US Patent 6868256 Portable device interaction with beacons

A communication system includes first and second beacon devices capable of wireless message transmission and at least one portable client device capable of receiving such message transmissions. The client device is arranged to broadcast an inquiry message according to a first communication protocol, such as Bluetooth. The first beacon detects such inquiry messages and replies with an inquiry response containing an identifier for the second beacon, enabling the second beacon and client device to perform a service interaction. In an alternative embodiment receipt of the inquiry message is notified to the second beacon which then sends the inquiry response to the client device.