lansitec
                     B-Mobile Personnel & 
Asset Tracking Solution
https://www.lansitec.com/
Overview
 ‘B-Mobile’ stands for ‘Beacon Mobile’. Bluetooth beacons are deployed on assets or personnel. 
Bluetooth gateways are deployed at fixed locations. This intelligent asset management solution is based 
on the lastest LoRa technology and Bluetooth technology. The solution uses the latest IoT technology to 
strengthen the management of onsite personnel, acquire real-time location information of personnel 
and assets, and precisely document the time when personnel enter and leave the site. Geo-fences are 
supported to specific regions of the site to control the in and out of personnel. It also performs an 
analysis of the duration of vehicles staying on construction sites. Therefore, the management level and 
efficiency is significantly enhanced, safety risks are reduced Features of this tracking system are: 
  Wide network coverage 
  Easy to install, no need to set premises distribution system 
  The maximum standby time of Bluetooth beacons can be up to several years This document aims to 
introduce the composition, features, software development methods, and project implementation 
methods of the system. 
2. Network Set-up Solution
 Personnel Tracking Management Deploy Bluetooth gateways at fixed locations. 
Personnel wear Bluetooth badges/bracelets and messages are sent to the nearby 
Bluetooth gateways. The Bluetooth gateways then forwards received information to 
the server via the wireless LoRa network. Finally, the location of personnel is 
calculated by the server. Other forms of Bluetooth devices installed on the assets can 
also be used for asset tracking management, such as vehicle management in parking 
lots.
 System Composition
 1) Bluetooth beacon (or called Bluetooth badge): broadcasts Bluetooth signal 
according to set duration, worn by personnel, or put on the dashboard inside of the 
vehicle.
 2) Bluetooth gateway: receive nearby Bluetooth beacon messages and reconstruct 
them, then transmit Bluetooth beacon messages via LoRaWAN.
 3) LoRa gateway: transmits the data sent by Bluetooth badges to the cloud via 4G or 
Ethernet. 
4) Tracking engine: calculates the location of devices/personnel, deployed at Alibaba 
cloud. 
5) Map engine: marks the location of Bluetooth beacons, objects, displays the location 
of the device or personnel according to requirements, cloud based. 6) Application 
server: web services and APP services. 
Tracking Principles 
 In this scenario, the Bluetooth gateway is deployed at a fixed location, such as the 
lobby or walls of the corridor. When a person who wears a badge beacon passes by, 
the badge receives beacon information. Therefore, the system knows that the person 
is close to the gate, but it is unable to identify his/her exact location. It is also able to 
calculate the distance between the beacon and the person based on received signal 
strength. However, it cannot determine the direction. Thus, single-point tracking is 
only suitable for rough tracking. Please refer to the article in the link below for more 
information about distance calculation. 
 Since people usually walk at a fast speed, it is suggested that the Bluetooth 
broadcasting interval of the badge beacon should be set to 800ms. The Bluetooth 
receiving function of the indoor Bluetooth gateway and badge Bluetooth gateway is 
always on. As long as the distance between the gateway and the beacon does not 
exceed their coverage range, the signal sent by the beacons will not be lost. It has 
been tested that the maximum outdoor transmission distance reaches 80 meters 
without any obstruction. The maximum indoor transmission distance is between 
10~30 meters. The transmission distance varies depends on the obstruction. For the 
solar Bluetooth gateway, the window for Bluetooth positioning function is three 
seconds. Thus, the broadcasting interval of the beacon should be less than 1.5 
seconds to ensure that the messages can be received by the gateway. 
 Even though signal sent by Bluetooth beacon can be received by gateways in the next 
room, the signal is generally very weak. The difference between the two RSSIs can be 
up to 20dBm. Because of the interference in 2.4G band as well as the multipath effect, 
the signal strength received by the gateways differs noticeably. The relative distance 
between beacons and gateways changes constantly, which then leads to less accuracy 
in positioning.
Two-point positioning
 Two-point positioning is suitable for long and narrow areas such as tunnels, passages, 
and roads. Gateways are deployed at both ends of the passage with 10~15 meters 
distance. The gateway forwards the received beacon messages to the server. Then the 
server calculates the location of the beacon. The precision is around 3~5 meters. 
There is a time difference between two received messages of Bluetooth gateways. 
There is also a time difference among LoRaWAN network servers when they receive 
those messages. The time difference can be seconds or longer depending on different 
reporting intervals. Therefore, using such a method for personnel tracking tends to 
have relatively less accuracy. Thus, we suggest using this method for asset tracking. 
Generally, assets stay at a fixed location for a longer period. During this time period, 
servers acquires multiple groups of data to ensure the tracking accuracy.
Triangulation
 Since the distance between the tracker and the beacon varies, the beacon receives 
different signal strength. Therefore, the distance between the tracker and its three 
nearby Bluetooth beacons can be calculated. Beacons are deployed at a fixed location 
with known longitude and latitude. Thus, its relative longitude and latitude can be 
calculated as shown in Figure 2. For large open space indoors, we generally use 2x2 
matrix deployment method in projects, which is deploying Bluetooth gateways every 
ten meters. Since the distance between beacons and Bluetooth gateways varies, the 
signal strength varies. Therefore, the distance between beacons and three nearby 
Bluetooth gateways can be calculated. Bluetooth gateways are deployed at a fixed 
location with known longitude and latitude. Thus, the relative longitude and latitude of 
the beacon can be calculated.
Thanks