Test Data Out

Signal Integrity testing with CRCs versus pattern generation and capture

I was asked recently whether engineers could just check the CRC error counts coming from the Operating System to ensure they had good signal integrity and operating margins. After all, a CRC checks for bit errors, right? Here’s why this is not good enough:

Diminishing ICT Test Coverage

Our chief technologist of non-intrusive board test, Adam Ley, recently published an e-Book on solving the problem of diminishing test coverage from In-Circuit Test (ICT). What’s the key take-away from this publication?

Problems with Powered Opens on ICT

If you’re using Powered Opens on In-Circuit Test, you may not be getting the test coverage you expect.

Is there a market for on-chip instrumentation?

Brian Bailey, editor of EETimes’ EDA Designline, recently penned a blog questioning the ubiquity and value of embedded instrumentation within chips. It’s a fascinating and timely read, and I’d like to put my two cents worth in…

Testing PCI Express

PCI Express (PCIe) buses, in particularly Gen3, are susceptible to defects which may be masked from conventional test. What are these defects and how are they detected?

Testing DDR3 and DDR4 memory – Part 2

In my last Blog, I wrote about the iNEMI report on how testing memories is one of the top three problems engineers face today. Why is memory test so important?

The Limitations of Boundary Scan on ICT

Many legacy In-Circuit Testers (ICT) support some kind of boundary scan for structural testing, to address limited access issues. But are these as good as advertised?

Pollution, Power Margins, and SerDes Problems

In addition to board design/layout issues, manufacturing defects and variances, other factors such as pollution and power marginalities can affect a design’s signal integrity and subsequent performance.

PCI Express Loopback and PCI-SIG

One of several buses I’ve been working on with the ScanWorks High-Speed I/O (HSIO) products is PCI Express (PCIe). We’ve had tools in ScanWorks to test PCIe in various ways since the Intel server chipset code named Twincastle back in the 2005 timeframe. And we’ve often run into issues with having robust enough support to handle any random endpoint that customers might choose for their system. 

When Gigabit Ethernet isn't fast enough

My neighbor’s son ripped out all the Cat 5e cable in his house and replaced it with Cat 6 cable. Why did he do that?