Microprocessor-based System Test using Debug Interface

This paper represents a new iteration, a new look at the problem of microprocessor-based system-level test that takes into account a new reality in semiconductor technologies and electronic manufacturing. We propose a method of testing correct PCB assembly that uses existing debug interface of a microprocessor for test data transfer. Hence, our approach neither has hardware overhead, as in DFT, nor limited speed of testing as in boundary scan technique. The latter fact allows to considerably improve test coverage by extending the number of accessible system units as well as the detectable defect subset. In addition to that, microprocessor-based testing does not rely on any modifications of the hardware design and thus does not cause violation of the design constraints of embedded systems.