Category: Boundary Scan

Last week, I wrote about Intel’s public announcement of the Innovation Engine (IE), an Intel architecture processor and I/O sub-system embedded into their upcoming generations of server platforms. This article describes the use of the IE for JTAG boundary-scan testing of memories.
Boundary-scan test is used commonly on manufacturing lines with a “benchtop” tester, complete with cables, fixturing, hardware probes, and so on. What are the pros and cons of embedding this technology in-situ?
The origins of JTAG are inextricably bound up with boundary scan. Yet, it provides many capabilities to many purposes. Often, as part of a point tool, whether for debug, programming, test or validation, it takes on just one capability. But, no matter the purpose, as the thread common to all, the standard Test Access Port (TAP) opens the way for many applications. In the test domain, several of these unite under the banner Non-intrusive Board Test (NBT).
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