Bluetooth Resource Center

Bluetooth™ Testing Tools Comparison Chart

By Mike Ruscher

This Bluetooth™ Testing Tools product comparison chart is an effort to provide a basis for an initial evaluation of the available product offerings for performing Bluetooth protocol testing and analysis. It may also evoke educational exploration of the technology generally, due in part, to some of the more obscure features included. Since each product represented is designed to different specifications by its respective developer, which are not publicly available, no product should be considered limited in its capabilities, based upon the features listed in the chart alone. In fact, there are, understandably, features unique to one or another analyzer which are incomparable, but nonetheless of interest to some readers. The content of the chart is based solely on information received, or discovered, from various sources by the author. The chart attempts to present a subjective features listing, in an objective fashion, which may change without notice. The author holds no affiliation with, or loyalty towards, any particular product developer, vendor or reseller which might be implicated. The most recent additions/changes are highlighted with bolding. The chart is by no means complete, but is believed to capture most of the discriminating factors between the units. Where a particular feature is not fully appreciated by the reader, it is recommended that clarification be sought out by contacting either the product developer, or one’s favorite vendor/reseller. There may be unintentional errors, or perhaps misleading information, in some of the table allocations, through ambiguity or omission. If anyone cares to note these, the author apologizes and will be happy to update it for accuracy. In fact, readers are encouraged to contribute, especially those particular marketing folks for the products included. This will increase the amount of relevant technical information that doesn't appear to be available from the sources discovered to date. In general, interpret the vacant cells as "no", or unknown, but surely this won't always be the case. In some cells, yes+ or yes++ are indicated to provide a crude relativistic comparison metric for the granularity and/or richness of the particular feature, as appropriate. The best course is to contact the developer/reseller to get the final word. The web URLs of the analyzers at the developers’ sites are also included for reference. In some cases, there may be substantially more tester/analyzer product information accessible via these links. A consideration that must always be included in any comparison is the product developer's level of commitment, now and in the future, to the Bluetooth arena and their experience in developing and supporting test gear generally. In certain cases, their may exist complementary developer products which can provide a richer analysis capability than the use of just the single product listed in the chart. Where such information is known to be relevant, it is referenced for further reader investigation. There is also no particular reason that one, or more, competitive (loose interpretation) developers’ products couldn’t be used, in concert, for a specific project or purpose. Remember, there is no replacement for performing a hands-on comparison, or evaluation, of the products. I believe the vendors and resellers are eager to get these products into the field and will loan them out for short periods to interested parties. Lastly, this information in no way, shape or form, represents the views of the author’s employer.   Mike Ruscher, ITS Specialist I2, CSE/CST mike.ruscher@cse-cst.gc.ca Phone: +1 613 991-8040 ED/C200 http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca

