User's Manual

Table Of Contents

CATC MERLIN MOBILE 1.00 CHAPTER 7

User’s Manual Decoding Trace Data

DRAFT

• Filtered packets: If a packet is filtered out of the recording,

its location is marked by a grey, horizontal bar.

• Errors: If errors occur on the bus or in packets or transac-

tions, the fields that contain the errors are highlighted in red.

A description of the error can viewed in the field’s tooltip, if

it has one.

• Warnings: Fields that contain warnings are highlighted in

yellow. A description of the warning can viewed in the field’s

tooltip, if it has one.

7.2 Protocol-Level Decoding

Protocol decoding presents a higher-level analysis of Bluetooth data. There are several ways

to activate protocol-level decoding in Merlin Mobile:

• Click on the button for the desired decoding level on the View Level toolbar.

• Use the General tab of the Display Options dialog to set the Protocol Levels to Show.

• Select the desired protocol decoding level from the View menu.

• Use the Trace View menu (described on page 57) to set the view level.

Selecting a protocol decoding level causes Merlin Mobile to look for the selected type of

data in the Trace. If any is found, it is decoded and displayed.

Protocol transmissions are made of one or more packets. Merlin Mobile displays the

transmissions in order of initiation, meaning that the transmission that begins first in a

recording is shown nearest the top of the Trace. The one that begins second is next, then the

one that begins third, and so on. The order is determined by the position of the protocol’s

starting packet; the position of its last packet is irrelevant to the order. Therefore, the

packets, or subactions, that make up a protocol transmission will not necessarily be

numbered consecutively.

Each transmission is shown on a separate row in the Trace. Protocol rows can be expanded

and collapsed to in order to show or hide lower protocol levels and packets, as explained in

Section 6.2, “Expandable/Collapsible Rows and Fields” on page 53.

Merlin Mobile can decode these protocol levels:

• Link Manager Protocol (LMP) messages

• Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) messages

• Service Discovery Protocol (SDP Msg) messages

• Service Discovery Protocol (SDP Tra) transactions

• Telephony Control Protocol Specification (TCS) messages

Figure 7-4: Error fields are highlighted in red; warning fields are highlighted in yellow

Figure 7-3: Location of

filtered packet is marked by

the filter bar