Lantronix FOX3-3G-BLE Installation and operating instructions

Application Note
How to Use BLE with the
FOX3-3G-BLE Device
Part Number APP-0012
Revision A October 2019

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 2
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How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 3
Revision History
Date
Rev.
Comments
December 2016
1.0.0
Initial version.
May 2017
1.0.1
New document design
Added new commands
$PFAL,Sys.Ble.Send,<protocol>,"<text+dynamic entries>" and
$PFAL,Msg.Send.Ble,<protocol>,"<text+ dynamic entries>"
Added new configuration parameter
“DEVICE.BLE.STARTUP=<on|off>”
May 2017
1.0.2
Renamed the app for android to “SPP Terminal Demo”
February 2019
1.0.3
Document throughout updated.
Added sections 1.2 and 1.3, and 1.4.1 to 1.4.4.
Added new commands/events/dynamic variables –see table in
section 1.5
Extended section 1.7
June 2018
1.0.4
Added new dynamic entries for the released iBeacons - see table
in section 1.5
Added new configuration parameter
BLE.SCANDURATION=<ScanDuration> - see table in section 1.5
October 2019
A
Initial Lantronix document. Added Lantronix document part
number, logo, contact information, and links.
For the latest revision of this product document, please check our online documentation at
www.lantronix.com/support/documentation.

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 4
Table of Contents
1Introduction ............................................................................................. 5
1.1 General................................................................................................................. 5
1.2 What is needed to get started with FOX3-3G-BLE (as Slave)? ............................. 5
1.3 What is needed to get started with FOX3-3G-BLE (as Master)? .......................... 6
1.4 Hardware setup.................................................................................................... 6
1.4.1 Connecting a FOX3-3G-BLE device to your PC..........................................................6
1.4.2 Installing the Workbench software and loading the configuration into the device 7
1.4.3 Powering up the FOX3-3G-BLE with the help of either CA70 or CA69.....................8
1.4.4 Testing the BLE modes of the FOX3-3G-BLE device .................................................8
1.4.4.1 PFAL commands implemented for BLE in the AVL firmware 3.0.x and 3.1.x ................ 8
1.4.4.2 Setup your FOX-3G-BLE device as a slave to send specific data to a master/server... 10
1.4.4.3 Setup your FOX3-BLE device as a master to scan for BLE iBeacons............................ 13

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 5
1INTRODUCTION
This guide shows how to configure your FOX3-3G-BLE device, connect it to the evaluation Android
app and monitor device activities via the BLE interface or receive the data advertised from iBeacon
sensors and forward their data to a remote server for analyzing.
1.1 General
Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) (also called Bluetooth® Smart or Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth®
specification) is the power- and application-friendly version of Bluetooth® that was built for the
Internet-of-Things (IoT). The FOX3-3G-BLE is a 3G vehicle telematics device that features Bluetooth
Low Energy connectivity for in-car access, company fleets, car-sharing, and car-rental applications
to connect, share or distribute information in real time. FOX3-3G-BLE can operate either as a slave
(peripheral) device or a master (central) device depending on user required functionality of the
device. FOX3-3G-BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) has a Line Of Sight (LOS) range of up to 50* meters.
As a slave, the FOX3-3G-BLE device connects to another BLE enabled device with an installed BLE
App (e.g. on BLE smartphone or tablet) and exchanges data. This mode can be used, for example,
for HoS (Hours of Service) solutions to review driving history on the app HoS on tablet and submit
electronically HOS records to a remote server.
The Android app (for evaluation purposes only) called “BLE Terminal Demo”, available by request
from technical support, can be used to test and evaluate the BLE functions of the FOX3-3G-BLE on
your smartphone or tablet. This demo application runs under Android 4.4 and higher.
As a master, the FOX3-3G-BLE device receives the information sent out from other BLE iBeacons
(peripherals, slaves), collects their data and sends this information over TCP to a remote server.
This mode can be used for example for IoT solutions in transportation and logistics to connect
iBeacon sensors attached to objects and identify them on a remote platform server. The
combination of FOX3-3G-BLE and iBeacons allows fleet operators to build solution that can track
the transport route of containers, trailers or swap bodies via the tractor, including timestamps, GPS
tracking, route tracking, geofence sector monitoring and GPS logbook.
* The effective signal range will be reduced depending on the installation location of the device and the
material and nature of the obstructions.
1.2 What is needed to get started with FOX3-3G-BLE (as Slave)?
If you are going to use the device as a slave device, which means to exchange data with another
master device, the following cables and apps should be available to operate with FOX3-3G-BLE
device:
1. FOX3-3G-BLE with firmware version 3.x.x and its control-box (included in the promotion kit)
are needed to connect the device to a PC and perform device configuration for the first time.
2. CA31 for in-vehicle installation: Main port extended installation cable with 2x4pin connector
and 6 x open ends as well as 2x2pin UCOM connector can be used to power the device,
activate low power modes with wake up reason “IGN”, monitor the state of input/output,
connect to the CAN-FMS gateway of the vehicle, connect a serial device (e.g. a passive or
active RFID reader) to the 1st RS-232 serial (8pin connector) port of the FOX3-3G-BLE.
3. Smartphone or tablet with Android 4.4 or higher and installed “BLE Terminal Demo”Android
app, provided for test purposes.
4. Workbench software to load the configuration into the FOX3-3G-BLE device.
5. Power source from +12 to +32 VDC (e.g. 12 VDC in your vehicle)

