CN1528073A - Sympathetic data transfer using beacons - Google Patents

Abstract

A communications system comprises first (12) and second (14) beacon devices capable of wireless message transmission and at least one portable device (10) capable of receiving such message transmissions. The first beacon is arranged to broadcast a series of inquiry messages (INQ) over a first broadcast range (B.1) and according to a first communications protocol, such as Bluetooth. The portable device (10) detects such inquiry messages and replies with an identifier for the portable device. The first beacon (12) then transmits the received identifier to the second beacon (14), with the second beacon (14) and portable device (10) configured to perform a service interaction when the portable device (10) is within a respective second broadcast range (B.2) of the second beacon (14) and when triggered by the second beacon receiving the portable device identifier. At least one of the first (B.1) and second (B.2) broadcast ranges is relatively short, such as to permit interaction only when the user places the portable device (10) within the respective broadcast range.

Description

Sympathetic data transfer using beacons

The present invention relates to services provided to users of electronic devices, in particular but not exclusively to mobile communication devices such as portable telephones and suitably equipped PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant Devices) Methods and apparatus for delivering such services.

In recent years, a tremendous increase in worldwide users of mobile telephone networks has been observed, and through technological advancement and increased functionality, cellular telephones have become personal and reliable devices. The result of this phenomenon is that the mobile information society is developing, and at the same time personalized and localized services are becoming more and more important. Such "Context-Aware Environment Awareness" (CA) mobile phones are used together with low power, small range base stations in places like shopping malls to provide location specific information. This information may include local maps, information about nearby shops and restaurants, and more. The user's CA terminal may be equipped to filter received information according to pre-stored user preferences, and only alert the user when data items of particular interest are received.

The existing method for implementing radio beacons is to perform a two-step connection process, starting with the discovery of the device, followed by the actual transmission of information using this device. Bluetooth is one of the technologies/protocols that can be used to build such a system, which requires a discovery phase to be completed before a transmission can take place. When used in a dynamic mobile environment, this processing often takes longer than the actual time the device is in range, preventing information from reaching the customer.

A system to solve this problem is described in a commonly assigned International Patent with a priority date of June 26, 2000 entitled "Local Data Delivery Through Beacons" (Agents Ref. PHGB000112) and unpublished at the priority date of the present application In application number EP 01/06949. The system provides a communication system comprising first and second beacon devices capable of wireless message transmission and at least one portable device capable of receiving such message transmission, wherein said first beacon is arranged to The protocol broadcasts a series of query messages, wherein said at least one portable device is arranged to detect such query messages and to reply with an identifier of this portable device, wherein said first beacon device is arranged to send received identifiers to The second beacon, and wherein the second beacon and the portable device are configured to perform a service interaction when triggered as a result of the second beacon receiving the portable device identifier.

While the foregoing systems require the portable device to perform an inquiry and paging process, the ability of the first beacon to send out an inquiry packet continues to expedite this process. Also, by having the second beacon handle all interactions, the first beacon does not have to suspend operation to issue paging messages, nor does it have to stop to allow interactive traffic. As a result, the portable device never has to wait for the first beacon to enter inquiry mode, which represents a significant saving.

Pushing (unsolicited unsolicited transfer) of information to a mobile phone, tag or PDA device via RF, IR or WAN requires prior consent and optionally further selection of utilization distributions in order for it to be accepted by the customer ( and acceptable). Unsolicited "junk" alerts and requests will be promptly rejected.

However, the consent process and the option to add the announcement of the user's mobile phone identification, which itself involves or interacts with the central system either in advance or at the place where the push is delivered, can subject the occasional user to prohibitive consequences. Alternatively, a filter on their cell phone may be activated by the user to block unwanted categories of advance electronic requests, which may require the user to be careful and diligent in selecting the appropriate personal filter for where they are entering. An ineffective system may result in the generation of push requests and signals destined to be blocked by all users present in the location.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a communication system for the delivery of data services by means of beacons, whereby the user's selection of the services with which to interact is accomplished in a relatively simple manner.

