Testing your Boards with Boundary Scan
There are many different options out there to be testing boards when it comes to the design and manufacturing process of various products. However, we believe that using a boundary scan/JTAG test is the best way to test your boards and have compiled a few reasons...
3 Benefits of Boundary Scan
In the world of every evolving and changing technology, boundary scan has played a large part in getting new items to the market. Boundary scan was created in an effort to make accessibility to testing multiple boards with a single system. To help you better...
The demand for Boundary Scan in Aerospace Technology
New technologies in aerospace are constantly being built, tested, approved and launched. For example in 2019, Virgin Orbit launched LauncherOne, outfitting a Boeing 747 to launch the 70ft long rocket from its left wing into outer space. The rocket successfully entered...
Arriving at Boundary Scans
In an age where technology is king, electric systems have become part of everyday life. From our smartphones to medical equipment every piece of technology has been able to advance, thanks to rapid changes in how we work with electric systems. Innovation and creation...
Exploring the field of Electronic Engineering
Engineering has many different branches that students can expand into as they complete their college degrees and begin searching in the field for a position. Within the world of electric engineering is the smaller yet essential area of electronic engineering. This...
Beyond the Boundary Scan Test: Testing for Mid-State/Resistive Shorts
Mid-state shorts are a major problem that often goes undetected by typical boundary scan connectivity tests is mid-state/resitive shorts. Flynn Systems recognized this “hole” in boundary scan testing and was the first boundary scan test company to test for mid-state shorts, improving test fault coverage.
What Is a JTAG Test and Why You Need to Know
Formed in 1985, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) developed a method of verifying designs and testing printed circuit boards after manufacture. This method would later become the industry standard. Known as a JTAG test,.
Benefits of circuit trace Tests
In today’s world, there’s no avoiding technology. Whether you consider yourself “tech savvy” or not, there’s no escaping the continuously changing expectations of society. However, with the increasing demands comes a need for increased security.
How Boundary Scan Test Software Works
The boundary scan test software provides a way to interconnect between integrated circuits (ICs) on a board without using physical test probes. The scan contains cells within a device that can capture data from pin or core logic signals or force data onto pins. The...
JTAG Test Can Eliminate the “Ground Bounce” Effect
When large numbers of outputs switch simultaneously, they can cause intermittency with your test due the ground bounce effect. JTAG Test with onTAP lets you control this problem by giving you control over how many outputs switch during a single test scan, as shown...
How Test Developers Can Save Their Company Time and Money
If a chain of devices consisted only of boundary scan (JTAG) compliant devices, there would not be too much testing required. However, boards today contain complex, non-JTAG devices that interact with the boundary scan devices. Testing just the JTAG devices on the...
How to handle multiple boundary scan chains
That’s an easy one. With onTAP’s TAP CONNECT JTAG Controller, you can run an unlimited number of chains simultaneously. Each TAP CONNECT JTAG Controller has two channels which provides the opportunity to run two chains at once. Furthermore, additional chains are...
Buggy Device? 8 Tips To Fix It!
Boundary scan testing can help you debug your devices, but what do you do when a bug has you completely stumped?
Why circuit trace Testing is Essential for Every Tech/Engineer
If you are designing PCBs, then circuit trace testing is an essential step in the process.
Boundary Scan Advantages
Today's consumer is provided a variety of options no matter what the subject matter happens to be. At Flynn Systems we like to keep things simple by providing the best solution in boundary scan options. Saving the consumer both time and money by avoiding trial and...
What Tools Do You Need for JTAG Boundary Scans?
Understanding boundary scans means you need to understand the tools used when performing them. Take a look at our quick guide to boundary scan tools and make sure you have all you need. JTAG Device This refers to the device being tested during the boundary scan. Any...
Why Bother with JTAG?
Are you new to boundary scans and JTAG? Take a look at this quick guide to understanding what exactly it means, and why JTAG is essential. JTAG stands for Joint Test Action Group. When referred to as part of a boundary scan test, it means computer chips and electronic...
