BIST of PCB interconnects using boundary-scan architecture

The issues of printed circuit board (PCB) interconnect testing are addressed in the context of boundary-scan architecture. Boundary-scan architecture is treated here as the framework for a PCB level built-in self-test (BIST). A novel BIST method is developed which utilizes various features of the architecture. Boundary-scan architecture is shown to have the capability to generate time-efficient test vector sets. Response compaction within the boundary-scan chain is introduced to reduce shift out time as well as to simplify detection and diagnosis. However, the proposed BIST schemes require some extensions of the standard boundary-scan cells, and the schemes can work only if every boundary-scan cell of every IC on the PCB has the proposed extensions