According to the present invention there is provided a communication system comprising first and second beacon devices capable of wireless message transmission and at least one portable device capable of receiving such message transmission, wherein said first beacon is arranged to be at the first broadcasting a series of query messages over a broadcast range and according to a first communication protocol, wherein at least one portable device is configured to detect such query messages and to reply with an identifier of the portable device when within said first broadcast range, wherein arranging for the first beacon device to transmit the received identifier to the second beacon, wherein the second beacon and the portable device are configured such that when the portable device is within a second broadcast range of the second beacon The service interaction is performed timely and when triggered by the second beacon receiving the portable device identifier, and wherein at least one of the first and second broadcast ranges is a relatively short broadcast range. The use of a relatively short range means that the user can choose whether to interact or not simply by approaching or moving away from the beacon; moreover, the amount of competing beacon signals per area is reduced.

The relatively short broadcast range, which may be a few centimeters to a few meters and may be adjustable, suitably requires the user of the portable communication device to judiciously position the device relative to the location of the first and/or second beacon to enable interaction. One of the first and second broadcast ranges may be relatively short compared to the other broadcast range to support sympathetic registration of longer range interactions or inhibitory registration of subsequent shorter range sympathetic interactions.

the exchange of query messages and identifiers between the first beacon and the portable device may include a specification of one or more types of service interaction in which multiple forms of service interaction between the second beacon device and the portable device are supported, and Wherein one or more of these forms are prohibited according to the included instructions. By allowing users to also specify which data services they do or do not want to receive, the amount of messaging to this portable device can be further reduced.

The first beacon may be arranged to provide an indication to the user of the portable device upon receipt of the identifier of the portable device that the device is registered for interaction with the second beacon: such an indication may include a an audible or visual signal, or it may be in the form of a data signal sent to the portable device.

The service interaction between the portable device and the second beacon can be achieved through different communication mechanisms (e.g. RF or IR) and/or according to different communication protocols (e.g. Bluetooth, 802.11, HomeRF, Zigbee) in order to Query messages and identifiers are exchanged between the portable device and the first beacon. The first communication protocol may suitably include Bluetooth signaling, wherein a first beacon device is configured to broadcast a series of inquiry messages on a predetermined timed succession of frequencies, said first beacon device's clock information being in the data transmitted in the data field.

The system may comprise a plurality of second beacon devices, each second beacon device being arranged to receive the designator from the first beacon.

In order to end the interaction, when the portable device enters the first broadcast range again, the portable device's identifier can be deleted from the second beacon, or the system can further include a third broadcast range corresponding to the second beacon. A third beacon coupled with the beacon, wherein when the portable device enters within the third broadcast range, the identifier of the portable device is deleted from the second beacon.

The present invention further provides a communications infrastructure for use in the communications system described above, the infrastructure comprising first and second beacon devices and interconnections therebetween, said beacon devices being capable of transmitting wireless messages to said at least one portable device, wherein said first beacon is operable to broadcast a series of inquiry messages over said first broadcast range and according to a first communication protocol to detect any acknowledging a message and sending the received identifier to said second beacon, and wherein when the portable device is within said second broadcast range and is triggered due to the second beacon receiving a portable device identifier, the The second beacon is configured to perform a service interaction with the portable device.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for enabling a user of a portable communication device to perform a service interaction with a beacon device in an environment comprising at least a first and a second beacon device capable of wireless message transmission, wherein:

the first beacon broadcasts a series of inquiry messages over the first broadcast range and according to the first communication protocol;

the user's portable device when within said first broadcast range detects such an inquiry message and responds with the portable device identifier;

the first beacon device sends the received identifier to the second beacon; and

the second beacon and the portable device perform said service interaction when the portable device is within a second broadcast range of the second beacon and when triggered as a result of the second beacon receiving the portable device identifier, At least one of the first and second broadcast ranges is relatively short.

A variety of different service interactions between the portable device and the second beacon may be supported, and the step of exchanging query messages and identifiers between the portable device and the first beacon includes allowing the user to select one or more available The interaction used. This permission may include a menu enabling the user to interact with different services, from which user selections can be made. With such a menu, the menu items may be displayed sequentially with the user selecting or not selecting a menu item by positioning the portable device within or outside the first broadcast range, respectively.

Other features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the appended claims, which are hereby incorporated by reference and to which the reader will now be directed.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a beacon and portable device embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating message setup and handover in a system with multiple beacons;

Accompanying drawing 3 shows schematically the arrangement of beacons in commercial centers or shopping centers;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an alternative configuration of a beacon infrastructure; and

Figures 5 and 6 represent additional features of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 3 .