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 6
1.3 What is needed to get started with FOX3-3G-BLE (as Master)?
If you are going to use the device as a master device, which means to collect data from iBeacons
and send this information over TCP to a remote server, the following cables should be available to
operate with FOX3-3G-BLE device:
1. FOX3-3G-BLE with firmware version 3.x.x, its control-box (included in the promotion kit) that
is needed to connect the device to a PC and perform device configuration for the first time
2. CA70 or CA31 for in-vehicle installation: (CA70) - Main port basic installation cable, with
2x4pin connector and 3 x open ended wires, can be used to power the device and activate
low power modes with wake up reason “IGN”; (CA31)- Main port extended installation cable
with 2x4pin connector and 6 x open ends as well as 2x2pin UCOM connector can be used to
power the device, activate low power modes with wake up reason “IGN”, monitor the state of
inputs/outputs, connect a serial device (e.g. a passive or active RFID reader) to the 1st RS-232
serial (8pin connector) port of the FOX3-3G-BLE.
3. iBeacon sensors (e.g. ELA iBeacon sensors)
4. Workbench software to load the configuration into the FOX3 device
5. Power source from +12 to +32 VDC (e.g. 12 VDC in your vehicle)
1.4 Hardware setup
This chapter explains how to connect and get started with FOX3-3G-BLE. Follow this four step
process to get started with BLE:
1. Connect FOX3-3G-BLE device to your PC with the help of Control-box or USB cable.
2. Install the Workbench software and load the configuration into a FOX3-3G-BLE device.
3. Start testing the device configuration for BLE applications.
1.4.1 Connecting a FOX3-3G-BLE device to your PC
To connect the FOX3-3G-BLE device to your PC either use the Control-box (included in the
promotion kit) or a USB cable* (USB 2.0 Cable A-Male to Mini-B-5pin-Male), connect it to the USB
port on the device and install the USB driver. The USB driver can be downloaded from our website:
https://www.lantronix.com/support/.
* Please note that, when using the USB cable for device configuration you have to apply extra power to the FOX3-2G/3G/4G series.
If you are going to use the Control-box for connection of FOX3-3G-BLE device to a PC, go to our
website https://www.lantronix.com/products/fox3-series/ and download the document “FOX3/-
3G PROMOTION-KIT Getting Started” – then refer to the chapter 3.1.2 in that document.
Figure 1: Use the Control-box for connection of a FOX3-2G/3G/4G series device to a PC

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 7
1.4.2 Installing the Workbench software and loading the configuration into the device
To be able to communicate with the FOX3-3G-BLE device and load a configuration onto the device,
you need to install the Workbench software. Go to the following link to download it:
https://www.lantronix.com/products/workbench/
System requirements for using the Workbench software:
(a) PC with 700 megahertz or higher processor Intel Pentium II or compatible processor
recommended,
(b) 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (512MB minimum supported; may
limit performance and some features),
(c) 90 megabytes (MB) of hard disk space available (recommended 2 gigabytes),
(d) Keyboard and Mouse.
After downloading the Workbench software, double click on the file to install it. An install shield
will guide you through the installation. Integrated online help can be found once the installation is
completed.
Figure 2: Workbench software
1. After completing the installation, double-click on Workbench.exe to start it. Open a new COM
Port from the Toolbar (1), on the COM Port view (2), choose the port where FOX3-2G/3G/4G
is connected (go to Device Manager > Ports > USB Serial Port (COMxx), where xx is the COM
port to use), define the port settings (115200 bps, 8 Data bits, No Parity bit, 1Stop bit, None
Flow control) and finally, click the connect (play) icon (2.1) to open that COM port. You can
also get an online help in HTML format if you click the "Help" button on the upper-right hand
corner.
2. Open a new Console from the Toolbar (3), click on the Console1 (4), then go to Connection
view and click on COMPort (5).
3. Open a new Editor from the Toolbar (6), click on the Editor1 (7), then go to Connection view
and click on Console1 (8).
4. To load the configuration or send commands to the FOX3-3G-BLE device, type them in the
Editor (9), then click on Start sending configuration (10) or double-click with the left mouse
key on each configuration line individually, in the Editor (9).
5. Now, copy the configuration lines from one of the tables in chapter 1.4.4.2 or 1.4.4.3 below
and past them in the Editor (9) and perform the step 4 above.

