Diagnosis of beacons in an open architecture

A computer system for diagnosing a beacon in an open architecture, the computer system comprising:

• a memory medium comprising program instructions;
• a bus coupled to the memory medium;
• and
• a processor for executing the program instructions, the instructions causing the system to:
• associate each of a set of beacons in a venue with an associated beacon location, each beacon of the set of beacons being a transmit-only device using a iBeacon technology standard that communicates only by emitting a relatively short-range Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) electronic signal and that is not connected to a network;
• determine a location of a mobile device within the venue with a Wi-Fi based location determiner that does not utilize any beacon of the set of beacons;
• retrieve, in real time from an application on the mobile device, any information received by the mobile device from the set of beacons;
• and
• diagnose an operational status of a beacon based on a comparison of the information and the location without utilizing information communicated from the beacon otherwise than via the mobile device.

A computer program product for diagnosing a beacon in an open architecture, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage device, to:

• associate each of a set of beacons in a venue with an associated beacon location, each beacon of the set of beacons being a transmit-only device using a iBeacon technology standard that communicates only by emitting a relatively short-range Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) electronic signal and that is not connected to a network;
• determine a location of a mobile device within the venue with a Wi-Fi based location determiner that does not utilize any beacon of the set of beacons;
• retrieve, in real time from an application on the mobile device, any information received by the mobile device from the set of beacons;
• and
• diagnose an operational status of a beacon based on a comparison of the information and the location without utilizing information communicated from the beacon otherwise than via the mobile device.