"The speed of test application
is an important factor for a high-volume manufacturing
line, but it's really only half the story," said
Dave Bonnett, technical marketing manager for the ScanWorks
system. "The other half is how the boundary-scan
system copes with a manufacturing environment where
a very diverse mixture of board types is being produced.
If the controller card or interface pod has to be changed
for each type of board that comes down the manufacturing
line, then the throughput of the manufacturing line
is not going to be very high no matter what the test
application speed. That's why the PCI-400 is such a
breakthrough. It has the highest test application speed
and it is flexible enough to test or program just about
any type of circuit board."
The features of the PCI-400 controller
card expand on and are compatible with the other members
of the ScanWorks family of boundary-scan controllers.
This compatibility allows any test or programming operation
developed on any ScanWorks controller to be reused without
modification on the PCI-400 in a manufacturing environment.
As tests and programming operations move from development
to manufacturing, the PCI-400 setup parameters are established
automatically by ScanWorks because the setup information
is embedded with the test or programming data.
Because of the flexibility of the PCI-400,
ScanWorks is able to test multiple identical boards
in parallel for high-volume operations or, in an environmental
chamber, for example, one board at a time can be tested
or programmed. In addition, ScanWorks can logically
combine several physically separate boundary-scan paths
and subsequently create and apply the tests or programming
algorithms for the combined scan path, increasing the
test coverage for the board or system.
"This kind of flexibility is extremely
valuable for overcoming many of the challenges that
contract manufacturers face," said Bonnett. "The
PCI-400 is the first boundary-scan controller subsystem
that's been specifically developed to meet the requirements
of a manufacturing environment. For example, tests often
are developed in different ways and for different configurations,
but the flexibility of ScanWorks with its PCI-400 controller
ensures that tests and programming algorithms can be
reused throughout a product's life cycle. That saves
time and money for OEMs and it brings their products
to market faster."
The ScanWorks control software can
adjust the system's logic levels to 1.8 V, 2.5V, 3.3V,
or 5 V, and match the impedance level to the circuit
board's inputs. In this way, PCI-400 hardware can accommodate
different types of boards without changing the ScanWorks
controller card or any fixturing. In addition, the ScanWorks
controller card can be a distance of 50 feet from the
unit under test and still maintain a test application
speed of 50 Mbps.
ASSET's PCI-400 technology also has
been integrated into Agilent Technology's 3070 in-circuit
test (ICT) system. The PCI-400 controller card and connection
pod are available from Agilent as part of its ScanWorks/3070
product.
"Many of our customers are contract
manufacturers looking to improve the efficiency of their
manufacturing lines to reduce costs and optimize profitability,"
said Barry Odbert, Product Manager at Agilent Technologies.
"Most contract manufacturers serve multiple customers
and that means that they are continually switching the
types of printed circuit boards that they are producing.
ScanWorks with the PCI-400 running on an Agilent 3070
ICT system gives contract manufacturers the speed and
flexibility they need to ensure efficient operations."
In addition to its standard boundary-scan
signaling capabilities, the PCI-400 hardware subsystem
includes 20 discrete non-boundary-scan signals to enhance
the flexibility of the ScanWorks system. These signals
can be used to optimize flash programming or for other
general-purpose tasks.
For more information on the ScanWorks
boundary scan environment in general, click
here. For a look at the ScanWorks Manufacturing
Station with information about the PCI-400, click
here.
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