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 8
1.4.3 Powering up the FOX3-3G-BLE with the help of either CA70 or CA69
After the device has been successfully configured, apply power to the device using either cable
CA70 or CA31. To apply power to the device, plug in the 8pin connector of one of these cables to
the 8pin connector of the FOX3-3G-BLE device. Finally, connect the power pins (wires at the end of
the used cable - IN+, GND - refer to the package insert of the device) of the used cable to an
external power source ranging from +12 to +32 VDC (e.g. 12 VDC in your vehicle).
1.4.4 Testing the BLE modes of the FOX3-3G-BLE device
This section describes how to test the configuration examples given in tables in the sections below.
After loading the configuration examples in the sections below into the FOX3-3G-BLE device and
applying power, the device is ready for testing its BLE modes. For more details about PFAL
commands related to the BLE, refer to section below 1.4.4.1.
1.4.4.1 PFAL commands implemented for BLE in the AVL firmware 3.0.x and 3.1.x
The table below gives you the list of PFAL commands/events/dynamic entries which are
implemented in AVL firmware 3.x.x, related to use with the BLE functionality.
Configuration Parameter Settings
Description
CNF.Set,DEVICE.BLE.STARTUP=<on|off>
Sets up the configuration of the BLE module in FOX3-3G-BLE devices.
Please do not set it “off”.
CNF.Set,Ble.AdvName=<Advertized_friendl
y_name>
Defines the BLE device name. Default = FOX3-3G-AVL
e.g. $PFAL,CNF.Set,Ble.AdvName=FOX3-BLE
BLE.WHITELIST=<None|Public|Name|MAC
>
Sets the whitelist mode after scanning iBeacons.
None: Disables checking the attributes of iBeacon sensors to be inserted into
the whitelist
Public: Lists only iBeacon sensors advertising their name(s), after scan.
Name: Lists all iBeacon sensors that advertise and don’t advertise their
names, after scan. iBeacon Sensors that do not advertise their names are
shown as “unnamed”.
MAC: Lists only iBeacon sensors advertising their MAC, after scan.
BLE.SCANDURATION=<ScanDuration>
This configuration command defines how long the FOX3-3G-BLE is searching for
discoverable iBeacon devices. <ScanDuration> ranges from 5 to 60 seconds.
Events Syntax
Description
SYS.BLE.eConnected
Occurs when the connection to a host is established (e.g. tablet or smart-phone)
SYS.BLE.eDisconnected
Occurs when the connection to a host is lost (e.g. App on the tablet)
SYS.BLE.eRegister="<BLE-
BeaconID/Name>"
Occurs when a BLE beacon is inside the range of the FOX3-3G-BLE.
SYS.BLE.eRegister=whitelist
Occurs when the incoming ID or name matches one of the entries available in the
Whitelist. Entries in the Whitelist can be set with $PFAL,Sys.Whitelist.Set
SYS.BLE.eRelease="<BLE-
BeaconID/Name>"
Occurs when an already registered BLE beacon is out of range of the FOX3-3G-
BLE.
SYS.eBleData="<userTxt>"
Occurs when the device receives a user text from the connected host (e.g. tablet
or smart-phone)
SYS.BLE.sConnected
True, as long as the BLE connection state of the FOX3-3G-BLE (slave) to a BLE
master (Smartphone/Tablet/PC) has changed from disconnected to connected.

