Anritsu Co. introduces an option for its MT8852B Bluetooth test set that supports the Data Length Extension associated with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as part of the latest Bluetooth Core Specification version 4.2. With the new Data Length Extension option, designers and manufacturers of Bluetooth® Smart and Bluetooth Smart Ready devices can use the industry leading MT8852B to conduct radio layer tests in full compliance with the newly adopted Bluetooth 4.2 standard to improve product throughput and speed time to market.

The new measurement option in the MT8852B test set has been specifically developed to support the extension of the data packet length in BLE from 37 to 255 octets. The new test cases in the Data Length Extension option can be run as part of a test script to simplify the creation of test programs and reduce test times. For example, engineers can use the MT8852B to complete a test script implementing Bluetooth Basic Rate, Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) and BLE measurements in <15 seconds by pressing one key or sending a single remote command, greatly simplifying production test programs.

Engineers can conduct BLE measurements directly on the MT8852B. The test set controls the device-under-test (DUT) using the Direct Test Mode (DTM) over USB and RS232 HCI, 2-wire or USB-to-serial-adaptor control interfaces.

For development applications, the BLE Data Length Extension capability of the MT8852B is supplied with a PC application. Reference test packets can be displayed in a graphical format with the option, which also provides a clear pass/fail status for all supported measurements against the specified limits. This facilitates identifying any device failure caused during the critical design and development stages.

The new Data Length Extension packet structure expands the test capability of the MT8852B test set. It also supports six other BLE test cases, as well as eight Bluetooth Basic Rate and six Bluetooth EDR transmitter and receiver test cases. EDR test cases supported include Relative Transmit Power, Carrier Frequency Stability/Modulation Accuracy, Differential Phase Encoding, Sensitivity, and BER Floor Performance.

MT8852B Bluetooth Test Set

The MT8852B offers the most comprehensive testing facilities of any Bluetooth test set in a solution that is small in size (half rack) and lightweight (3.3 kg). It is widely used by leading device developers and manufacturers for Bluetooth Basic Rate, EDR, Bluetooth Audio and BLE measurements.

It also has the unique ability to test the Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) Bluetooth feature, which facilitates co-existence with 2.4 GHz 802.11 WLAN products. Support software includes Anritsu’s BlueSuite Pro3 and BLE Measurement Software PC applications for viewing Bluetooth packet waveforms, and CombiTest for automating high volume production test.

The MT8852B BLE Data Length Extension option will be available February 16, 2015. For more information, please visit www.anritsu.com.