Method of and an arrangement for testing connections on a printed circuit board
A method of and an arrangement for testing connections on a printed circuit board between boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of one or more boundary-scan compliant devices mounted at the printed circuit board and comprising a boundary-scan register of boundary-scan cells of the boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals. Under control of an electronic processing unit, boundary-scan properties of the or each boundary-scan compliant device are retrieved, a list comprising boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals is displayed, and a selection of at least a first and second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal is received. Based on this selection, a boundary-scan cell of a first boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal of a boundary-scan compliant device is operated as a driver and a boundary-scan cell of a second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal of a boundary-scan compliant device is operated as a sensor. The driver is controlled through data provided to the boundary-scan register. Data sensed by the sensor are latched in the boundary-scan register. The driver and sensor data are analyzed for a connection between the first and the second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals and the result of the analyses is presented.
1. A method of testing connections on a printed circuit board between boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of at least one boundary-scan compliant device mounted at said printed circuit board and comprising a boundary-scan register of boundary-scan cells of said boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals, said method using an electronic processing unit and comprising the steps of:
retrieving, by said processing unit, boundary-scan properties of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device, said boundary-scan properties at least comprising a listing of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device;
displaying, by said processing unit, a list comprising said boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device;
receiving, by said processing unit, a selection of at least a first and a second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal of said list;
operating, by said processing unit, a boundary-scan cell of said first boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal as a driver and outputting by said driver data at said first boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal supplied from a boundary-scan register comprising said boundary-scan cell operating as said driver;
operating, by said processing unit, a boundary-scan cell of said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal as a sensor for sensing data received at said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal and latching data sensed by said sensor into a boundary-scan register comprising said boundary-scan cell operating as said sensor;
analyzing, by said processing unit, said boundary-scan register driver and sensor data for a connection between said first and said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals, and
presenting, by said processing unit, a result of said analyzing of said driver and sensor data.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said driver and sensor are operated based upon said retrieved boundary-scan properties, and wherein said step of analyzing comprises comparing said driver and sensor data at positions of said boundary-scan cells of said driver and sensor in said boundary-scan register based upon said retrieved boundary-scan properties.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said boundary scan properties are retrieved from a Boundary Scan Description Language, BSDL, file of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a graphical interface device, wherein at least one of said steps of displaying, receiving, operating and presenting are controlled from said graphical interface device.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a graphical interface device, wherein at least one of said steps of receiving and presenting comprise a circuit diagram representation of said boundary-scan register driver and sensor data.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said result is presented by an acoustic signal.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of boundary-scan cells of a plurality of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals are operated as driver.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of boundary-scan cells of a plurality of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals are operated as sensor.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of boundary-scan cells of a plurality of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals are operated as driver, and wherein said driver data comprises a truth table.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of boundary-scan cells of a plurality of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals are operated as sensor, and wherein said step of analyzing said sensor data is based upon said truth table.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein boundary-scan cells of a boundary-scan compliant device not operated as a driver and a sensor are disabled.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein boundary-scan cells of a boundary-scan compliant device not operated as a driver and a sensor are disabled by use of a BYPASS instruction of said boundary-scan compliant device.
13. An arrangement for testing connections on a printed circuit board between boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of at least one boundary-scan compliant device mounted at said printed circuit board and comprising a boundary-scan register of boundary-scan cells of said boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals, said arrangement comprising an electronic processing unit, wherein said electronic processing unit is arranged for:
retrieving boundary-scan properties of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device, said boundary-scan properties at least comprising a listing of boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device;
displaying a list comprising said boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals of said at least one boundary-scan compliant device;
receiving a selection of at least a first and a second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal of said list;
operating a boundary-scan cell of said first boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal as a driver and outputting by said driver data at said first boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal supplied from a boundary-scan register comprising said boundary-scan cell operating as said driver;
operating a boundary-scan cell of said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal as a sensor for sensing data received at said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminal and latching data sensed by said sensor into a boundary-scan register comprising said boundary-scan cell operating as said sensor;
analyzing said boundary-scan register driver and sensor data for a connection between said first and said second boundary-scan compliant circuit terminals, and
presenting a result of said analyzing of said driver and sensor data.
14. The arrangement of claim 13 , further comprising at least one of a graphical user interface device, an audio signalling unit and a visual signalling unit, operatively connected to said electronic processing unit.
15. A computer program product comprising a data storage device storing thereon computer program code data arranged for performing the method of claim 1 , when said program code data are loaded into a memory of an electronic processing unit and are executed by said electronic processing unit.
16. The method of claim 2 , wherein the comparing being performed between the driver and sensor data is a logical comparison.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is fully automated.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the graphical user interface device comprises a first and second input field for selecting one or more circuit terminals of a boundary-scan compliant device as a driver or sensor.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein said result is presented as a circuit diagram.