Ellisys Bluetooth Qualifier
Advanced Bluetooth Qualification System

Industry's First and Most Advanced Bluetooth Radio Controller Qualification Tester supporting all Bluetooth 5 low energy and BR/EDR qualification tests.

Key Points

• Uncompromised performance: The Ellisys Bluetooth Qualifier (EBQ) was designed from the ground up to support the most stringent qualification requirements with a powerful and elegant hardware and software architecture tailored for the purpose.
  
• Approved and recognized.  The EBQ has met the requirements of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s Test System Activation Process and is included within the approved Test Case Reference List (TCRL).
• Dual-mode support: The EBQ supports the latest specifications for Bluetooth low energy (LE) and BR/EDR (Classic).
• Reprogrammable digital radio: As with the Ellisys Bluetooth sniffers, the EBQ is designed around a leading-edge, proprietary, field-upgradable digital radio designed to support evolutions in Bluetooth specifications, ensuring support of new specifications with short lead times.
• Automatically test your code:    The EBQ can be run manually by selecting and running tests, but it can also be fully automated using a command line interface (CLI). This enables tests to be run automatically by Continuous Integration servers (CI), running a small selection of tests against every code change during the day, and running a full qualification every night.
• Embedded and autonomous: The EBQ executes tests autonomously using an embedded operating system, precluding requirements for an external computer to intervene during test execution.  This ensures the most repeatable and faithful execution of test cases.
• Optional analyzer: The EBQ can automate an optional Ellisys analyzer to save traces for each test execution.  The analyzer is fully optional as the EBQ makes all pass / fail decisions on its own, without relying on external equipment and slow software searches.
• No blind spots: The EBQ is designed to support all test cases, even the most advanced, to provide the most extensive coverage possible.
• Cutting-edge support: To provide the highest customer value, the EBQ is frequently updated to support prototypical specifications and associated emerging (pre-release) features.
• Extensive technical support: The EBQ is provided with an extensive technical support infrastructure, including support from the engineers developing EBQ stacks and test scripts.
• Trusted by the industry: The EBQ is extensively used and trusted by major Bluetooth chip and IP manufacturers for day to day development, validation, continuous integration testing and qualification.

Summary

The Ellisys Bluetooth Qualifier (EBQ) is a test system for qualification, development, validation, and non-regression testing, supporting both Bluetooth low energy (LE) and Bluetooth classic (BR/EDR).  EBQ provides link layer (LL) and host-controller interface (HCI) services and test capabilities to manufacturers of Bluetooth radios and controllers, software stack creators, and test labs that provide qualification services.  For BR/EDR, Baseband (BB) and Link Manager Protocol (LMP) are also supported.

General Architecture

The EBQ employs a genuine test equipment-grade, purpose-built architecture that includes proprietary and integrated design of the RF, baseband, stack, radio, and test architecture, all smartly controlled by an embedded operating system.  The digital radio is fully reconfigurable to pace advancements in core and test specifications, providing extensibility, fast updates in test capabilities, and economic benefits to the end user.    

Embedded Processors and Software

The EBQ is designed with a fully embedded architecture that includes both real-time and best-effort software and processors.  The best-effort processor manages high-level stack components and management of test cases, while the real-time processor manages the bare-metal, low-level stack components.  This approach makes EBQ fully autonomous for all test operations – there are no control PC interventions in test execution.  This also optimizes overall performance by dedicating the most powerful hardware and software components to the most challenging of operations, improving responsiveness to user commands and the overall the user interface experience.

Test Cases

The EBQ supports qualification-mandatory test cases for LE and BR/EDR, as well as emerging (pre-release) test cases that are not yet included on test case reference list (TCRL) documents published by the Bluetooth SIG.  The EBQ software smartly assigns all required test cases to a given Implementation Under Test (e.g., a controller, radio, stack), based on the IUT’s stated capabilities.  Test cases are created in a high-level industry standard language for simplified development and easier maintenance.

List of implemented tests »

Test approach

The EBQ uses a multi-layer concept for test and control of the IUT.  These are called the upper tester and the lower tester.  The lower tester involves an over-the-air (OTA) interface and the upper tester involves a flexible host-controller interface (HCI) connection to the device under test.  The lower tester can also be cabled to reduce interferences, and the upper tester can be captured on the physical HCI (e.g., UART) or using a virtual HCI approach.

Powerful Control Software

The EBQ is operated by an intuitive software application designed for qualification and development workflows.  Setup and operation is easy.  Detailed pass/fail reports are provided at the conclusion of testing.  Pass/Fail verdicts are signed cryptographically and reports may also be used as qualification evidence. 

Test Info

A test information tab provides details on any selected test.  Information provided includes short and long test descriptions, test implementation details (such a test specification version, implemented errata, and maturity level), tags (which can be used to sort or call groups of tests), user comments, and test history.

Reports and Statistics

During a testing session, a live report is provided to indicate real-time test execution details, including pass and fail results, timestamps, script progression and branches, and other statuses.  Current and past test executions and results are stored in a database and statistics are displayed for quickly identifying variations in the execution.  Historical results can be easily accessed and reviewed for further investigation.

Test Complement

The complement of tests to be executed is automatically populated, based on the capabilities and properties from the IUT’s ICS file (Implementation Conformance Statement) and the IXIT file (Implementation and Extra Information for Test).  IXIT and ICS values may be manually specified or imported from a previous project.  ICS values may also be imported from the listings page at the Bluetooth SIG website.  Manual addition of any or all tests is available.

Setup

The default setup includes the EBQ hardware connected to the Implementation Under Test (IUT) over HCI and over the air.  The air interface may be cabled to reduce interferences.  The EBQ makes all pass and fail characterizations directly, and includes details on test progressions and failures, but an optional Ellisys protocol analyzer can be used to capture traces from each test execution for more extensive debug purposes. 

Adding an Ellisys Analyzer

The EBQ makes all pass/fail decisions real-time and provides a descriptive summary of all test activities and results.  To do a deeper dive on exchanges between the EBQ and the IUT, the EBQ application provides convenient automation for concurrent capture of all test cases, using an Ellisys protocol analyzer.  The analyzer can be used to capture over-the-air or in a cabled setup, using adapters, cables, and attenuators recommended by Ellisys.

Automation

The EBQ can be automated using a command line interface (CLI).  This approach can be used for non-regression testing and continuous integration (CI) systems, such as TeamCity, Jenkins, Bamboo, and others.  The XML input and output of automated processes is compatible with xUnit testing framework, making integration a breeze.  If code changes and software branches are tested continuously during development and maintenance, there are no surprises during qualification; it becomes a formality.

Test Reporting

On completion of a successful run of testing, the user can easily create a summary test report showing all pertinent test results and details.  These results are intended to be submitted to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group for certification purposes.

Learn More

The EBQ is broadly available. Feel free to contact ebq@ellisys.com to learn more about the Ellisys Blueotooth Qualifier.

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