Revolutionary streaming technology attains real fusion of JTAG Emulation and Boundary Scan for the first time ever

At the Embedded World trade show, GOEPEL electronic, worldwide leading JTAG/Boundary Scan vendor launched an in-system emulation technology of the next generation named VarioTAP™.

The revolutionary solution is based on a flexibly configurable streaming technology of the TAP signals based on respective µProcessor model libraries (VarioTAP Models). This means, VarioTAP™ enables a complete fusion of JTAG emulation and Boundary Scan test for real interlaced test operations and multivalent Flash in-system programming for the very first time.

"Instead of only combining existent system solutions, with VarioTAP™ we are the first vendor to attain integrated emulation as a native part of a Boundary Scan platform", Thomas Wenzel, GOEPEL electronic's managing director of the Boundary Scan Division, gladly announced. "The result is a hitherto unrivalled flexibility, modularity and performance supporting in-system applications for distributed multi TAP/ multi processor structures. The synergy of our industrially proven technologies SCANFLEX® and VarioCORE® significantly improves the test and programming strategies as well as the quality of fault coverage and fault diagnostic for boards with highly reduced test access. Therefore, this innovation is another milestone in the systematic implementation of our development philosophy of Extended JTAG/Boundary Scan Systems."

VarioTAP™ in principle supports all JTAG/IEEE1149.1 compliant µProcessor or µController, independent of the scan chain configuration up to multi processor or multi core applications. The µProcessor can be of different types or even implemented in the local path of a scan router. The adaptive streaming technology offers the opportunity to execute emulation tests in a test program parallel or interactively to Boundary Scan tests. Thereby, the number of Boundary Scan ICs and scan cells as well as TAPs is practically unlimited. By utilising the hardware platform SCANFLEX®, for instance up to eight TAP can be controlled independently and simultaneously to other I/O resources.

The utilisation of preassembled VarioTAP™ standard models removes the need for the user to have subject-specific background knowledge and processor-specific pods - the result is a simple and easy to implement solution. Therefore the new solution removes many currently existing limitations. Further, all VarioTAP™ models provide application specific functions and can be extended by customized functions.

In terms of software, VarioTAP™ and the new tools for interlaced emulation test and in-system Flash programming are integrated standards of SYSTEM CASCON™ from V4.4.1 on, and will be enabled per license manager. The first releases have already been shipped and free of charge for users with a valid software maintenance contract.

GOEPEL electronic's SYSTEM CASCON™ is a development environment with 38 fully integrated tools.