Test Data Out

PXI meets embedded instrumentation

PXI is a hardware-based modular test standard. If PXI users want to add test capabilities, they have to add another hardware module to a PXI card cage. Now that’s changed with the new ScanWorks® PXI-1000 controller. Let’s say you have ScanWorks and a PXI-1000 controller and you’re doing boundary-scan test (IEEE 1149.1 and 1149.6), but you want to detect a broader spectrum of structural defects so you add another embedded instrumentation test technology like IJTAG (IEEE P1687 Internal JTAG). No, you won’t need another PXI-1000 controller. You just expand the capabilities of ScanWorks and the PXI-1000 that’s already in your PXI chassis takes care of the rest. PXI, meet embedded instrumentation.

IEEE P1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG) taps into embedded instrumentation

There’s a wealth of test and measurement IP trapped inside chips and it’s ready for the IJTAG standard to set it free. When that happens, you’ll be able to validate, test and debug circuit boards and systems better. The IEEE P1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG) working group has been toiling away for several years now, codifying an open industry standard for accessing, managing and automating the operation of embedded instruments. Recently, we published a white paper about IJTAG, “IEEE P1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG) taps into embedded instrumentation.”

ITC 2012 - IJTAG gains momentum big time

Find out what the buzz was at this year's International Test Conference (ITC). IJTAG is the answer. Read more!!

Catch Up on IJTAG with these Free Resources

If you're in any branch of the electronics test business, you've probably already heard of IJTAG.  Whether you are a chip designer looking for an easier, more consistent way of accessing the instruments you embed in your chips or a board test engineer looking for a way to re-use tests that were created upstream, you may have heard that IJTAG will make your job easier.  But the IEEE 1687 working group is still finalizing the draft of the standard, and maybe you don't want to join the working group or read through the evolving drafts.  Still, you'd like to know what is coming, wouldn't you?  Fortunately, there are already some resources that will teach you the basics without having to immerse yourself in the IEEE process. 

Al Crouch, vice chairman of the IEEE P1687 IJTAG working group, has written an e-book called "How to Use Embedded Instruments and IJTAG/JTAG".  Click the title to get the free tutorial.

You can also check the status of the IEEE P1687 working group by checking Standards Corner on the ASSET web site.  It is updated weekly if any significant change in status is reported.   

Standards Corner also has links to the IEEE grouper on P1687, as well as links to other articles, documents and slideshows on IJTAG and many other standards.

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…

How to test DDR3, DDR4 and other memory buses is top-of-mind for many engineers. And rightfully so.

Recent surveys by iNEMI (International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative) validated what many engineers have experienced firsthand. Testing high-speed memories soldered to a circuit board is as elusive as it is critical for overall system performance. Testing DDR3 and DDR4 memory buses can be particularly tricky, given the fact that DDR is so fast and that the bus carries the clock and data on both the rising and falling edges of the signal. Sorting all of that out and making sure it stays sorted out over the life cycle of a system can be a daunting challenge.

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?

What is Board Bring-Up, and why does it take so long?

Board bring-up is a phased process whereby an electronics system, inclusive of assembly, hardware, firmware, and software elements, is successively tested, validated and debugged, iteratively, in order to achieve readiness for manufacture. This process can take so long that, sometimes, a product never gets to market because it is succeeded by the next generation.

Fast Flash Programming

Programming NOR or large NAND flash devices can be done using a variety of technologies, including boundary scan (JTAG), processor-controlled test (emulation), or FPGA-controlled test (IJTAG). Which embedded instrument you use is a trade-off between speed, complexity and cost.

The Coming Crisis in Board Bring-Up

I was reflecting on how much processor speeds, memory, and data transmission rates have increased over the last few decades. And yet the same old tools and techniques are often used to bring up new designs. When do you think we fall off the cliff?