May 19th, 2009
JTAG Technologies Announces Support for Altera ‘VJI’ Virtual JTAG Interface
Bedford May 19th 2009: JTAG Technologies are pleased to announce a new capability that supports the Altera VJI (Virtual JTAG Interface) Megafunction of Arria® Stratix® & Cyclone® series of FPGAs.
Introduced initially in 2006 the Altera VJI Megafunction is a feature of all recent Altera FPGAs and cPLDs. By harnessing the capabilities of the VJI both designers and test development engineers can access the core of the FPGA [via the JTAG port] during test and debug phases. This allows custom functionality to be introduced that facilitates much higher speed testing than is normally possible with standard JTAG/boundary-scan.
JTAG Technologies are now able to support the application of the VJI Megafunctions through their standard set of hardware and software systems. An application note covering the subject is available on request for existing JTAG customers
Background
JTAG IEEE Std. 1149.1 boundary-scan is well known to design and test engineers alike as a mechanism for proving device to device connectivity at a board or system-level. In the world of programmable logic it is also widely used as the de facto method for programming configuration data into devices. With the introduction of the VJI capability Altera have allowed the JTAG interface to be used as a general purpose communications port that can shift practically any data into the FPGA.
VJI Uses
While regular ‘standard' JTAG tests such as scan path infrastructure, [bus-wire ] interconnects, memory blocks and logic cluster tests have proved invaluable for structural testing, functional testing often relies on the completion of final product firmware. By harnessing JTAG and the VJI megafunction JTAG (re-)programmable FPGA cores can be designed an downloaded at test-time to implement ‘at-speed' functional testing of peripheral circuits. Using JTAG Technologies systems to implement this also facilitates test execution in a production-friendly package.
Current examples include using VJI to enhance flash memory programming performance by programming a simpler reduced BSR equivalent register. Other documented uses include the use VJI to load and trigger BIST (Built-In Self Test) cores for ADC and DAC circuits that are accessed via an FPGA.
About JTAG Technologies
JTAG Technologies is a market leader and technology innovator of boundary-scan software and hardware products and services, focusing on the development of boundary-scan technology. It was the first to bring to the market such important advances as automated test generation, automated flash and PLD programming via boundary-scan, and visualized boundary-scan analysis. Its customers include world leaders in electronics design and manufacturing such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Flextronics, Honeywell, Medtronic, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Raytheon, Rockwell-Collins, Samsung, and Sony. Its innovative boundary-scan products provide test development, test execution, coverage analysis and in-system programming applications. With an installed base of over 5,500 systems worldwide, JTAG Technologies serves the communications, medical electronics, avionics, defense, automotive, and consumer industries with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. JTAG Technologies headquarters are located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
