I am using AltBeacon Android Library (I reproduced issue with v2.9.2; and also with v2.11) for integrating with iBeacon devices provided by Onyx and kontact.io.
The library seems to work very well, but I seem to have an issue with it for which I could not find an acceptable solution.
Here are some more details about how I use AltBeacon Library and about the issue:
- Device is stationary near the beacon
- Bluetooth on
- Application runs in foreground
The BeaconManager is configured to scan in foreground mode with the following settings:
BeaconManager.setRegionExitPeriod(30000L); beaconManager.setBackgroundBetweenScanPeriod(120000L); beaconManager.setForegroundScanPeriod(5000L); beaconManager.setForegroundBetweenScanPeriod(10000L); beaconManager.getBeaconParsers().add( new BeaconParser().setBeaconLayout("m:2-3=0215,i:4-19,i:20-21,i:22-23,p:24-24"));Application sets the BeaconManager in foreground mode
beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(false);Application bounds to the BeaconManager
beaconManager.bind(…)When
onBeaconServiceConnect()is triggered, the application starts monitoring beacons in specific regions (the list of beacons I want to monitor is known, static; I use a list of regions, one different region for each beacon I want to monitor)beaconManager.startMonitoringBeaconsInRegion(region);When device enters beacon region (
didEnterRegion()is called) application starts ranging for entered regionbeaconManager.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(region);Beacon is detected (
didRangeBeaconsInRegion()is called for corresponding beacon)Application switched beacon scanning to background mode:
beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(true);After a few minutes, the
didExitRegion()is called even if the device and the beacon were not moved and the application remained in the same state.
I have found two Stackoverflow issues which describe the same issue:
AltBeacon unstable for OnyxBeacons, cycling through didEnterRegion and didExitRegion repeatedly
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/40835671/altbeacon-reference-app-and-multiple-exit-entry-calls
The workaround that I currently use is the one suggested in the Stackoverflow issues:
- I have updated beacon Advertising Frequency value from 1000 ms to 100 ms.
Once the frequency is increased, everything seems to work fine, but the solution is not acceptable because the battery life of the beacon is drastically impaired.
All the beacon scanning is performed in background (i.e. no Activity is used):
import android.Manifest;
import android.bluetooth.BluetoothAdapter;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.ServiceConnection;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.RemoteException;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.Beacon;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.BeaconConsumer;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.BeaconManager;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.BeaconParser;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.Identifier;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.MonitorNotifier;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.RangeNotifier;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.Region;
import org.altbeacon.beacon.powersave.BackgroundPowerSaver;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.List;
public class BeaconDataProvider implements BeaconConsumer, RangeNotifier, MonitorNotifier {
private final Logger LOGGER = LogFactory.get(this);
private final Context applicationContext;
private final BeaconIdentifierFactory beaconIdentifierFactory;
private final BeaconScanningListener beaconScanningListener;
private BeaconManager beaconManager;
private Collection<Region> targetedRegions;
/**
* This field is used for improving battery consumption. Do not remove it.
*/
@SuppressWarnings({"unused", "FieldCanBeLocal"})
private BackgroundPowerSaver backgroundPowerSaver;
public BeaconDataProvider(Context applicationContext, BeaconIdentifierFactory beaconIdentifierFactory,
BeaconScanningListener beaconScanningListener) {
LOGGER.v("BeaconDataProvider - new instance created.");
this.applicationContext = applicationContext;
this.beaconIdentifierFactory = beaconIdentifierFactory;
this.beaconScanningListener = beaconScanningListener;
beaconManager = BeaconManager.getInstanceForApplication(applicationContext);
LOGGER.v("BeaconManager hashCode=%s", beaconManager.hashCode());
BeaconManager.setRegionExitPeriod(30000L);
beaconManager.setBackgroundBetweenScanPeriod(120000L);
beaconManager.setForegroundScanPeriod(5000L);
beaconManager.setForegroundBetweenScanPeriod(10000L);
beaconManager.getBeaconParsers().add(
new BeaconParser().setBeaconLayout("m:2-3=0215,i:4-19,i:20-21,i:22-23,p:24-24"));
backgroundPowerSaver = new BackgroundPowerSaver(applicationContext);
}
public void setBackgroundMode() {
LOGGER.i("setBackgroundMode()");
beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(true);
}
public void setForegroundMode() {
LOGGER.i("setForegroundMode()");
beaconManager.setBackgroundMode(false);
}
public boolean checkAvailability() {
return android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 18 && applicationContext.getPackageManager()
.hasSystemFeature(PackageManager.FEATURE_BLUETOOTH_LE);
}
public boolean isBluetoothEnabled() {
BluetoothAdapter mBluetoothAdapter = BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter();
boolean result = mBluetoothAdapter != null && mBluetoothAdapter.isEnabled();
LOGGER.i("isBluetoothEnabled() -> %s", result);