In the following description we specifically consider CA applications that utilize the Bluetooth protocol to transmit messages from a beacon to a portable device (whether it is a phone or a PDA or other device). As will be appreciated, the invention is not limited to Bluetooth devices, and is applicable to other communication arrangements, in particular (though not exclusively) to frequency hopping systems. Details of specific implementations of the system of interconnected interrogators and interacting beacons and features of portable devices cooperating therewith are more particularly described in the commonly assigned and above-mentioned publication entitled "Local Data Delivery Through Beacons” in International Patent Application No. EP01/06949.

1 is a block schematic diagram of a CA mobile telephone 10 for use with a pair of interconnected low power, short range base stations or beacons 12,14 of the type. Such an arrangement could be used in places like shopping malls to provide mobile devices with location specific messages, such as local maps, information about nearby shops and restaurants, etc., using beacons to download informational keywords. An information key is a small data object that provides tags about a complete source of information, and it has the form of a number of predetermined fields, one of which contains a short snippet of descriptive text presented to the user. Another field would be some form of pointer or address, such as a URL or phone number. Other helper fields control how the data is presented to the user and how the address can be utilized. Although, as will be appreciated, waiting for suitable keywords is sometimes a time-consuming affair and receiving unwanted keywords may be undesirable for users, a beacon will typically broadcast many of these keywords periodically , each keyword generally refers to a different service.

Communication between the CA terminal (telephone 10) and the CA base station (beacons 12 and 14) takes two forms: "push" and "pull". In the "push" mode, an inquiry signal is broadcast by the beacon 12 to all fobs 10 within range as shown in B.1 and in the form of a short "keyword" as shown in 16 . The telephone 10 answers the query key by sending its own identifier to the first beacon 12 while in range, and the first beacon then transmits this interaction to the second beacon 14, while the first beacon continues to Broadcast query keywords. The or each second beacon 14 has a respective broadcast range as shown in B.2, with the broadcast ranges of the respective second beacons being separate (as shown) or overlapping.

Sometimes users want more information than what is contained in these keywords. Here, the "pull" mode allows a user to establish a connection with a server 18 (which is not necessarily specially configured for use with a CA) and actively request information to be pulled down into the terminal 10 . This mode is thus generally interactive.

As previously mentioned, in the present case one beacon 12 is marked as an "interrogator" beacon and it will keep sending out Bluetooth inquiry messages 16. This (or each) other beacon 14 is labeled an "interactor" beacon and allows communication with the terminal 10 on request on a one-to-one basis. Here, the inquiry procedure is performed using the interrogator beacon 12 and the paging procedure is performed using the interactor beacon 14 . By authorizing these functions in this way, it is possible to save considerable time that would otherwise be wasted in trying to connect to the piconet.

The present invention adds to the concept of interrogator and interactor architectures the concept of using reduced power RF or Bluetooth radios for sympathetic registration to receive services (information, alerts, etc.). A reduced power interactor or interrogator radio requires that the mobile device 10 must be intentionally brought into close or very close range to the fixed beacon 12 in order to discover it (via interrogation and page scanning). This device discovery then triggers subsequent information transmissions to the mobile device 10 via other interactor radios 14 . This reduced power range B.1 is adjustable, for example, from a very low (cm) range (reader type registration) to a 1 meter range (typical time for registration when passing through a gate) up to a wide range of positions 3 or even 10 meters. Likewise, for example by swiping the mobile device 10 again in front of the reader (beacon 12) with a reduced power radio, detecting the passage of the mobile device through a (logical or physical) exit door, using a timeout and the aforementioned Application No. EP01 Other techniques described in /06949, various ways can be used to de-enroll (that is, remove the identifier of the portable device from the interactor 14).

It will be appreciated that, for the user, the process of swiping to register on the first "finder" device 12 (eg, at the entry gate) can be synchronized with the timed display (on the screen) of a large range of service types. Service categories or venues with beacons may also be displayed in an on-screen subset selection menu prior to registering a "swipe" (eg, to populate a selection box selected on a touchscreen). The user can then additionally select the available services or venues from which he/she agrees to receive advanced requests. Confirmation of successful registration consent can be given with audible or visual feedback on the reduced range access point or with a signal sent (eg, via a Bluetooth link) to the mobile device.

