Released by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) after an intense consultation process, Bluetooth Core Specification v6.0 introduces various features, including Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a much-anticipated secure, fine ranging capability that enables high accuracy distance measurement (HADM) between two connected Bluetooth devices. Pre-release, the company’s test and analysis solutions were widely deployed in a multi-year effort to test, characterize, and refine Channel Sounding implementations during the earliest R&D phases.
The Bluetooth SIG also provided updates to its qualification testing documentation and associated requirements based on the new specification. Test cases for Channel Sounding, numbering in the hundreds, and certain other features defined in this documentation are supported by the Ellisys Bluetooth Qualifier (EBQ) dual-mode radio controller qualification test system, enabling immediate testing and qualification of Bluetooth v6.0 radio controllers and IP. The company’s Bluetooth Vanguard Advanced All-in-One Bluetooth Analysis System is also fully ready to support test, analysis, and qualification testing for these new features.
“Ellisys has always employed a strategy to enable test and analysis of new Bluetooth features long before they are presented in final form via published specifications,” says Mario Pasquali, Ellisys president and CEO. “We pioneered a reconfigurable design approach to our suite of Bluetooth solutions that that supports this strategy, and that approach has demonstrably and significantly compressed the overall Bluetooth development cycle, making Bluetooth technology more dependable, more secure, and more agile in its ability to refine existing capabilities and introduce new features. Such a focus on early availability keeps test equipment factors out of the critical path for developers, ultimately enhancing quality and saving costs.”
In addition to Channel Sounding, the new Bluetooth 6.0 specification introduces other important features, including a framing enhancement for LE Audio that reduces latencies, a speedier, more efficient approach to advertising called Decision-Based Advertising Filtering, a frame spacing update that allows for shorter gaps between packets operating in certain types of connections, and other improvements. Each of these are fully supported by the Ellisys test and analysis platforms.
Ellisys Bluetooth test and analysis solutions are used by developers worldwide, including radio and controller manufacturers, IP companies, including software stack creators, makers of consumer electronics, cyber security services, automotive companies, test labs, and others. The company’s solutions include the Ellisys Bluetooth Qualifier (EBQ) platform, and several popular protocol analyzer tools supporting both Bluetooth radio types – Low Energy and Classic (BR/EDR).
EBQ is a comprehensive compliance, validation, and development system for Bluetooth technology, targeting the behaviors of the lower communications layers, including implementation of more than 2,500 tests, including qualification tests defined by the Bluetooth SIG, several hundred that are specific to Channel Sounding, a broad range of validation tests defined by Ellisys, and a suite of utility / tools tests. Ellisys protocol analyzers include the ubiquitous Tracker, Explorer, and Vanguard systems, offering deep features sets designed to meet a variety of customer requirements.
The EBQ is available from stock to Bluetooth SIG-recognized test labs, known as Bluetooth Qualification Test Facilities (BQTF) and Bluetooth Recognized Test Facilities (BRTF), and to Bluetooth SIG member companies involved with radio controller and IP development. Ellisys protocol analyzer systems are available from stock either direct from Ellisys or from authorized distributors worldwide.
www.ellisys.com