Bluetooth™ Testing Tools Comparison Chart v8.8 - 3rd December 2003

	CETECOM   BITE Protocol/ Profile Tester	CATC BTTracer/Trainer	CATC Merlin Mobile	CATC Merlin	IVT BlueTester BlueAnalyzer	Catalyst BTAE	Mobiwave /   Yokogawa D10	Yokogawa BX1000	Tektronix BPA100	Frontline Test Equipment FTS for Bluetooth	Frontline Test Equipment SerialBlue	Arca Wavecatcher	Arca WaveMaker	Rohde & Schwarz PTW 60
Feature	BITE	BTTracer/Trainer	Merlin Mobile	Merlin	BlueTester/ Analyzer	BTAE	D10	BX1000	BPA100	FTS for Bluetooth	SerialBlue	WaveCatcher	WaveMaker	PTW 60	Feature
piconet master or slave operation modes	yes	yes	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	future dev	n/a	yes, with Wavemaker	yes	yes	piconet master or slave operation modes
independent operation mode	n/a	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes	n/a	yes	yes	no	independent operation mode
single user defined frequency operation	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		future dev		yes	no	n/a	yes	n/a	yes	single user defined frequency operation
dual fixed frequency operation	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		future dev		no	no	n/a	yes	n/a	yes	dual fixed frequency operation
limited hop frequency test mode	23 hops:yes 5 hops: yes	23 hops: no 5 hops: yes	23 hops: no 5 hops: yes	23 hops: no 5 hops: yes	no		future dev		no	no	n/a	23 hops: yes 5 hops: yes	n/a	23 hops: yes 5 hops: no	limited hop frequency test mode
Japan, France and Spain hopping frequencies support	yes	no	yes	yes	no		no		yes	yes	n/a	yes	n/a	yes, France	Japan, France and Spain hopping frequencies support
measure and display Bluetooth device clock accuracy	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		no		no	displays Bluetooth clock	n/a	yes	n/a	yes	measure and display Bluetooth device clock accuracy
Data capture medium support:
air	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes		yes	air
wired RF piconet	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		no		future dev	no	no		yes	yes	wired RF piconet
baseband	yes	no	no	no	no	yes	no		no	no	no	yes	n/a	yes	baseband
API	yes	no	no	no	yes		no		no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	API
TCI	yes														TCI
simultaneous data capture (multi-mode)	yes	yes	March '03	March '03	no					air, serial HCI UART (H4) & BCSP; and "virtual" sniffing	serial HCI UART (H4) & BCSP; and "virtual" sniffing				simultaneous data capture (multi-mode)
synchronized timestamps across capture modes	n/a	yes	March '03	March '03	no					yes	yes				synchronized timestamps across capture modes
serial link	yes	March '03	March '03	March '03	no					yes	yes		yes	yes	serial link
Feature	BITE	BTTracer/Trainer	Merlin Mobile	Merlin	BlueTester/ Analyzer	BTAE	D10	BX1000	BPA100	FTS for Bluetooth	SerialBlue	WaveCatcher	WaveMaker	PTW 60	Feature
traffic generation	yes	yes	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes	yes		no	HCI	yes	serial only	yes	no	yes	yes	traffic generation
error generation	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes	no		yes	serial only	yes	no	no	yes	error generation
jitter injection	yes	yes	no	no											jitter injection
retransmit packet capture	yes	no	no	no	yes		yes		yes	serial only	yes	yes	yes	yes	retransmit packet capture
pre-acquisition triggering		yes++			yes	yes	n/a		up to 100K packets	future dev	future dev	yes	n/a	on demand	pre-acquisition triggering
pre-acquisition filtering	no	yes	yes	yes	no		yes		yes	future dev	future dev	yes	n/a	yes	pre-acquisition filtering
post-acquisition triggering		yes+	yes+	yes+	no	yes	no		yes++	future dev	future dev	yes	n/a	on demand	post-acquisition triggering
post-acquisition filtering	yes	yes+	yes+	yes+	yes	yes	yes		yes+	yes	yes	yes	n/a	on demand	post-acquisition filtering
manual trigger	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	n/a		yes	yes	yes	no	n/a	on demand	manual trigger
ability to trigger or receive trigger from external source	yes	yes	no	yes	no	yes	future dev		future dev	no	no	future dev		on demand	ability to trigger or receive trigger from external source
statistics	future dev	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		future dev	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	statistics
Static Graphical Band Utilization Statistics	n/a	yes	March '03	March '03											Static Graphical Band Utilization Statistics
Stores known BT devices for future use incl. encryption info	n/a	yes	March '03	March '03											Stores known BT devices for future use incl. encryption info
ability to display protocols in hierarchical stack sequence	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	ability to display protocols in hierarchical stack sequence
