JTAG port-sharing device
AssigneeLucent Technologies Inc.
InventorJohn R. Bean
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A JTAG port-sharing device that reduces the required number of hardware pins on an integrated circuit without limiting the integrated circuit testing to a particular debugging platform is provided. The JTAG port-sharing device eliminates the need to have individual hardware pins for each functional block that requires JTAG test interface and allows one set of hardware pins to be shared by a plurality of functional blocks. The JTAG port-sharing device is not limited by a particular debugging platform and allows the use of pre-owned and/or off-the-shelf testing software and/or JTAG debugger devices thereby leading to shorter development cycles and lower development costs.
Claims22
A port-sharing device for testing an integrated circuit having a plurality of functional blocks, wherein the port-sharing device comprises:
- (a) an equipment-under-test (EUT) interface port configured to be connected to a port on the integrated circuit;
- and
- (b) at least two debugger ports, each configured to be connected to at least one debugger device to enable the at least one debugger device to test the plurality of functional blocks via the port on the integrated circuit.
A method for testing an integrated circuit having a plurality of functional blocks, comprising the steps of:
- (a) configuring an equipment-under-test (EUT) interface port of a port-sharing device to a port on the integrated circuit;
- (b) configuring at least two debugger ports of the port-sharing device to be connected to at least one debugger device;
- and
- (c) testing the plurality of function blocks in the integrated circuit with the at least one debugger device via the port-sharing device and via the port on the integrated circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.