return result;
}
public boolean isLocationPermissionGranted(Context context) {
return (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.M) || (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M
&& context.checkSelfPermission(Manifest.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION)
== PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED);
}
public void startScanning(Collection<BeaconIdentifier> targetedBeacons) {
LOGGER.i("startScanning()");
if (!beaconManager.isBound(this)) {
this.targetedRegions = getRegionsForTargetedBeacons(targetedBeacons);
beaconManager.bind(this);
}
else {
LOGGER.i("Scanning already started.");
}
}
@NonNull
private List<Region> getRegionsForTargetedBeacons(Collection<BeaconIdentifier> beaconIdentifiers) {
List<Region> regions = new ArrayList<>();
for (BeaconIdentifier beaconIdentifier : beaconIdentifiers) {
try {
Region region = new Region(beaconIdentifier.getRegionId(), Identifier.parse(beaconIdentifier.getUuid()),
Identifier.parse(String.valueOf(beaconIdentifier.getMajor())),
Identifier.parse(String.valueOf(beaconIdentifier.getMinor())));
regions.add(region);
}
catch (Exception e) {
LOGGER.e("Caught exception.", e);
LOGGER.w("Failed to create region for beaconIdentifier=%s", beaconIdentifier.getCallParamRepresentation());
}
}
return regions;
}
public void stopScanning() {
LOGGER.i("stopScanning()");
if (beaconManager.isBound(this)) {
for (Region region : targetedRegions) {
try {
beaconManager.stopMonitoringBeaconsInRegion(region);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
LOGGER.e("Caught exception", e);
}
}
beaconManager.unbind(this);
}
}
@Override
public void didEnterRegion(Region region) {
LOGGER.v("didEnterRegion(region=%s)", region);
beaconScanningListener.onEnterRegion(region.getUniqueId());
try {
beaconManager.startRangingBeaconsInRegion(region);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
LOGGER.e("Caught Exception", e);
}
}
@Override
public void didExitRegion(Region region) {
LOGGER.v("didExitRegion(region=%s)", region);
beaconScanningListener.onExitRegion(region.getUniqueId());
try {
beaconManager.stopRangingBeaconsInRegion(region);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
LOGGER.e("Error", e);
}
}
@Override
public void didDetermineStateForRegion(int state, Region region) {
LOGGER.v("didDetermineStateForRegion(state=%s, region=%s)", state, region);
}
@Override
public void didRangeBeaconsInRegion(Collection<Beacon> beacons, Region region) {
LOGGER.v("didRangeBeaconsInRegion(size=%s, region=%s, regionUniqueId=%s)", beacons.size(), region,
region.getUniqueId());
if (beacons.size() > 0) {
beaconScanningListener.onBeaconsInRange(beaconIdentifierFactory.from(beacons, region.getUniqueId()));
}
}
@Override
public void onBeaconServiceConnect() {
LOGGER.v("onBeaconServiceConnect()");
beaconManager.addRangeNotifier(this);
beaconManager.addMonitorNotifier(this);
for (Region region : targetedRegions) {
try {
beaconManager.startMonitoringBeaconsInRegion(region);
}
catch (RemoteException e) {
LOGGER.e("Caught exception", e);
}
}
}
@Override
public Context getApplicationContext() {
return applicationContext;
}
@Override
public void unbindService(ServiceConnection serviceConnection) {
LOGGER.v("unbindService()");
applicationContext.unbindService(serviceConnection);
}
@Override
public boolean bindService(Intent intent, ServiceConnection serviceConnection, int i) {
LOGGER.v("bindService()");
return applicationContext.bindService(intent, serviceConnection, i);
}
}
public class BeaconIdentifier {
private final String uuid;
private final int major;
private final int minor;
private String regionId;
public BeaconIdentifier(String uuid, int major, int minor) {
this.uuid = uuid;
this.major = major;
this.minor = minor;
}
public int getMinor() {
return minor;
}
public int getMajor() {
return major;
}
public String getUuid() {
return uuid;
}
public String getCallParamRepresentation() {
return (uuid + "_" + major + "_" + minor).toUpperCase();
}
public String getRegionId() {
return regionId;
}
public void setRegionId(String regionId) {
this.regionId = regionId;
}
@Override
public boolean equals(Object o) {
if (o != null) {
if (o instanceof BeaconIdentifier) {
BeaconIdentifier other = (BeaconIdentifier) o;
return this == other || (this.uuid.equalsIgnoreCase(other.uuid)
&& this.major == other.major && this.minor == other.minor);
}
else {
return false;
}
}
else {
return false;
}
}
@Override
public int hashCode() {
int result = 17;
result = 31 * result + (uuid != null ? uuid.toUpperCase().hashCode() : 0);
result = 31 * result + major;
result = 31 * result + minor;
return result;
}
@Override
public String toString() {
return "BeaconIdentifier{" +
"uuid='" + uuid + '\'' +
", major=" + major +
", minor=" + minor +
", regionId='" + regionId + '\'' +
'}';
}
}
The BeaconDataProvider is used as a single instance per application; It is instantiated by Dagger 2 when the Android Application is created. It has @ApplicationScope lifecycle.
The beacon scanning is first started`in foreground mode from an Android IntentService:
beaconDataProvider.setForegroundMode();
beaconDataProvider.startScanning(targetedBeacons);
Once the device enters the region and the beacon is detected, beacon scanning is switched to background mode:
beaconDataProvider.setBackgroundMode();
At first I thought there was something wrong with the Onyx Beacons I was using, but I could reproduce the same issue with the Kontact IO Beacons.
Do you have any suggestions?
Am I miss-using the AltBeacon Android Library?
Thanks, Alin
