Project/Problem Definition
The target of our project is to develop and design a hand held boundary scan tester (HHBST). A portable device powered by a battery that performs a boundary scan test to determine if there are any faults or broken connections between the point at which a chip is inserted into a printed circuit board, and the outlying devices it communicates with. The HHBST only determines if there is an interconnect problem not where the problem is located.
As technology progress the circuitry on a printed circuit boards become more complex and dense, the ability to use physical probes to test are no longer feasible. Boundary scan testers enable the possibility of testing printed circuit boards for faults or problems.
A boundary test station allows different teams working on development phase to rule out interconnect problems. Various teams working on different pieces of a project need the capability of having a test station, but cost becomes an issue, hardware and software for a full test station costs thousands of dollars. A hand held boundary scan tester that just tests for interconnect problems would meet the needs of development teams that only need to rule out interconnect problems in a pass fail manner.
Industry standard for a boundary scan test is IEEE 1149.1 developed by the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG). The work began in 1985 with the foresight that as circuitry becomes smaller and denser there will be a need to perform tests for faults or interconnect problems. IEEE standards create common frame work and fundamental building block for the industry.
System Overview