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ScanWorks®

Boundary-Scan Test

Processor-Controlled Test

CONNECT Archives

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OBSERVATIONS

Test shouldn’t be a cost center. It’s a value center.

By Glenn Woppman
President and CEO
ASSET InterTech

The Toyota situation of the last six months or so has been lamentable, to say the least. To watch the cracks develop in the underpinnings of such a formidable industrial giant has to make all of us give second and third thoughts to the nature of test and its critical importance in today’s global economy. Of course, electronics manufacturers can’t escape test, which goes by many names these days, including design validation, debug, signal integrity test and others. What we in the electronics industry can do to avoid another Toyota-like situation is stop treating test as a cost center on profit-and-loss statements and admit that it’s a value center. In fact, its value in the future as a corporate linking strategy may be a game-changer.

TEST DATA OUT

The wraps come off next-generation PCT

Larry Osborn
Product Manager, Processor-Controlled Test

Companies like EMC Corporation that have bought into the many benefits of processor-controlled test (PCT) on the ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments have experienced the rapid pay-back that PCT has to offer as well as the synergy that develops from the range of test and validation capabilities on the ScanWorks platform. Now, with a new release of PCT software, the wraps are coming off another generation of test capabilities.

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Dispelling misconceptions:

Two new standards deliver value with new validation and test capabilities

By Al Crouch
Chief Technologist – Core Instruments

When the subject of new standards comes up, the reaction of some may be a roll of the eyes and the question: “Tell me again why we need another new standard?” At least with two new IEEE standards, 1149.7 and P1687, it’s clear that there’s tremendous value in the technology they enable. Still, there are some misconceptions afoot that ought to be dispelled.

TAPPING IN

ScanWorks® delivers test coverage ICT can’t

Test an assembly with a motherboard and five daughtercards as if it were one unit under test (UUT) and improve the test coverage that in-circuit test could not deliver. That’s what one of ASSET’s Partner Providers, Testing House, faced. As one of the engineers on the project explained: “We had to deal with the absence of access for ICT probes and there was no way to test the connectors. Sometimes test coverage from ICT is low and boundary-scan test is a good way to make up for low coverage.”

INSIDE ASSET

New solutions added to ScanWorks platform to validate and test DDR3 memory interconnects

With DDR3 (Double Data Rate – Third Generation) becoming a dominant type of memory, the ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments has added a new test action and a third-party test module for validating and testing DDR3 interconnects and sockets. A new ScanWorks IBIST test action extends DDR3 validation and testing to the newly announced Intel® Xeon Processors 5600 Sequence (codenamed Westmere-EP). In addition, a new third-party hardware module from Reach Technologies facilitates boundary-scan testing on DDR3 interconnects. And lastly, ScanWorks can also apply its processor-controlled test (PCT) technology to test DDR3 interconnects.

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ScanWorks® is first to support new Intel® Xeon® and Itanium® processors with validation and test tools

ScanWorks platform adds comprehensive high-speed I/O coverage

The ScanWorks® platform for embedded instruments is the first third-party platform with validation and test tools for the newly announced families of server processors, the Intel® Xeon 5600 and 7500 series, and the Itanium 9300 series. In addition, the platform supports a comprehensive validation solution for high-speed input/output (I/O) on Intel-based platforms. ScanWorks continues as the only toolset for Intel’s embedded instrumentation technology, Interconnect Built-In Self Test (IBIST), which the chip company is placing in its industry-leading processors and chip sets.

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Embedded diagnostics are critical to high-availability systems

Not just consumers, but much of the world economy is hooked on electronic systems. A new ASSET whitepaper, Embedded Diagnostics for Highly Available Systems, discusses the requirements that around-the-clock availability places on computer and communications systems. Not surprisingly, high reliability is right at the top of the list and embedding diagnostic capabilities into these systems is a great way to improve the reliability of any electronic system.

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Random Patterns… A Test Blog

By Alan Sguigna
Vice President Sales and Marketing
ASSET InterTech

OK, this isn’t your typical blog. Not yet at least. It’s one-sided right now because this is the first installment. I hope that in the future I’ll have your comments to share. As a technical guy whose job involves constantly taking the pulse of the board test industry, I enjoy a vantage point from which I see patterns developing. Sometimes random, sometimes not, the patterns that I’ll share in this blog are usually pretty interesting. At least I think so and I hope you agree.

Let’s get started. Ever heard of PCOLA/SOQ/FAM? Next time you want to quantify test coverage, you may be using it. Then there are patterns relating to the testing PCI Express, the role of watchdog timers in design-for-test, 1149.1 boundary-scan compliance and how the hottest new gaming processor points up the importance of signal integrity validation. Oh yeah, one more topic. Just in case any of these weren’t of interest to you, I’ve seen some weather patterns developing. We can always talk about that.

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Does Connect connect with you ?

Share your thoughts and win a $100 gift!

It’s been seven years since the first issue of Connect showed up in inboxes around the globe. It’s time to take your pulse. As a reader of ASSET’s user e-newsletter, we’re wondering what you think of it and how you’d like to see it evolve. Maybe you’ve got a burning issue you want addressed. We’d like to know that, as well as what you’ve liked and disliked over the last seven years. Here’s your chance to give us your opinion on a short fewer-than-10-questions survey. To show our appreciation for your participation, you’ll have a chance to win a $100 gift voucher on your local Amazon site.

Click here to go to our online survey form. All responses will be held in the strictest confidence. Anonymous responses are acceptable.

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ScanWorks platform named finalist for EDN Innovation Award

The ScanWorks® platform for embedded instruments has been named a finalist in EDN magazine’s annual Innovation Awards program. Glenn Woppman, ASSET’s CEO and president, was named a finalist for Innovator of the Year in the previous year’s competition.

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ASSET in the news:

ASSET experts grab global headlines

Three recent articles by ASSET experts have appeared globally. Glenn Woppman, president and CEO of ASSET, contributed a commentary concerning the industry’s pursuit of Moore’s law and other topics to a German publication, and an article on emerging embedded instrumentation standards was featured in another German magazine. In addition, Al Crouch, CTO for core instruments, posted an online article on 3D chip test on a U.S.-based web portal.

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