What do suppliers need to know about the new Qualification Program Reference Document (QPRD) v3? (effective July 1, 2024)

Introduction

As a supplier of Bluetooth solutions, you are a key partner in educating your customers on the Bluetooth Qualification Process. As you may recall from our previous communications, Qualification Program Reference Document (QPRD) v3 went into effect on 1 July 2024, and we want to help you and your customers through the transition.

The new QPRD offers new benefits to you and your customers:

• More flexibility in how your customers use your Design, including:
  • The ability to remove or update Layers that implement deprecated or withdrawn specifications.
  • The ability to maintain the prior TCRL package version for unmodified Layers.
• Simplified test documentation requirements.
• A new qualification tool, Qualification Workspace, that generates required tests only.
• A clarified policy for subset and reassessed Designs.

Members are still able to use Qualified Design IDs (QDIDs) qualified under our previous policy (PRD v2.3).

What do your customers need to know when completing the Qualification Process after QPRDv3?

To help educate and support your customers, download and review QPRDv3 and create or update your product support materials where necessary. We have heard from Members and their customers that product support materials from their suppliers are helpful in completing the Bluetooth Qualification Process and prevent them from being subject to enforcement actions.

The following guidance is helpful to share with your customers:

• All products incorporating Bluetooth technology must complete the Bluetooth Qualification Process.
• Become a Bluetooth SIG Member (if your customer is not already a Member).
• Complete the Bluetooth Qualification Process in Qualification Workspace.
  • Your customers must know the correct Design Number (for products qualified under QPRDv3) or Qualified Design ID (for products qualified under PRD version 2.3 or earlier) for their products.
• Brand your product following the Bluetooth Brand Guide.

Bluetooth SIG staff are happy to review and provide guidance on content creation. Please contact us via a support request.