Category: Non-intrusive Board Test (NBT)

Recently launched DDR4 devices have what memory device vendors may refer to as a โ€œboundary scanโ€ test mode. Even though thereโ€™s not really a boundary-scan function involved on the DDR4 side, this mode actually has been, as claimed by JEDEC, โ€œdesigned to work seamlessly with any boundary-scan devices.โ€ Hereโ€™s a brief introduction to what it does and how to test it with a boundary-scan (JTAG) tool.
As described in earlier blogs, the new Intel Innovation Engine (IE) makes an ideal host for validation, debug, trace and test applications on Intel platforms. This article details the implementation of a JTAG execution engine on the IE for the purposes of printed circuit board structural and functional testing.
Boundary-scan test is used commonly on manufacturing lines with a โ€œbenchtopโ€ 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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