Bluetooth Timeline Packet Depiction

• The timeline shows Bluetooth packets within a specific period of time.  
• The time segments flow left to right and down, following a complete row across.  Then you move down to the next row, go across, then down to the next row, just like reading a book, upper left corner to lower right corner.
• Within each row are two divisions: M (master) and S (Slave). Packets are placed on M or S depending on the data's role.
• Placing the mouse pointer on a packet displays information about that packet in an information box.
• Selecting a packet by clicking on it shows information about that packet above the timeline.
• You can use the arrow keys to move to the next or previous packet.  You can select multiple packets by dragging within the timeline or by holding the SHIFT key down while arrowing.
• Using the mouse scroll wheel scrolls the timeline vertically.  You can also zoom by using a right click (which displays specific magnification values), using the + and - Zoom tools, or by selecting a value from the Zoom menu.
• Packet height indicates speed (1, 2, or 3 Mbits/sec). Packet length indicates duration (for reference, the duration of a slot is 625-µs). Packet height and length together indicate size (speed times duration).

A packet is drawn using the following components:

• A “max packet on wire reference” rectangle (light solid lines). This indicates the packet in the air with a max payload.

  

• A “max actual payload reference” rectangle (dark solid lines). This indicates a max payload as would be extracted by the receiving device (if the payload in the air contains forward error correction (FEC), it is longer than the actual payload). The position of the beginning of the rectangle indicates where the payload begins in time.

  

• An “actual payload” colored sub-rectangle (packet category-specific; blue here). This indicates the actual received payload with FEC (if any) removed. It is the beginning portion of the “max actual payload reference” rectangle. If the actual payload is of max size, the entire “max actual payload reference” rectangle is colored.

  

• An “unused payload reference” sub-rectangle (always white). This indicates the unused portion of a maximum payload. It is the remaining portion of the “max actual payload reference” rectangle. The packet in the air does not leave room for this. It is indicated for reference only.

  

• A “max speed reference” rectangle (dashed lines). This is used to extend the height to that of a 3 Mbits/sec packet, and appears only for packets whose speed is less than that. The packet shown here has a speed of 1 Mbit/sec because the height of the other rectangles is 1/3 of the total height.

  

• The part of the “max packet on wire reference” rectangle (light solid lines) that trails the “max actual payload reference” rectangle (dark solid lines) is partly packet in the air (if the payload on the wire contained FEC) and partly trailer (CRC, etc). There is always a trailer, so there is always a little space (subject to round off error and pixel granularity) between the ends of the two rectangles.

  

This table shows how packets are colored:

Packet Type Colors

Packet Category	Packet Types	Color
ALC	DM1, DM3, DM5, DH1, 2‑DH1, 3-DH1, DH3, 2‑DH3, 3-DH3, DH5, 2‑DH5, 3-DH5, AUX1	Black
SCO	HV1, HV2, HV3, DV	Pink
eSCO	EV3, 2‑EV3, 3‑EV3, EV4, EV5, 2‑EV5, 3‑EV5	Purple
LMP*	DM1, DV	Dark Blue
FHS	FHS	Light Blue
NULL	NULL	Light Gray
POLL	POLL	Light Brown
Filler	Filler provided by ComProbe software	Dark Gray
*LMP is a protocol layer that uses either DM1 or DV packets. If a packet has an LMP layer, the LMP color is used instead of the packet type color.

 

This table summarizes the various ways in which packet information is presented:

Packet Information Presentation

Information	Text	Color	Graphic size	Position
Packet Type	X
Packet Category		X
Protocol	X	X
Time of occurence	X			X
Source device	X			X
Duration			X
Size in bytes	X		X
Size as a percent of max size for that packet type	X		X
Speed			X
Status	X		X