Overview of how PayPal uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) / Bluetooth Smart within the PayPal Beacon product, which we see as a piece of hardware aimed at revolutionizing physical shopping.
1. Beacon, BLE, and the
Future of Commerce
Jonathan LeBlanc (@jcleblanc)
Global Head of PayPal
Developer Evangelism
2.
3. Connection: Continuous vs Intermittent
Throughput: 0.7-2.1 Mbit/s vs 0.27 Mbit/s
Power Consumption: 1 mW vs 0.01-0.5 mW
Range: 100 meters vs 50 meters
10. The Initial Connection
Beacon selects unused
token, sends with nonce,
metadata, and signature
Device
App verifies signature with
public key, decides to
check in via metadata
Bridge
11. Checking in
App sends encrypted checkin
metadata to PayPal
Device
PayPal servers decrypt data
and check consumer in
Endpoint
12. Wrapping Things Up
PayPal servers send
encrypted message back
Device
App decrypts / verifies
message & disconnects
Endpoint
Beacon broadcasts “who’s here” message in the proximity of the devicePayPal app wakes up, connects to the beacon, and requests a beacon token
Beacon selects an unused token from its cache & sends it with a cryptographic none, metadata, and signaturePayPal application verifies the signature with a public key embedded in the application, then decides whether to check in based on the metadata provided
The PayPal application encrypts sine data to check in, then sends the message to beacon, which forwards it on, uninterrupted, to the PayPal serversThe servers decrypt the data and check in the consumer
The server sends an encrypted message back through the beacon, uninterrupted, to the PayPal applicationThe application decrypts and verifies the response, then disconnects from the beacon