Microsoft selects ScanWorks for Xbox 360 testing
Microsoft’s selection of ScanWorks to perform boundary scan testing on its recently announced next-generation Xbox 360 video game and entertainment console marks the first major deployment of boundary scan technology in a high-volume consumer electronics product. Through the end of the year, over 50 ScanWorks systems will be deployed to test the Xbox 360 console throughout its product life cycle.
Of course, boundary scan has been deployed extensively in telecommunications, defense, high-end computer and medical systems, but until now manufacturers of consumer electronics products have not taken advantage of the technology.
Microsoft has already begun using ScanWorks on the Xbox 360 console during its design phase when tests were generated by ScanWorks to debug prototypes. These ScanWorks tests will migrate to high-volume manufacturing, where they will be applied via an Agilent Medalist in-circuit test (ICT) system. In addition, ScanWorks tests will be integrated into a functional test suite for the Xbox 360 console. And lastly, ScanWorks tests will be used by repair depot operations in the field. By re-using ScanWorks boundary-scan tests throughout every phase of the Xbox 360 console’s life cycle, test costs are reduced significantly and the system’s time-to-market is accelerated.
“We continually look for ways to improve the quality of the Xbox experience,” said Don Kadyk, Manufacturing Test Engineering Manager of Microsoft. “That means looking for ways to test the quality of our product at every phase in its life cycle. We saw that ASSET’s ScanWorks had the versatility and portability to support our life-cycle testing goals and keep a lid on test development costs. In the very price-sensitive consumer electronics marketplace, it’s incumbent upon us to reduce costs whenever we can and ScanWorks is helping us do that.”
ASSET is working closely with Microsoft and its test partners, including Agilent, to deploy boundary-scan tests for the Xbox 360 console. ScanWorks is the only boundary-scan system that has been fully integrated into Agilent’s Medalist series of ICT systems, giving contract manufacturers the ability to run ScanWorks JTAG tests on either of Agilent’s ICT platforms, the Medalist 3070 Series or the new Medalist i5000 Series. In addition, ASSET is collaborating with Microsoft’s test partners to incorporate boundary-scan tests into the functional test suite for the Xbox 360 console.
“As we began to develop our test strategies for the Xbox 360 console, we thoroughly analyzed whether incorporating boundary scan into ICT and functional test would be effective,” said Gabe Valentin, Manufacturing Test Engineer of Microsoft. “In the end, we realized that any risk would be eliminated because we could migrate the ScanWorks’ tests that were developed for prototype debug into ICT and functional test. Our investment of time and effort in developing boundary-scan tests for ICT and functional test would be minimal.”
Said Glenn Woppman, president and CEO of ASSET InterTech, “We are pleased to be working with Microsoft on such a critical product and we are happy they saw the cost savings and quality assurance that come along with the life-cycle testing of ScanWorks. The capabilities of boundary scan and ScanWorks match up quite well with consumer electronic systems. Like most other types of applications, consumer electronic products are being squeezed onto smaller and smaller circuit boards with less space for physical access to device pins or test pads. Structurally testing dense boards without physical access is what boundary scan does and no other test method can. We believe that consumer electronics is just the first of several new market segments which will soon come to realize the inherent value of boundary scan.”
About the Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is the next-generation video game and entertainment system that places gamers at the center of the experience. Available this past holiday season in Europe, Japan and North America, Xbox 360 has ignited a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition. |
