µMaster now supports ScanWorks Intel IBIST
ASSET and International Test Technologies recently announced that they have jointly developed support for Intel’s next-generation Interconnect Built-In Self Test (IBIST) embedded test technology on International Test Technologies’ µMaster functional test platform. By combining the µMaster’s at-speed processor-based functional test capabilities with IBIST tests, electronics manufacturers can increase efficiencies and reduce test costs.
ASSET and International Test Technologies, which is a leader in microprocessor emulation-based board test and debug, have had a strategic relationship since September of 2004 when the two companies announced joint development and marketing activities. ASSET’s ScanWorks Extended JTAG Coverage product is an outcome of this collaboration. By combining JTAG test and microprocessor emulation technology, ScanWorks Extended JTAG Coverage is able to reach places on a printed circuit board where boundary scan could not reach on its own, not only extending JTAG structural test coverage significantly, but also adding functional test on the same test platform. (For more information on ScanWorks Extended JTAG Coverage, click here.
 Intel plans to embed IBIST into many of the high-speed interfaces on its server chipsets and processors in the future to lower the overall cost of test and more effectively validate high-speed buses such as PCI Express (PCIe), the Fully Buffered DIMM (FBD) bus and others. Intel IBIST is an embedded technology for testing chip-to-chip interconnects and validating high-speed bus designs. IBIST uses a circuit board’s boundary-scan infrastructure as the hardware and software communication methodology for accessing and controlling embedded on-chip IBIST capabilities.
ASSET’s ScanWorks is the only JTAG platform that supports Intel IBIST.
 “Integrating ScanWorks IBIST support on the µMaster platform continues ASSET’s leadership position as the only boundary-scan supplier with tools to accelerate the deployment of Intel’s next-generation test technology,” said Tim Caffee, ASSET’s Director of Business Development. “And now with the capabilities of µMaster’s microprocessor-based functional test, high-volume manufacturers have a platform for test suites that achieves high test coverage and ensures product quality.”
Billy Fenton, CEO of International Test Technologies, pointed out that next-generation Intel-based circuit boards will require both CPU emulation functional test and Intel IBIST technology to achieve high test coverage. “Circuit boards these days have very few, if any, test points designed into them. This and the presence of high-frequency buses dictate non-intrusive, structural and at-speed functional test methods. Integrating ScanWorks IBIST support on the µMaster addresses these needs.”
International Test Technologies provides functional test and hardware diagnostic solutions for the electronics industry. The company’s µMaster product traces faults during the development and manufacture of any electronic circuit boards equipped with a processor. µMaster supports a very wide range of processors, including the Intel® Pentium® processor family, Intel® XScale™ Architecture processors, AMD® Athlon/Duron, Freescale™/IBM® PowerPC®, ARM® 7/9 and TI OMAP™ processor families. Typical applications for the µMaster include telecommunications, networking and Internet appliances, game consoles, PC manufacturing and repair operations, office automation, avionics and automotive. For more information on International Test Technologies visit www.intertesttech.com.
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