The ibeacon driver uses a BLE4 module HM-17 (HM-16 should also work) which is capable of bluetooth central role
it is driven by AT cmds so there may be other compatible modules too.
Working with the HM-17 Module with Firmware Version V120 and V110 The HM-10 (clone) Module with flashed Firmware V609 (https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/how-to-flash-the-firmware-on-cloned-hm-10-ble-module-using-arduino-uno) worked too. When the ESP or HM Module wont boot up, switch the connection to TX-TX and RX-RX and Switch it in the Tasmota Config.
all apple compatible ibeacon devices should work as beacons. this one is fully apple compatible and the battery lasts about a year NRF51822 ibeacon module
another special beacon is supported. it has a build in speaker and can be made beeping by mqtt cmd. the battery however lasts only about a month smart-tag
the hm17 is connected to GND , 3.3 V, RX to TX of ESP and TX to RX of ESP. the module when delivered is in the peripheral mode and must be switched to central mode only once by the cmds sensor52 1 and sensor52 2. the settings are stored inside the module.
sensor52 us sets the (update) scanning interval in seconds s (5....n) sensor52 ts sets the timeout interval in seconds s (10....n)
the driver reports all beacons found during a scan with its ID and RSSI. if the beacon can no longer be found during scan and the timeout interval has passed the beacons RSSI is set to zero (0)
a beacon with beeper can made beeping by setting RSSI to 99 by MQTT cmd.