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SYS.BLE.sDisconnected
True, as long as the BLE connection state of the FOX3-3G-BLE (slave) to a BLE
master (Smartphone/Tablet/PC) has changed from connected to disconnected. It
may happen that after the master device has disconnected an established
connection, the connection of FOX3-3G-BLE (slave) to a master is lost.
Commands syntax
Description
Sys.Ble.Scan
Starts scanning for new BLE devices in your near environment. The FOX3-3G-BLE
scans for 12 seconds long for around iBeacons. This value of 12 seconds is
predefined in the firmware and cann’t be customized by the users.
Sys.Ble.List
Shows all available BLE devices listed by names. Depending on the length of the
advertised friendly names of the BLE iBeacons, the device can store up to 28
names, if the name for each iBeacon has a length of max. 24 bytes.
SYS.BLE.ClearList
Clears the list of BLE sensors saved in the dynamic variables &(BLE.List) and
&(BLE.List2) during the last device scan.
SYS.BLE.Select,<index>
Selects the user specified index from the list saved in the dynamic variable
&(BLE.List) and &(BLE.List2) during the last device scan.
SYS.BLE.Show,<index>,<"text">
Reports the received attributes of iBeacon which is in the selected list. <”text”>
can include attributes of the selected iBeacon using dynamic entries.
Sys.Ble.Send,<protocol>,"<text+dynamic
entries>"
Sends the specified protocols and/or user text to the BLE connected devices.
Msg.Send.Ble,<protocol>,"<text+dynamic
entries>"
Sends the specified protocols and/or user text to the BLE connected devices
Dynamic Entries Syntax
Entries Description
&(BLE.Name)
Used to report the name of last registered BLE device.
&(BLE.RSSI)
Used to report the RSSI value in dbm from last registered BLE device.
&(BLE.Released)
Used to report the name of last released BLE device.
&(BLE.List)
Used to report the devices found at last scan.
&(BLE.List2)
Reports list of beacon MACs which were successfully scanned.
&(BLE.MAC)
Reports the MAC address of the registered iBeacon.
&(BLE.UUID)
Reports the universally unique identifier (UUID) of the registered iBeacon. This is
a 16-byte value that identifies the manufacturing organization. For example, all
iBeacons from the same organization will have the same UUID. This field is a
mandatory part in the advertisement packet.
&(BLE.Major)
Reports the Major value of the registered iBeacon sensor. This is an optional field
in the advertisement packet of iBeacons and not mandatory to advertise every
time and some iBeacons do not advertise it at all. This is a 2 byte field that
specifies a certain group under an UUID. If the beacons from same UUID are
deployed in different cities then each city might a have unique major ID.
It is set to 0 if not available.
&(BLE.Minor)
Reports the Minor value of the registered iBeacon sensor. This 2-byte field
identifies a particular beacon and is unique for each beacon. This is also an
optional field and some iBeacons do not advertise it at all. When the FOX3-3G-
BLE detects iBeacons, the above mentioned IDs will inform the master which
beacons are in the vicinity. The RSSI values give additional information to localize
mobile assets using these identification parameters and RSSI.
It is set to 0 if not available.
&(BLE.relName)
Reports the name of the last released beacon.
&(BLE.relMAC)
Reports the MAC address of the last released beacon.
&(BLE.relUUID)
Reports the UUID of the last released beacon.
&(BLE.relMajor)
Reports the major value of the last released beacon.
&(BLE.relMinor)
Reports the minor value of the last released beacon.

How to Use BLE with the FOX3-3G-BLE Device 10
Table 1: BLE related PFAL commands
1.4.4.2 Setup your FOX-3G-BLE device as a slave to send specific data to a master/server
Below you will find an example, how to setup and establish the Bluetooth® connection between
FOX3-3G-BLE and the host periphery (example App on the tablet with Android 4.4 and higher) and
how they communicate between each other.
The demo application “app-debug.apk” for Android 4.4 and higher called “BLE Terminal Demo”
can communicate with the FOX3-3G-BLE over Bluetooth® Low Energy.
Figure 1: HoS solutions when using FOX3-3G-BLE as a Slave combined with an Android app
The file “app-debug.apk” can be sent to the customers upon request.
1. Turn on the FOX3-3G-BLE and configure it with such alarm configuration lines.
$PFAL,CNF.Set,AL1=SYS.BLE.eConnected:Sys.Timer0.start=cyclic,5000
AL1 starts a cyclic timer with a timeout of 5000 ms, once the device is connected to the BLE server (tablet).
$PFAL,CNF.Set,AL2=Sys.Timer.e0:Msg.Send.Ble,8,"Name:&(Devicename); IMEI:&(IMEI); Date: &(Date); Time:&(Time)"
AL2 sends the name, IMEI, date and time of the device to the BLE server (tablet) every 5 seconds (on timer event) during
an existing connection.
$PFAL,CNF.Set,AL3=SYS.BLE.eDisconnected:Sys.Timer0.stop
AL3 stops timer (occurrence of timer event) after disconnecting from the BLE server (tablet).
$PFAL,Sys.BLE.Enable
This command activates the BLE function inside the device.
2. Turn on your tablet (or smart phone) and install the application “BLE Terminal Demo” (see
app-debug.apk. After a successful installation, its icon appears on the display (see Figure
below).