For user selected services or classes of services or beacons (and only for such selections), the user's Bluetooth device ID is communicated to the associated beacon. If these beacons are interacting radios 14, then immediate interaction can take place using the registered Bluetooth device ID and bypassing the Bluetooth inquiry process (assuming the portable device 10 is within range B.2).

Alternatively, once the user has given their consent using their bluetooth "swipe", subsequent signals of local information, business or social opportunities advancing may pass not through any bluetooth beacons but instead through SMS, WAP or any other wide area network (e.g. 802.11 for example) Send to mobile device. In this case, the system suitably correlates the mobile device's Bluetooth device ID with its wide area address (telephone number), for example by pre-registration.

The split beaconing technique of the present application splits the Bluetooth handshake process of inquiry and paging/interaction on the two radios. Either or both of these radios can deliberately have their range reduced in accordance with the present invention. For example:

Decrease range swipe registration point "query" Bluetooth radio 12 and one or more 10 meter (or greater) range "interact" Bluetooth radio 14; or

10 meter range interrogating radio 12 and 1 or more reduced range (ie <5 meter) interacting radios 14 . In this case, the user's Bluetooth ID has already been discovered by the interrogator 12 (to save time), and the user can then collect the advancing message (or pointer to start the WAN delivery service).

Figure 2 is a block diagram of a two-beacon system showing (with numbers in parentheses) the sequence of message transmissions. In this basic system, there is one query beacon 12 and one interactor 14, but it will be readily apparent from later reading how this system can be extended to a network-connected infrastructure with multiple beacons and interactors . The query beacon 12 continuously sends query packets (1) for discovering the identity of any client (portable device) within the range B.1 of the beacon. Once the client 10 is within range, it will answer the query (2), giving query information about its identity.

Information about the discovered client is then sent over a secure channel (typically on a fixed infrastructure) to an interaction beacon 14(3) - a beacon that is only relevant for information sent to this client. The interaction beacon 14 then starts the service interaction (4) by sending out a paging message containing the identity of the client addressed to it, which it will answer when the client 10 is within the second broadcast B.2.

Although it is the customer's obligation to complete the inquiry and paging process, the fact that the interrogator 12 is able to continuously send out inquiry packets makes this process much faster. Using a single beacon 14 for all interactors means that there is no need to pause to send out paging messages, nor to stop to allow interactive traffic. As a result, clients never have to wait for the querier to enter query mode, which in itself saves a lot of time. As an added bonus, the Interaction Beacon 14 does not have to wait for the inquiry cycle to complete before sending out the paging message, and can save a few seconds here as well. As a further added bonus, by having a shortened range B.1 or B.2 to support sympathetic registration or interaction, the user can simply avoid interacting with services that are not of interest.

Multiple interactors 14 may be associated with one queryer 12, allowing location-specific content to be sent to clients. With a two-beacon system, the interrogator communicates the client's identity to all interactors in the network. This means that while the client is still within network range, it will only have to complete query processing one more time.

Once the interactors know the identity of the client, these interactors can start performing the tasks of service interaction. They are able to page all clients continuously. When a client steps into range B.2 of an Interactor, it will answer the page by establishing a link with that Interactor. Other interactors will generally stop paging that client until the link is cleared. A more advanced paging scheme would only send a page message in a nearby cell if the user would have to walk through one or more cells before being able to reach a more distantly located cell (without broadcasting a page message). In this way, large systems can be paged economically. Other paging schemes are also possible, as will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

As mentioned and shown in Figure 3, more than one inquiry beacon 12.A, 12.B may be part of the system. The shopping center may place a beacon at each entrance of the building, eg a corresponding interactive beacon 14.A-14.F for each of the many stores. Naturally, with such a distributed system, it will not matter on which inquirer 12.A or 12.B the client terminal completes the inquiring process. To provide de-registration from the system, a third type of beacon 20A/B may be provided at the entrance to detect the portable device again and remove its registration from the system; Mark 12.A/B to complete, and only cancel the portable device identifier when the portable device enters range B.1 for the second, fourth, sixth, etc. It is not registered until scope B.1.

If the range B.1 of the interrogator terminal 12A/B from the commercial center gate fails to cover (and detect) all portable devices entering the center, then the portable device will Inquiry processing does not have to be done at this time, but can be abandoned until it finds interesting broadcast messages, eg, from other inquiry beacons 12.C/D within this commercial center.