flags protocol errors		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes			yes	yes				flags protocol errors
simultaneously display multiple of multiple data frames					no					yes	yes				simultaneously display multiple of multiple data frames
ability to synchronize and insert data into packets	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		no		yes	no	no		yes	yes	ability to synchronize and insert data into packets
acquire, log and display selectivity	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	acquire, log and display selectivity
free run (real-time) display mode	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	free run (real-time) display mode
Time stamping accuracy	312.5 ns resolution	16.66 ns resolution	16.66 ns resolution	16.66 ns resolution	PC Clock		Bluetooth native clock	unknown	n/a	1 microsecond	900 ns	1000 ns resolution	PC Clock	31.25 ns resolution	Time stamping accuracy
Packet stamping accuracy	312.4 us	100 ns resolution	100 ns resolution	100 ns resolution	PC Clock		625 us	unknown	packet level	1 microsecond	900 ns	625 us / slot	PC Clock	312.5 us	Packet stamping accuracy
log directly to disk	yes	no	no	no	no		yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	log directly to disk
maximum capture file size	hard disk size	512MB	32MB	128MB	32MB		hard disk size		unlimited	hard disk size	hard disk size	hard disk size	hard disk size	hard disk size	maximum capture file size
comma separated format (CSV) log data export	no	yes	yes	yes	no		yes		yes	yes	yes			no	comma separated format (CSV) log data export
human and machine readable post filtered data export	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes		yes	yes	yes	human and machine readable post filtered data export
Feature	BITE	BTTracer/Trainer	Merlin Mobile	Merlin	BlueTester/ Analyzer	BTAE	D10	BX1000	BPA100	FTS for Bluetooth	SerialBlue	WaveCatcher	WaveMaker	PTW 60	Feature
baseband parameter discovery (inquiry) control	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		yes, both GIAC and LIAC inquiry and response		yes	yes	n/a	yes	yes	yes	baseband parameter discovery (inquiry) control
manual key entry for data decryption	yes	yes	yes	yes	no		yes		yes	yes	n/a	yes	yes	yes	manual key entry for data decryption
non-intrusive master and slave paging sequence record		yes	yes	yes	yes		yes		yes	yes	n/a	yes		yes	non-intrusive master and slave paging sequence record
SCO audio input jack	no	yes	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes, with Merlin's Wand	no		no			no	n/a		yes	no	SCO audio input jack
SCO audio output jack	no	yes	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes, with Merlin's Wand	no		no		no	no	n/a	future dev		no	SCO audio output jack
convert CUSD A-law and u-law to .wav files	no	yes	yes	yes	no		yes, Baseband & L2CAP-RFCOMM			no	n/a	yes	yes		convert CUSD A-law and u-law to .wav files
PCAP format file export for BNEP and PPP	no	no	no	no	no		yes	no							PCAP format file export for BNEP and PPP
Playback voice packets	no	yes	yes	yes	no		yes, playback of .wav files			no	n/a	yes, playback of .wav files	yes, playback of .wav files	no	Playback voice packets
LED status display		yes	no	yes	no		yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	LED status display
Piconet graphical display	no	yes	yes, with Merlin's Wand	yes, with Merlin's Wand	no		no		no	no	n/a	yes	n/a	no	Piconet graphical display
Real-Time Graphical Displays		packets, retry and error dispays	no	no											Real-Time Graphical Displays
breakout board connector for external clock sync	no	yes	yes	yes	no		no		no	no	n/a	no	no	yes	breakout board connector for external clock sync
serial I/O port	yes	DB9	DB9	no	no		no		no	no	n/a	no	yes	yes	serial I/O port
drag and drop connections		yes	yes	yes			no		yes	no	n/a	no	yes	no	drag and drop connections
inter-device data transfer		yes	yes	yes	yes		no		yes	no	n/a	no	yes	yes	inter-device data transfer
run TTCN test scripts	yes	When converted to CATC Script	no	no	no		no		no	no	no	no	no	yes	run TTCN test scripts
TTCN Compiler	yes														TTCN Compiler
Customized test scripts	yes														Customized test scripts
Official 1.1 & 1.2 TTCN Test Cases	yes														Official 1.1 & 1.2 TTCN Test Cases
EUT Database	yes														EUT Database
automatic test plan generation	yes	With BlueVision Suites	no	no	yes					no	n/a		yes		automatic test plan generation
automatic test report generation	yes	With BlueVision Suites	no	no	yes					no	n/a		yes		automatic test report generation
Customized Test Report Template	yes														Customized Test Report Template
Test Log Analysis	yes														Test Log Analysis
Verdict Handling	yes														Verdict Handling
PICS/PIXIT Edition	yes	no	no	no	yes