Finding Faults with the Test Access Port (TAP)
Once a board developer passes along the new board and all related files and procedures to a test developer, the boundary scan test process can begin. We recommend including the TAP Integrity Test at the beginning of your interconnect test because the TAP contains pins...
Testing Multichip Modules
Chip manufacturers are now producing multichip modules (MCMs) that may include two or more arrays of devices within a single package. These modules can be tested using JTAG test pattern generation of the devices while on a PCB. To incorporate JTAG testing of MCMs...
How Board Developers Can Save Their Company Time and Money
Not every boundary scan application experiences delays. Some run without any problems, but when there is a delay, oftentimes it can be traced back to lack of information from the board’s developer to the board’s tester.
A Look at Boundary Scan Description Language (BSDL)
Introduction As miniaturization of PCBs became more desirable, denser (or layered) printed circuit boards began to dominate the market. Testing electrical connectivity between devices posed a huge problem because board density and complex layering prevented the IC...
Whose Problem Is This?
Who cares. The owner of the problem is not necessarily always the issue. Blame most often gets thrown around the work place when things don’t work, and a resolution is needed.
How much money is sitting in the bone pile?
One of the most common comments we hear from our customers and business partners sounds something like this: “Well, I’ve heard about boundary scan testing, and have actually used it a bit before. Moving forward, we have a new project we need to use it on, and we have a bone pile I might get to.”
Manufacturing: Save Yourself, & The Project, Lots Of Money!
Now that your board has moved from prototyping to manufacturing, things are humming along until…there is a snag in manufacturing. Suddenly an entire run of boards is failing for unknown reasons, and you’re already dangerously close to being behind schedule.
Reducing Costs During Prototyping
In our last discussion, we talked about DFT, which plays a significant role in reducing costs in prototyping. There are a wide variety of reasons that prototyping is a significant expense in the development and production processes. A large part of the cost is the increasing complexity of designs, inclusion of more processors and FPGA’s, greatly reduced board real estate, and diminishing test access. With the cost of FPGA’s and processors rising as they too become more powerful, getting small batches of devices is expensive. If one of those devices is fried during prototype testing, the cost to prototype a new design escalates rapidly, especially if the cause of the failure isn’t quickly determined.
Design For Testability?
Design for Testability, often referred to as DFT, is a critical part of developing a new board. Here’s a link to a terrific class lecture from University of Maryland if you’re interested in seeing a well represented academic presentation of such an important topic.
How Boundary Scan/JTAG Helps You Improve Your Bottom Line
As electronics production becomes more complex, and more expensive, board designers and manufacturers require tools that are better suited to handling the complexities of new designs. If this sounds like the same story you’ve heard from JTAG test companies for the past 10 – 15 years, it’s because now, more than ever, Boundary Scan Test Software / JTAG test and programming solutions are the best (read: most economical, accurate, safe, reliable, repeatable, consistent, flexible), choice for the handling of modern electronics.
SVF and onTAP Boundary Scan
Why SVF? As boundary scan test was making its way to center stage for testing surface mounted devices, there was no agreed upon protocol to manage the hundreds of thousands of bits of IEEE 1149.1 test pattern information. Instead, many vendors had vendor specific...
Just Draw It!
Have you seen Digi-Key’s new FREE online schematic and diagramming tool? It’s called Scheme-it and can be used in most browsers with no plugins required. This great little freebie tool has a library of electronic symbols, as well as an integrated Digi-Key component...
Calling Inspector Gadget
It’s the return of the Gadget Smackdown, brought to you by EE Live! This year, the SMACKDOWN takes place April 1–3 in the EE Times Fantastical Theater of Engineering Innovation at the San Jose convention Center, where the EE Live! Conference and Expo is being held....
Related Posts
Testing your Boards with Boundary Scan
There are many different options out there to be...
3 Benefits of Boundary Scan
In the world of every evolving and changing...
The demand for Boundary Scan in Aerospace Technology
New technologies in aerospace are constantly...
Recent Comments