MicroMaster: Guided Fault Isolation

Guided Fault Isolation using MicroMaster, based on processor emulation from International Test Technologies.

Guided Fault Isolation (GFI) simplifies fault diagnosis by indicating the most likely cause(s) of failure on a block diagram of the board.

Guided Fault Isolation (GFI) de-skills the diagnosis of complex dead boards, cutting costs and improving repair quality.

MicroMaster's Guided Fault Isolation (GFI) simplifies fault diagnosis by indicating failing components on a block diagram of the board, as shown below. This example is for a PC-architecture board, but any architecture can be represented in a similar manner.

Each block is associated with any number of device-level tests when the board test is developed. If the block fails any of these device-level tests, it is highlighted in red and additional guidance is provided to the operator by a results window at the top of the MicroMaster interface, as shown below.

Results Window - Diagnostics

A detailed description for each failure is provided. In this case data bus lines 7 and 10 are stuck high, and lines 27, 28, and 29 are stuck low or are open.

Results Window - Component

The Component window lists faulty components and gives additional guidance.

Results Window - Schematic and Help

The Schematic window gives details of the relevant page in a schematics file, where the faulty part can be located. A hyperlink to this page can be provided for easy access. The Help window (shown below) displays any other guidance to the operator, including a hyperlink to a PDF file.

Overall Diagnostic Report

Optionally, an overall component level diagnostic report can be displayed at the bottom of the MicroMaster screen. This gives the failure probabilities for specific components.