Putting Bluetooth to the test

-- EDN, 1/18/2001

Getting your Bluetooth designs up and running is now a bit easier with test tools that emerged at December's Bluetooth Developer's Conference in San Jose, CA. For example, Tektronix announced the BPA100 Bluetooth protocol analyzer, which can join or monitor a "piconet," a group of synchronized Bluetooth devices. This feature enables the BPA100 to generate traffic or inject intentional errors to test the ability of devices to stay reliably connected under stressful conditions. In independent mode, the BPA100 nonintrusively captures data. The device captures all baseband packets; displays packet payloads; provides status information, such as access errors and estimated clock and hop frequency; generates packet- data errors; decrypts data; decodes and displays protocols in real time; and supports advanced debug triggers. It also lets you display data at higher protocol layers. Selective filtering and advanced triggering allow you to capture only the data that is of interest. Price is $24,950, and delivery is six weeks.

Meanwhile, Agilent announced several test tools for Bluetooth. The $15,300 ESA-E series spectrum analyzer comes with an $8900 Bluetooth package that enables fast measurements from automatic Bluetooth transmitter tests. The $16,950 ESG-D series signal generator now has a $14,390 extended Bluetooth option, which includes Bluetooth-receiver-test capabilities and a simplified bit-error-rate-test setup. The $18,000 E1852A Bluetooth test set, which will become available in February, tests Bluetooth-device functions and verifies conformance to key specifications over a standard Bluetooth link.

On the software side, Telelogic offers Bluetooth PreQual 1.0. Available now for Windows 2000, Bluetooth PreQual uses the same conformance test suites as those used for official qualification of Bluetooth products (Picture). Prices start at $20,000.

Agilent, www.agilent.com. at www.rscahners.ims.ca/ednmag.

Tektronix, www.tektronix.com. at www.rscahners.ims.ca/ednmag.

Telelogic, www.telelogic.com.

-by Nicholas Cravotta