Embedded-instrument engineers join Asset InterTech, TRI integrates ScanWorks
-- Test & Measurement World, 5/5/2008 6:25:00 AM
Asset InterTech made news on several fronts last month, announcing initiatives in embedded instrumentation as well as touting an agreement in which TRI will integrate Asset’s JTAG tools into its test platforms.
On April 29, Asset announced that it is developing and will bring to market open embedded instrumentation tools based on the preliminary IEEE standard, P1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG). According to Glenn Woppman, president and CEO of Asset, the standard is close enough to ratification to begin developing tools.
“Electronics manufacturers are realizing that the external design validation, test and debug technologies which they have now are simply running out of gas,” said Woppman. “As a result, chip vendors as well as the system manufacturers themselves are embedding instruments into silicon. Now, both the chip vendors and system suppliers need open tools to work with these embedded instruments. For the sake of efficiency and agility, these tools must be able to manage embedded instruments from any chip vendor. This is where the IJTAG standard comes in.” (See related commentary.)
Woppman continued, “It is fairly common to develop silicon or tools conforming to a preliminary standard so that manufacturers can become acquainted with the standard before its final ratification. We went though this same process with the original boundary-scan standard (IEEE 1149.1 JTAG) when, as part of Texas Instruments at the time, we committed to developing tools before the standard was actually ratified and, in the long run, we believe we accelerated the adoption rate of boundary scan. As a tools supplier, we think it is critical at this time to send a message to the industry that we will support IJTAG.”
Crouch, Potter join Asset
To support Asset’s embedded-instrument efforts, two engineers recently joined the company to lead its development of IJTAG tools. Al Crouch, formerly chief scientist and director of DFx research and development at Inovys and Verigy has joined Asset as chief technologist, core instrumentation. Crouch has served for the last three years as vice chairman of the P1687 IJTAG working group that is developing the IJTAG standard and has contributed significantly to the hardware architecture definition. Over the last 20 years, he has accumulated experience in chip design-for-test at both Freescale Semiconductor and Texas Instruments. Crouch has filed for more than 30 patents and been granted 15. (See coverage of Crouch's ITC presentation on embedded instrumentation, "The need for Standard and Efficient Interconnection and Access of Embedded Everything.”)
In addition, John Potter, formerly the principal automation architect at Inovys and an engineering supervisor at Motorola, has joined Asset’s IJTAG tools development effort as senior principal technologist, core instrumentation. Potter is also a more recent member of the P1687 IJTAG working group focusing on the language portion. With over the last 18 years in the electronics industry, he has filed for four patents and been granted two.
“A great deal of validation and test instrumentation technology is being embedded into silicon these days,” said Crouch. “What’s needed now is an open environment that can access all of this volume of embedded instrumentation technology to organize it, schedule its execution, access data collected by the instruments, analyze this data, display results and exert overall control over these embedded technologies. The IJTAG standard, once it is ratified, will provide the foundation for doing this and Asset is well on its way to providing the open tools that are needed.”
Asset and TRI announce agreement
On April 17, Asset and Test Research Inc. (TRI) announced that they have reached an agreement whereby Asset’s ScanWorks boundary-scan technology will be integrated into TRI’s in-circuit test (ICT) systems.
"TRI has earned its reputation by providing manufacturers with maximum test coverage. Today, we are finding that physical access for test probes is disappearing and our customers are turning to non-intrusive test technologies like boundary scan,” said Paul Lin, VP at TRI—ShenZhen. “It is strategically critical for TRI to ally ourselves with the best-in-class JTAG solution and that’s what led us to Asset.”
Under the terms of the extended agreement, Asset will be the preferred supplier of boundary scan systems and related intellectual property to TRI and its customers.
"Asset’s and TRI’s technologies and business models are very complementary," said Alan Sguigna, Asset's VP of sales and marketing. "TRI has established a leadership position with its technologically-advanced, cost-effective test systems. As a result of this agreement, manufacturers will be able to globally deploy solutions from both Asset and TRI, and the cost savings from test re-use alone will be quite substantial.”
In addition, on April 1 Asset announced support for Intel’s Atom processor. See related story “Asset InterTech touts Intel Atom support at APEX.” And for recent news on Atom, see "Intel Atom supply squeezed."
Asset InterTech, www.asset-intertech.com.
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