XJTAG announces DFT assistant for PCB design suite

CR-8000 is a native 3D product-centric design platform for PCB-based systems. CR-8000 directly supports architecture design, concurrent multi-board PCB design, chip/package/board co-design, and full 3D MCAD co-design. CR-8000 Design Gateway is Zuken’s platform for logical circuit design and verification.

Increasingly, Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are densely populated, and physical access to the pins of many packages, such as Ball Grid Array (BGA), is impossible. JTAG was designed to remove the need for physical access, so it is now vitally important to get the JTAG chain right at the design stage.

Many people are not aware of JTAG’s full capability: it is typically known for CPU debug, but it also facilitates test and in-circuit programming. Tools that utilise the JTAG capability do not come into play until after the first hardware becomes available, and they are often considered for manufacturing only. The XJTAG DFT Assistant incorporates JTAG testability as part of the design process before any hardware is produced, by reporting any potential design issues. Being able to validate the design early avoids board re-spins and costly delays to a project.

XJTAG DFT Assistant helps to validate correct JTAG chain connectivity, while displaying boundary scan access and coverage onto the schematic diagram through full integration with CR-8000 Design Gateway.

Simon Payne, CEO of XJTAG, said: “XJTAG is pleased to be a part of Zuken’s solution ecosystem. Companies need to determine early in the design phase how to maximise test coverage using the minimum number of test points, so it is essential to know what JTAG access is available at the schematic stage of the design process. The XJTAG DFT Assistant for Zuken’s CR-8000 Design Gateway makes it easy to see the test access as the design evolves. This allows test engineers to significantly optimise testing before their PCBs are produced.”

“Zuken’s CR-8000 now includes the XJTAG DFT Assistant that provides engineers with a free, easy-to-use interface to check if JTAG chains are correctly connected and terminated at the schematic capture stage, long before the PCB is produced,” said Bob Potock, Vice President of Marketing at Zuken. “XJTAG DFT Assistant is the validation tool our customers need to ensure they have reliable points of access on their boards for debug (any JTAG device), for JTAG programming, or for boundary scan testing before any hardware is produced.”