Assistance in the Bluetooth SIG Qualification Process

[Thomas Nenning]

Dear Nordic Team,

The founders Lukas Pilat and Robert Kopka have met your representatives at the Light & Building conference yesterday. They recommended us to get in touch with Nordic via a private ticket to get assistance through the Bluetooth SIG Qualification process.

So far we have registered with die Bluetooth SIG, defined a project with our best knowledge, bought the PTS dongle and got familiar with the PTS Software. Currently we try to pass all test steps.

It would be great if you could give us some tips and tricks in general about the whole qualification process and how to efficiently qualify a product. Further a technical contact for detailed questions concerning the single test steps in PTS would help us a lot.

Sincerly,

  Thomas

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi!

I'm very sorry for the delay.

So, I have some of the information you requested, but are still working on getting the correct information about the rest.

What I have so far;

1. Are only Qualified Bluetooth Experts allowed to carry out the qualification process and submit the test results?

No, members may, but are not required to, engage Bluetooth Qualification Consultants to provide qualification-related services.
See: https://www.bluetooth.com/develop-with-bluetooth/qualification-listing/qualification-consultants

2. Do we need to apply to become a BRTF (Bluetooth Registered Test Facility) In chapter 4.5 of "Qualification Program Reference Document" it says "BRTF are authorized to perform testing only on behalf of their own company".

No, you don't need to apply to become a BRTF (Bluetooth recognized Test Facility).
That is the difference between BQTF (Bluetooth Qualification Test Facility) and BRTF (Bluetooth Recognized Test Facility).

"If your test plan generated by Launch Studio indicates that a required test is to be performed at the Category A at or below the HCI layer, you are required to provide test results from a Bluetooth Qualification Test Facility for testing services, unless your company is a Bluetooth Recognized Test Facility (BRTF), in which case you may provide test results from your company’s own Bluetooth Recognized Test Facility. Please note that a Bluetooth Recognized Test Facility is not allowed to act as an independent testing facility for other Bluetooth SIG member companies."

See: https://www.bluetooth.com/develop-with-bluetooth/qualification-listing/qualification-test-facilities

I'll get back to you with more information as soon as possible.

Best regards,
Joakim.

[Thomas Nenning]

Hi Joakim,

Thanks for answering the first questions. Is there an update on the remaining ones? We are already in production and start selling our product in a few weeks. So we would like to get the certification done soon.

Best regards

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi!

Regarding question number 3;
The answer is no, you should not change the layer and ICS Selection.
You should only refer to our already qualified design.

When you started your project, did you choose the
"Start the Bluetooth Qualification Process with No Required Testing"
or
"Start the Bluetooth Qualification Process with Required Testing"?

Cheers,
Joakim

[Thomas Nenning]

Hi,

We started a project with "Required Testing"

Inspired by your question i started a project with "No Requiered Testing" based on the QDID 85568 (End Product | nRF52 with S132 3.0.0). Now the qualification got way easier, a bit too easy. As far as i know we must provide a RF-PHY test as we have costum hardware. Unlike in a "Requiered Testing" project, i now have not found a way to upload such a RF-PHY test report.

Which is the correct way to go? With or without Requiered Testing

Best Regards,

   Thomas

 

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi!

Regarding the RF-PHY;
If you are following our reference layout, it should be possible to refer to our RF-PHY. But this is up to you, and you have to make an assessment if you are differing too much from our reference layout.

If you want to provide an RF-PHY test yourself, you need to go with the "Required Testing".
When doing so, you should not refer to our qualified design (QDID 85568) before you get to "Product declaration" in Launch Studio.

Let me know if this is helpful in any way.

Cheers.