In this step, you are going to experience the BLE iBeacon functionality of the EVB. To achieve this, you need to perform the following steps
-Connect to EVB using Tera Term
-Activate the BLE service of the EVB as a BLE iBeacon
-Start the EVB iBeacon function
-Finally, use a mobile application to visualize the EVB iBeacon
In order to connect to EVB, please use the Tera Term application. The steps to connect to EVB using Tera Term are exactly the same as what you did at the beginning of Step 9, explained below again just in case.
Please select the icon Tera Term under the Tera Term group to start Tera Term application.
Please connect to EVB using Tera Term. For this, select the Serial connection and STMicroelectronics STLink Virtual Port as Port.
In order to set Serial port parameters, click to Serial Port under the Setup menu.
Please fill the menu with the following parameters:
57600 for Speed
7 bit for Data
none for Parity
1 bit for Stop bits
none for Flow control
Then click the New settings button to save the settings
Now you are connected to EVB, and please press Enter to get the login: prompt from EVB.
Please enter 456 as a login parameter in order to access superuser privileges.
Issue ble command at the terminal to display the BLE commands of the sample application.
Issue ble open command at the terminal to view the possible parameters of the ble open command.
Finally, issue ble open peripheral command to start the BLE stack of the EVB.
You can initiate the iBeacon functionality of the EVB now that the BLE stack has been completed. Do not forget to capture the BLE MAC address, as this information will be necessary for later stages.
To view the various types of beacons that EVB can emulate, enter the ble beacon command.
Issue ble beacon ibeacon command at the terminal to start the iBeacon function of the EVB.
Issue ble address command at terminal to get BLE MAC address of your EVB, which will be needed soon.
Your EVB has begun broadcasting iBeacon messages, and you can locate it using the MAC address associated with its BLE connection.
You will need to make use of an application that acts as a BLE scanner in order to check whether or not the BLE iBeacon signals that your EVB sends can be seen. You can do this by utilizing the Nordic nrfConnect application, which is available for free on both Android and Apple devices and can be downloaded from either the Android Play Store or the Apple Store, respectively.
If you search for Nordic nrf connect in the Google Play store, you will be able to locate the app and install it on your device.
To begin searching for beacons, please select the SCAN option.
You can observe that your iBeacon has been detected on the screen that displays the results. Please note that the MAC address is presented in reverse order.
If you can recognize the MAC address, that means you have successfully verified the iBeacon functionality of EVB.
Please remember that this is just an example application and that you can create your application to send important information using this iBeacon message..
