Queries on BLE Qualification and Declaration Processes

[Anonymous]

Find out answers on most frequent questions on BLE Qualification and Declaration Processes

1. What is the difference between a Declaration ID and QDID?

- The QDID is the unique identifier assigned to a qualified design; it is referenced during the declaration process to indicate successful completion of the qualification process. The Declaration ID is issued upon payment of the declaration fee and is required to begin the declaration process. The Declaration ID is a unique number assigned to every member company and once used, reflects the member’s completion of both the qualification and declaration processes.

2. Why does Infineon has both Component and End Product Listings?

- The listings are targeted at two types of customers who will use our BLE solution:    

• Component Listing - Customers who need their own qualified design. These customers inherit evidence for one or more layers from Infineon's component listings
• End Product Listing – Customers who do not need to create their own qualified design. These customers simply reference our end product QDID. Note that this is subject to the condition that there is no change to the qualified design.

3. Should you buy a Declaration ID even if you are using the Infineon BLE silicon/module that is fully qualified as an End Product?

- Yes. If your company is creating or rebranding a product that uses qualified designs, you need to buy a Declaration ID and complete the declaration process. Completing the qualification process is a requirement to satisfy the conditions of the license defined in the Bluetooth Trademark License Agreement (BTLA) and Bluetooth Patent & Copyright License Agreement (BPCLA).

4. What is the process to buy a Declaration ID?

- You need to be a member of the Bluetooth SIG. You can then buy a Declaration ID from the Bluetooth SIG by paying the declaration fee. Payment can be made in two ways: using a credit card or with an invoice.

5. What type of a member should you be?

- You have two options: Adopter and Associate.

Adopter membership is free. This is the minimum you require to obtain the license to build BLE products and use BLE trademarks.

Associate membership involves a cost. However, you get a 50 percent discount on listing fee, UPF fee, and so on. The fee is as follows: If you intend to participate in the SIG working groups and contribute to specifications development, choose the Associate membership; otherwise, choose the Adopter membership.

• $7,500 USD - If the annual revenue of your company is less than 100 million USD
• $35,000 USD - If the annual revenue of your company is greater than 100 million USD

6. What is the Declaration Fee?

- Adopter: $8,000 USD

- Associate: $4,000 USD

- Innovation Incentive Program: $2,500 USD for up to two declarations (conditions apply)

7. Should you buy a Declaration ID for every product variation?

- No. If your products use the same set of qualified designs without any modifications, then you can list all the products in one listing using a single Declaration ID.

8. What if you do not want to pay for Declaration ID / not list your product / not carry a Bluetooth logo on your product?

- Bluetooth SIG administers the qualification process and declaration process for members to demonstrate their compliance with both the Bluetooth Trademark License Agreement and Bluetooth Patent & Copyright License Agreement. Most members want to complete the requirements for both license agreements; therefore, the processes are completed simultaneously using an online tool provided by the Bluetooth SIG. If you do not plan on using the Bluetooth trademark, you will still want to be sure you satisfy the requirements of Bluetooth Patent & Copyright License Agreement when incorporating Bluetooth technology into a product for commercialization. If you are contracted to build a product for another company, SIG recommends that you consult your own legal counsel about your company’s responsibility. To ensure each member meets the requirements of both license agreements, SIG advises that each member completes defined processes for the products they build, brand, or otherwise represent in any way as their own.

References:

https://www.bluetooth.org/en-us/test-qualification/compliance-program

https://www.bluetooth.org/en-us/members/membership-agreements

9. Should you be a member of Bluetooth SIG to build/brand BLE products?

- Yes. Adopter membership is free. As an Adopter member of the Bluetooth SIG, you immediately gain:    

• The right to a license to build products using Bluetooth technology
• The right to a license to use the Bluetooth trademarks

10. Infineon has both silicon and module as qualified end products. Which one should you use?

- Choose module if you want to reduce overhead (cost and time) of the qualification process. The use of the silicon is normally open to hardware changes that affect the qualified design. This will require an assessment, requiring you to run all the Bluetooth RF/PHY testing at a BQTF and to create a new qualified design/QDID for your product.

Choose silicon if the module form factor, size, cost, or circuit design does not meet your product’s requirement. You may have to incur additional cost of running RF/PHY testing at a BQTF to ensure your product is still compliant.

11. If choosing the module, do you need to create your own qualified design/QDID?

- No. You only need to buy a Declaration ID for the Listing. You will reference the End Product QDID for the Infineon EZ-BLE module.

12. While choosing the silicon, do you need to create your own qualified design/QDID?

- You may need to, if the changes to the design are significant and will apply to most of your products. It is a good idea to get a new End Product QDID so you can list all your products by referencing your QDID. Follow the process discussed earlier to create your own End Product QDID.

13. What will happen when Infineon offers a new revision of silicon/module and you switch to the new silicon/module?

There are a two possibilities:    

• Infineon adds the new silicon/module to an existing End Product Listing – You can switch to the new silicon/module without any update required to your listing.
• Infineon creates a new End Product QDID for the silicon/module and new Component QDIDs for layers – You will need to buy a new Declaration ID and do a new listing, referencing the new End Product QDID. If you created your own End Product QDID and Infineon has new Component QDIDs for the referenced components, you will need to create a new End Product QDID.

14. You have a product with a competitor’s silicon and want to switch to Infineon. Do you need to do the qualification and declaration processes again?

- Yes. Because the QDID your product will use will now be different, you need to create a new QDID and Declaration ID (if creating your own QDID) or only a new Declaration ID (if only referencing).

15. What do you need to do if Infineon adds new BLE features (4.2 or 5.0) to their solution? Do you need to change anything?

- Whenever Infineon adds new BLE features, one or more qualified designs will be impacted depending on the layer(s) in which the changes are made. Infineon will create new QDIDs for such components and may also create a new End Product QDID.

If you continue to use the previous silicon/module that support the previous feature-set, you do not have to do anything. If you decide to use the new features, then you will need to go through the qualification and/or declaration process again.

16. Can the customer use an OUI-36 assigned from IEEE as the 36-Bit part of the 48-Bit "Public Device Address”?

- As long as the addresses are unique, it should not matter. The resulting MAC addresses when starting with an OUI-36 are still 48 bits, so functionally there should not be a problem.

17. Can you use Infineon's OUI for the project or do we have to obtain OUI from Bluetooth SIG?

- We recommend customers to get their own OUI. You can get your Company ID from the Bluetooth SIG after you get an Adopter or Associate membership; visit www.bluetooth.org

You can also use an Organizationally Unique Identifier assigned by the IEEE; visit https://standards.ieee.org/develop/regauth/oui/

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Translation - Japanese: BLEの認定と申請のプロセスに関する質問 - KBA210802 - Community Translated (JA)