need to identify any one of them with a specific uuid
       }
   
   
   }
   
   
   @Override
   public void didExitRegion(Region region) {
       sendNotification("exited",2);
   }
   

i do nothing in didDetermineStateForRegion method,its just overridden

2. I have a BaseActivity that implements BeaconConsumer

       private BeaconManager beaconManager = BeaconManager.getInstanceForApplication(this);
      @Override
      protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
           super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
           beaconManager.bind(this);
      }
   
       @Override 
       protected void onDestroy() {
           super.onDestroy();
           beaconManager.unbind(this);
        }
       @Override 
       protected void onPause() {
            super.onPause();
                 if(beaconManager.isBound(this))beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(true);
            }
    @Override 
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        if (beaconManager.isBound(this)) beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(false);
     }
   
      @Override
      public void onBeaconServiceConnect() {
         beaconManager.setRangeNotifier(new RangeNotifier() {
            @Override 
            public void didRangeBeaconsInRegion(Collection<Beacon> beacons, Region region) {
               if (beacons.size() > 0) {
               /*EditText editText = (EditText)RangingActivity.this
                       .findViewById(R.id.rangingText);
               Beacon firstBeacon = beacons.iterator().next();
               logToDisplay("The first beacon "+firstBeacon.toString()+" is about "+firstBeacon.getDistance()+" meters away.");    */
       CommonUtilities.sendNotification(BaseActivity.this,"entered",1);
                       }
                   }
               }
           }
       }
   });
   
   try {
       beaconManager.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(new Region("myRangingUniqueId",null, null, null));
       } catch (RemoteException e) {   }
     }
   

P.S: When i move the device to a different location say some 5 meters away, i get random notification, that the beacon is in range and then immediately i get a notification that the beacon is out of range.

Thanks

Answer 1

A few points:

1. The unique identifier is used as a key to identify a Region so you can start and stop ranging and monitoring. Each region you construct and register with the system should have a different string identifier, but the value can be whatever you wasn't so long as it is unique.

2. The didRangeBeaconsInRegion callback is made every second, and not just when a mobile device enters range of the beacon.

3. If you are getting repeated didExitRegion callbacks when the beacon is within 20 meters or so, you may have a beacon that is not transmitting frequently enough. Knowing the beacon make, model and transmission frequency as well as your mobile device model might help solve this.