|
Peter van den Eijnden |
JTAG Technologies is looking to widen the use of the boundary scan test in design as well as production activities with a new set of downloadable tools that will also include a free-for-life debug tool.
JTAG live, which was launched at Productronica in Munich, Germany, has been designed for electronics engineers and technicians to use in checking PCBs and basic continuity and correct operation. The new tool family consists of three products: Buzz, Clip, and Script, each of which will be used to target different aspects of the debugging process.
· Buzz provides the ability to quickly check direct and indirect connections between devices that support boundary-scan.
· Clip offers ways to verify cluster logic using vector-based cluster tests.
· Script enables users to adopt a functional, device-oriented test approach to take control of a design through on-board JTAG/boundary-scan compliant devices.
To widen the adoption of JTAG test, particularly in design labs and universities, the company is offering the basic Buzz tool free of charge from its website.
Clip and Script are downloads available for €500 and €1500 respectively. While Buzz is available free of charge from the JTAG Live website. Follow the link at the bottom of this article.
The intention is to kick-start the wider adoption of boundary scan test techniques in design and pre-production environments. The tools come as downloadable software which will run on either the company's two-port USB Explorer hardware or FPGA adaptor modules from Xilinx and Altera.
|
Clip will allow engineers to debug more complex clusters using vector-based cluster test sequences. Each vector in a sequence contains a set of input values for device or cluster inputs and a set of expected cluster output values.
Script provides an API to manipulate and sense cluster I/Os. Script is suitable for users wanting a functional, device-oriented test approach for mixed-signal device testing, operations that require user intervention, and test pattern looping for setting up device registers.
Peter van den Eijnden, Managing Director of JTAG Technologies, commenting on the launch of JTAG at Productronica said : “We received great interest from existing users of JTAG - typically those in manufacturing - and the design community. This latter group knows what boundary-scan is, appreciates its potential as a prototype debug and repair tool but has been unable to justify investing in what’s always been perceived as a ‘manufacturing test tool’ for repair/debug work. Also, the design community has specific test needs which are not always met by boundary-scan manufacturing test tools.”
van den Eijnden went on to say that making JTAG Live Buzz available for free has “knocked down certain ‘reservation’ barriers”. Also, the pricing of Clip and Script were well received; as they are in the realms of other tools used for development/debug work.
“We’ve brought a new tool suite to market that complements our traditional manufacturing tools, we’ve got the pricing just right and the timing of the launch could not have been better.”
