AvantWave is authorized by the Special Interest Group (SIG) to work with customers (including product manufacturers, system integrators, etc.) to assist in your qualification process. It would definitely shorten your development time and minimize your development cost by taking our consultancy and customization services.


What is Qualification?

Bluetooth Qualification requires certain testing standards for all designs and products which use the Bluetooth wireless technology. Qualification is a necessary pre-condition of the intellectual property license for the Bluetooth wireless technology. Qualification is also a necessary prerequisite in order to apply the Bluetooth trademark to a design or product. However, neither the trademark nor Bluetooth qualification guarantee that a product fully complies with the Bluetooth specification or is interoperable with other manufacturers Bluetooth enabled designs and products. That remains the responsibility of the design manufacturer. The following documents are the qualification program policy which each member is required to read and understand prior to qualifying a Bluetooth design.


The Bluetooth Qualification Process as defined in the current PRD (Program Reference Document) provides members with the ability to qualify and list their products on their own via the member Web site. The purpose of the new Qualification Program is to better assure interoperability, verify conformance to the Bluetooth Specifications, strengthen the Bluetooth SIG's ability to enforce compliance, correct the potential misuse of the Bluetooth trademarks and provide members who meet a higher standard of testing with the recognition that their product represents that of reliability and quality toward interoperating with other Bluetooth products. The new program will facilitate more efficient development of Bluetooth devices by automating many of the processes, increasing consistency in how the process is applied while reducing time and cost of getting through the qualification process.



Overview of the Bluetooth Qualification Process (BQP)





The process shown above progresses from start to finish through four different stages;
the Project Concept, the Test Plan, Product Testing and Product Listing. Stepping through the process, the member achieves the following:

Bluetooth Project Concept Stage
Step 1: the member logs in to the QLI and starts a new TPG project by entering a project name and expected qualification date.
Step 2: the member can obtain a Qualified Design ID (QD ID) for their new project. Under the requirements of the current PRD, members are required to mark products with a QD ID (e.g., B001999).

Bluetooth Test Plan Stage
Step 3: the member begins their TPG project by defining which Bluetooth Core and Profile features they will integrate into their qualification project by selecting the respective Protocol and Profile capabilities within on-line versions of the PICS documents.
Step 4: the member generates their test plan from the TPG.
Step 5: the member completes a prototype of their product design and begins the Bluetooth Product Testing stage.

Bluetooth Product Testing Stage
Step 6: the member begins testing their prototype in accordance with the test plan generated in step 4 above.
Step 7: the member completes all the required testing using the tools noted within the steps above and prepares a summary of test conclusions within the TPG test plan form fields.
Step 8: the member submits their Test Report Declaration to the Bluetooth SIG within the QLI.

Bluetooth Product Listing Stage
Step 9: the member begins the listing stage by entering additional listing information about their product's design on the QDL and any implementations of the product's design in end-user products on the EPL.
Step 10: the member ensures that their products are marked in accordance with the requirements of the current PRD.
Step 11: the member signs the required declarations indicating that they are compliant to the Specifications implemented and the qualification requirements of their qualified product.
Step 12: the member pays the listing fee by credit card or invoice. Once the payment is received and the Test Declaration is free of Inconsistencies, their product is listed.

You may find more details at the official Bluetooth qualification website at http://www.bluetooth.org