Introducing the Core Bluetooth framework

Let's start with a new framework that makes broadcasting possible: Core Bluetooth. In this chapter, we'll still be using the Core Location framework but only to configure our transmitter. This chapter is all about the technology behind beacons.

The Core Bluetooth framework provides the classes needed for your iOS and Mac apps to communicate with the Bluetooth's low energy wireless technology.

Core Bluetooth has been available since iOS 6.0 and is intended solely for the implementation of centrals and peripherals.

Understanding centrals and peripherals

Before we understand how to broadcast as a beacon, it's worth understanding what centrals and peripherals are. If you think about peripherals as devices that have data and centrals as devices that want data, this makes the concept much easier to understand.

Peripherals are things such as thermostats, heart monitors, blood pressure monitors, proximity sensors, lamps, lights, and LED bulbs...