Request for Guidance on Suitable Nordic Product for Bluetooth Traffic Generation and Analysis

[Yash.P]

Dear Nordic Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

We are currently working on a project that requires generating continuous traffic using Classic Bluetooth, and if possible, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as well. The primary objective is to create sustained traffic on the spectrum for testing purposes.

Specifically, we are looking for a solution that can:

1. Generate continuous data traffic using Classic Bluetooth and BLE.

2. Force transmission on a specific channel, avoiding the default frequency hopping behaviour typical in Bluetooth communication.

3. Sniff over-the-air (OTA) packets to analyse data transmissions and interference patterns.

We would greatly appreciate your assistance in identifying the most suitable Nordic Semiconductor product(s) that can meet the above requirements.

Looking forward to your recommendations.

Warm regards,
Yaswanth Pukkalla
WLAN Systems Intern
Candela Technologies India Pvt Ltd
[email protected]

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

1/2. Nordic does not have any products that can transmitt (or receive) Bluetooth Classic, as that requiers a different radio. Maybe you can use DTM to achive some of what you want with BLE, and configure it to send a large number of packets via DTM comma ds.

3. Nordic procide a Snifffer for Bluetooth LE that you can use with a nRF52 DK or dongle to receive Bluetooth LE traffic. If you need more advanced features, you may want to look at a professional sniffer (such as Ellisys Bluetooth Explorer).

[Yash.P]

Dear Einar,

Thank you for your prompt and helpful response.

I would like to clarify a key point related to our project requirements:

As BLE is designed to keep the radio in sleep mode for most of the time to conserve power, we are curious to know whether it is possible to configure BLE to transmit continuously or at a high enough frequency that the radio remains active and can generate measurable interference.

Additionally, for our testing scenario, we need to transmit data over a specific BLE channel, avoiding the use of adaptive frequency hopping. We would like to know if such channel-level control is feasible using Nordic's tools and SDKs.

It would be extremely helpful if you could recommend specific Nordic devices or development kits that support:

• Configurable BLE channel selection

• Continuous or high-frequency transmission

• OTA sniffing capabilities (Optional)

We greatly appreciate your support and look forward to your guidance on the best product(s) to meet these requirements.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

It is possiblet o transmit most of the time. But if you only need interference and not actual data, perhaps you can use the radio test sample?  This leds you send out a pure carrier or modulated data on any channel, and it can be enabled indefinetly.

Yash.P said:

• Configurable BLE channel selection

• Continuous or high-frequency transmission

This is more a question of software features. Any nRF52/nRF53/nRF54L kit could be used for this, with the limitations of the test firmware we provdie (or what you write yourself). You could for instance use nRF54L15 or nRF52840 DKs combined with the radio test sample provided you don't need valid BLE packets.

Yash.P said:

OTA sniffing capabilities (Optional)

For the sniffer, I would recommend the nRF52840 DK or nRF52840 Dongle.