JTAG adapts 20th century look-and-feel for 21st century

MUNICH, GERMANY. JTAG Technologies is bringing the look-and-feel of 20th century debug techniques into the 21st century with a family of products-called JTAG Live-introduced at Productronica. Speaking at a press conference, managing director Peter van den Eijnden said the JTAG Live family supports the debugging of boards too crowded for traditional probing consists of three products:

–Buzz replaces the audible continuity test of traditional DMMs or allows oscilloscope-like probing, checking direct and indirect connections between devices that support boundary scan.

–Clip acts as a logic analyzer, applying vector-based cluster tests.

– Script enables users to employ the Python language to adopt a functional, device-oriented approach to take control of a design through on-board JTAG/boundary-scan compliant devices.

The three members of the family, emphasized van den Eijnden, don not address the high-volume production-test applications that boundary-scan tools have traditionally served. Rather, they address debug, small-volume production, and filed-service applications, he said, adding that the tools don’t burden users with net-list requirements. To connect to a board-under-test, JTAG Live family members are fully compatible with the popular JTAG programming cables from Altera and Xilinx, as well as with the two-port USB Explorer from JTAG Technologies.

Buzz is free; Clip and Script in US dollars cost $750 and $2250, respectively. All three are available for download at www.jtaglive.com.