Several other functions can utilize distributed fixed part networks. Of these, the most important is call forwarding or switching. This function allows a terminal with an active link to transfer this link from one fixed cell 14 to another 14.B, ideally in a seamless manner, as indicated by the dashed line 100 . Handover in large-area multi-cell fixed networks is possible in Bluetooth and similar protocols by distributing management of terminal identifiers and linking functions on the fixed side.

Other features of the invention are shown in FIGS. 4 , 5 and 6 . In FIG. 4, the interrogator 12 has a larger range B.1 than the interactor 14, so that when it enters an area it captures the identifiers of all portable devices within range, while the user decides (or decides not to) The portable device 10 is brought into the shortened range B.2 of these interactors for sympathetic interaction.

Figures 5 and 6 show further features of the invention. In order to be able to select a service for interaction, the queryer may present the user with a menu 30 of available service options 32, 34, 36, moving a cursor 38 sequentially from one menu item to another: when the cursor 38 Next to a desired option, the user can then select from the menu by moving the portable device 10 into the first broadcast range B.1. The interrogator 12 suitably provides feedback 40 to the portable device 10 (or to the user audibly or visually).

As shown at 42 and 44, the communication between the portable device 10 and the query beacon 12 may use a different mechanism than the communication between the portable device 10 and the interactor 14.A. Alternatively, the communication between the portable device 12 and the interrogator 12 may follow a different communication protocol 46, 48 than between the portable device 10 and the interactor 14.B.

In the foregoing, we have provided a communication system comprising first and second beacon devices capable of wireless message transmissions and at least one portable device capable of receiving such message transmissions. The first beacon is arranged to broadcast a series of inquiry messages over a first broadcast range and according to a first communication protocol, eg Bluetooth. The portable device detects such an inquiry message and replies with the portable device's identifier. The first beacon then transmits the received identifier to the second beacon, while the second beacon and the portable device are configured such that when the portable device is within a corresponding second broadcast range of the second beacon and due to the second beacon The service interaction is performed when the token is triggered by receiving the portable device identifier. At least one of the first and second broadcast ranges is relatively short to allow interaction only when the user places the portable device within the corresponding broadcast range.

The main advantages are the natural ease and transparency of this actual opt-in act for the user and its added security and privacy benefits. The user understands that its disclosure to the push is limited geographically and by service request category and possibly by time. Time can also be saved on the system side if unwanted request generation is stopped, with a corresponding reduction in wasted radio spectrum usage. This technology also reduces the need for coarse filtering on phones in certain locations that push alerts or unwanted service types, at least in closed environments that support this registration technology.

From reading the present disclosure, other modifications will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art. These modifications may involve other features already known in the design, manufacture and use of fixed and portable communication systems, and the systems and components employed herein and systems which may be used in place of or in addition to features already described herein and components.

Claims (29)

1. communication system, comprise first and second beacon equipment that can carry out the wireless information transmission and at least one portable set that can receive such transmission of messages, wherein described first beacon is arranged on first broadcasting area and and broadcasts series of inquiry messages according to first communication protocol, wherein described at least one portable set is arranged to and detects such query messages when in described first broadcasting area and utilize the identifier of this portable set to reply, wherein described first beacon equipment is arranged to the identifier that to receive and is sent to described second beacon, wherein described second beacon and portable set are configured to when in second broadcasting area of this portable set at second beacon and when receiving this portable set identifier owing to second beacon and be triggered, carry out the service interaction effect, and wherein at least one broadcasting area among first and second broadcasting area is short relatively broadcasting area.

2. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said short relatively broadcasting area requires the user relative carefully first of this portable communication device and/or the position of second beacon to place described equipment, so that can carry out reciprocation.

3. the system as claimed in claim 1, the wherein said order of magnitude of short broadcasting area relatively are about 10 meters or shorter.

4. the system as claimed in claim 1, the wherein said order of magnitude of short broadcasting area relatively are about 3 meters or shorter.

5. the system as claimed in claim 1, the wherein said order of magnitude of short broadcasting area relatively are about 1 meter or shorter.

6. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first broadcasting area is compared relative short with described second broadcasting area.

7. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second broadcasting area is compared relative short with described first broadcasting area.

8. the system as claimed in claim 1, first and second beacon or the broadcasting area of one of them that wherein have short relatively broadcasting area are adjustable.

9. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the exchange of query messages and identifier comprises the explanation of one or more service interaction type of action between first beacon and the portable set, wherein support the service interaction effect of various ways between described second beacon equipment and the portable set and wherein forbid a kind of form or various ways among the described various ways according to the explanation of the described one or more service interaction effects that included.

10. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when receiving the identifier of portable set, the user that described first beacon is arranged to this portable set provides the described equipment of registration so that carry out interactive indication with described second beacon.

11. system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said indication comprises earcon.

12. system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said indication comprises optical signal.

13. system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said indication comprises the acknowledge signal that is sent to described portable set from described first beacon.

14. the system as claimed in claim 1, the described service interaction effect between wherein said portable set and described second beacon realizes by the communication mechanism different with the communication mechanism that is used for the exchange of query messages and identifier between described portable set and described first beacon.

15. the system as claimed in claim 1, the described service interaction effect between wherein said portable set and described second beacon realizes according to the communication protocol different with the communication protocol of the exchange that is used for realizing query messages and identifier between described portable set and described first beacon.

16. the system as claimed in claim 1 comprises a plurality of second beacon equipments, and each second beacon equipment is arranged to receiving flag symbol from first beacon equipment.

17. the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first communication protocol comprises the bluetooth signaling, wherein first beacon equipment is configured to broadcast series of inquiry messages on the cline frequency of timing in advance, comprises the clock information that is used for described first beacon equipment in the data of utilizing described additional data field to transmit.

18. the system as claimed in claim 1, in the time of wherein in this portable set enters described first broadcasting area again, the identifier of this portable set of deletion from second beacon.

19. the system as claimed in claim 1, further comprise the 3rd beacon that has corresponding the 3rd broadcasting area and be coupled with described second beacon, in the time of wherein in portable set enters described the 3rd broadcasting area, the identifier of this portable set of deletion from second beacon.

20. communication infrastructure, be used for communication system as claimed in claim 1, this foundation structure comprise first and second beacon equipment and between interconnection, described beacon equipment can transfer to wireless information described at least one portable set, wherein said first beacon is used on described first broadcasting area and according to first communication protocol and broadcasts series of inquiry messages, detection comprise described portable set the portable set identifier any response message and the identifier that receives is sent to described second beacon, wherein this portable set among described second broadcasting area and since second beacon when receiving this portable set identifier and being triggered, described second beacon is configured to and the effect of described portable set execution service interaction.

21. communication infrastructure as claimed in claim 20 further comprises a plurality of second beacons.

22. communication infrastructure as claimed in claim 21 further comprises message management apparatus, can be used for starting and implementing the switching of the ongoing transmission of messages dialogue from a beacon among described a plurality of beacons to another beacon.

23., further comprise a plurality of described first beacon equipments as the described communication infrastructure of any one claim among the claim 20-22.

24. a method is used for making the user of portable communication device to carry out the service interaction effect at environment that comprises first and second beacon equipment that can carry out the wireless information transmission at least and beacon equipment, wherein:

First beacon is on first broadcasting area and according to first communication protocol broadcasting series of inquiry messages;

This user's portable set detects such query messages when in described first broadcasting area and utilizes this portable set identifier to reply;

This first beacon equipment is sent to described second beacon with the identifier that receives; With

When this portable set is positioned at second broadcasting area of this second beacon and when receiving this portable set identifier owing to second beacon and be triggered, this second beacon is carried out described service interaction effect with relative at least one short broadcasting area among portable set utilizes first and second broadcasting area.

25. method as claimed in claim 24, wherein this second beacon equipment keeps and is updated periodically the tabulation of the identifier of the portable set of carrying out the service interaction effect with it.

26. method as claimed in claim 24, wherein support a plurality of different service interaction effects between this portable set and this second beacon, and comprise in the step of exchange query messages and identifier between this portable set and first beacon and to allow the user to select one or more reciprocations among the described service interaction effect.

27. method as claimed in claim 26 comprises that further the menu that makes obtainable different service interaction effects can be used for user's step, from then on can carry out user's selection in the menu.

28. method as claimed in claim 27, wherein display menu item sequentially, and user by respectively within described first broadcasting area or outside this portable set of location select or do not select a menu item.

29. method as claimed in claim 27 further comprises providing feeding back to the user to confirm the step of choice menus item from menu.

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