ScanWorks® Non-intrusive Board Test (NBT)

Turning test inside out

While chips and circuit boards keep getting faster and more complex, legacy intrusive methods for testing boards haven’t changed much in years. Still shackled to the physical probe, intrusive methods face continually eroding test coverage as their costs increase.

Non-intrusive board test (NBT), a software-based methodology employing multiple test and validation technologies, is free of the probe and, as a result, it provides test coverage impossible to achieve with legacy methods at a fraction of their cost.

The ScanWorks® NBT solution hinges on the flexibility and configurability of the ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments. Only with a software-driven environment like the ScanWorks platform are you able to plug-in the test and validation technologies your test strategies need. Then, rather than settling for less-than-acceptable test coverage, your test strategy will achieve what it should – high quality products that are highly reliable in the marketplace.

The ScanWorks platform makes an NBT solution possible. You’re able to deploy the technologies that make sense to your test strategies. In one case it could be boundary-scan test and processor-controlled test (PCT), while another strategy might add high-speed I/O validation and test. On boards that incorporate FPGAs, additional coverage is provided by using FPGA-controlled test (FCT). The synergy that develops among multiple techniques is powerful. Correlating the results of one with others often uncovers faults and failures that might have been missed by any one test method.

You’ll find a wealth of NBT resources on this web site. Explore the economics of NBT, the technologies that comprise it and practically every aspect of this exciting solution.

Users of theScanWorks NBT Solution Speak Out

“EMC converges test onto ScanWorks® Platform”
Test re-use, high coverage, low capital expense and faster time-to-market are just some of the reasons Jeff Moore from EMC gave in his presentation at the recent Board Test Workshop for EMC's shift away from intrusive test methods to the non-intrusive embedded instrumentation technologies of the ScanWorks platform.

Technical and Business White Papers

“Economics, Technology Drive Industry to Non-intrusive Board Test”

“Non-intrusive Board Test Strategies for the Intel® Xeon® Processor 7500 Series”

“Non-intrusive Board Test Strategies for the Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series”

“Defect Coverage for Non-intrusive Board Tests”

NBT Solution Videos

“Testing and Validating Intel® Xeon® 5500 / Core i7 (Nehalem) Platforms”
This video shows how the ScanWorks® Platform for Embedded Instruments and non-intrusive board test (NBT) deal with validation and test of boards that carry the Intel® Xeon® Processor 5500 Series.

Check out these other ScanWorks solutions:

• Embedded Diagnostics
• High-Speed I/O Validation
• Board Bring-Up

Ask us how Non-intrusive Board Test could overcome your test and measurement problems.