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A.1 Audio Expert System: aptX 'hiccup' Detected
This paper presents a case study in Bluetooth® audio debugging that highlights the importance of Frontline's
Audio Expert System (AES) in the process. The actual case involves transmission of a high quality, stereo audio
using the aptX codec from a smartphone to a
Bluetooth
headset. The transmission contained SBC encoded
packets despite a successful negotiation of aptX encoding and decoding mechanism between the source and
the sink devices. Frontline's AES software discovered this transmission error which most likely would not
have been easily discovered by using traditional
Bluetooth
protocol and event analysis. Without the Audio
Expert System a product may have been shipped that was not performing as expected by the manufacturer.
A.1.1 Background
In
Bluetooth
technology, Audio/Video Distribution Transport Protocol (AVDTP) uses Advanced Audio
Distribution Profile (A2DP) for streaming audio in stereo. The A2DP encompasses compression techniques to
reduce the amount of radio frequency bandwidth required to transmit audio. In addition to A2DP,
Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) controls certain functions of the sending device such as pause,
play, next track, etc.
All
Bluetooth
products using A2DP are required to implement audio encoding and decoding using low
complexity Sub Band Coding (SBC) that supports up to 345 kb per second bit rate for stereo audio. The SBC
codec has some issues though. SBC coding and decoding produces some undesirable artifacts in the audio
signal. In addition, the SBC encoding and decoding cycle introduces a time lag in the audio. To improve on
SBC's artifacts and time lag issues, a CSR proprietary codec that is called aptX
®
is implemented on some
Bluetooth products.
During the negotiation phase, both Bluetooth devices handshake and they automatically discover the best
codec and the highest bit rate to use for audio. If both devices support aptX, it is used rather than the default
SBC.
The AES software helps identify audio issues in
Bluetooth
protocol by highlighting information, warnings, and
errors related to audio data, codec used, and
Bluetooth
protocol implementation. They are collectively called
“events” in AES.The AES window shows audio data plotted as PCM samples versus time in the Wave Panel.
The audio data, codec, and protocol events are also graphically displayed in the Wave Panel, and with a single
click on an event, engineers and testers are brought directly to the exact packets or frames related to the
event in the
Bluetooth
protocol trace in the Frame Display. This helps users find issues quickly and easily. The
events are shown time aligned with both the actual audio waveform and bit rate variances graph in the Wave
Panel. The bit rate variance graph shows the average or actual amount of Bluetooth audio data sent over a
period of time.
AES can operate in two modes: 1) referenced mode, and 2) non-referenced mode. In referenced mode a
Frontline provided audio test file is streamed between the Devices Under Test (DUTs). The test file content
and parameters are known to the AES software that performs a comparison for deviations. This process helps
the software accurately detect anomalies created by the streaming process. In non-referenced mode DUTs
stream audio of unknown content, limiting the types of detectable events. The software automatically
determines the operation mode with no user input required.
A.1.2 Test Setup
The following DUTs below were used in our test setup:
l
DUT1 = smartphone with
Bluetooth
and aptX capability. The smartphone operating system was Android.
l
DUT2 = Earphones with
Bluetooth
and aptX capability.
The protocol analyzer: ComProbe BPA 600 Dual Mode
Bluetooth
Protocol Analyzer with
Bluetooth
Audio
Expert System activated. The BPA 600 is connected to a personal computer (PC) that is running ComProbe
Protocol Analysis System software.
DUT1 was used as a source device. DUT1 was streaming an AES Reference file.
Appendicies
TELEDYNE LECROY
Frontline BPA 600 Hardware & Software User Manual
291
Содержание Frontline BPA 600
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