Nobody wants to wait a long time for the repair of a product. JTAG/boundary-scan can help to shorten repair times even if no, or only limited, design data is available and can be used to re-program parts for system upgrades.
Board Repair
Repairing boards is a challenge especially if design data is missing or incomplete. When that happens you can benefit from JTAG devices on the board (PCB Assembly) you’re working on.
See what’s wrong even without design data
Boundary-scan in a JTAG device gives access to its pins. Using the devices’ boundary-scan, JTAG Technologies’ AutoBuzz tool can automatically learn the connections between JTAG devices on a known-good board. A full connectivity compare by AutoBuzz between the results from a faulty board against those learned from a known-good board can then reveal failing devices and connections.
Enhanced fault search with design data
If design data is available the boundary-scan capabilities of the JTAG devices can be used with JTAG Technologies’ Buzz tool to monitor the activity of design signals and to ‘buzz-out’ connections interactively to verify the connectivity between pins. The Clip tool allows you to set-up a sequence of test patterns/vectors making it easy to test non-scan device ‘clusters’.
Checking processor-based boards without using firmware
In a processor-based design CoreCommander helps you to verify the connectivity between the microprocessor or microcontroller and memory and I/O devices at speed. No embedded software / firmware, emulators or debug tools for software are needed.
Re-use tests from design or manufacturing
If you have access to the boundary-scan tests used during the design of the product or used in manufacturing then you can directly (re-)use these tests in service. The ProVision run-time platform or any other run-time environment, eg. LabVIEW, LabWindows, TestStand, C, C++, C#, .NET, Visual Basic, ATEasy, can be used.
Device Programming
In service devices may be re-programmed after repair, or for system upgrades, using readily available programming files. Since any type of device can be present on a board, the complete range of devices and device types are supported by JTAG Technologies service equipment
JTAG INTERFACE HARDWARE
The single TAP JTAG Live controller or the dual TAP JT 3705/USB controller provide a great low-cost hardware solutions to access the JTAG chains(s) on the board. With an optional JT 2111 DIOS module connector pins can be accessed via boundary-scan.
For design and service we offer interactive hardware debugging tools matching with the interactive approach of fault finding. Besides these debugging tools a generic Scripting tool is offered that can be used to manipulate and sense cluster I/Os via boundary-scan. JAM, STAPL and SVF players to (re-) program the CPLDs and FPGAs on a board are included with Studio which completes this range of products. The products for design and service can also be purchased via our JTAG Live webshop.
Happy to serve you!
We have been able to solve thousands of board test problems by actively engaging with our customers. Once you become a JTAG Technologies customer you are an integral part of our business with free access to our world-wide support network.