Market Forces Driving Acceptance Of ANSI/IEEE Std 1149.1-1990 Boundary-Scan

ANSI/IEEE Std 1149.1-1990 [1,7] is advancing rapidly in acceptance. A recent survey of ATE manufacturers indicates they expect a significant impact. ASIC vendors show by their actions that it is not good business to be caught without Boundary-Scan-supporting cells in one's standard cell library. CAE/CAD tools are beginning to appear with specific features that support Boundary-Scan. Catalog parts are, beginning to appear with Boundary-Scan in them. A number of firms are publicly committed to using Boundary-Scan in their Systems. Department of Defense procurements are giving greater and greater emphasis to testability and diagnosability which will inevitably lead to implementation of test standards including ANSI/IEEE Std 1149.1-1990. In this paper we review the evidence for movement to acceptance of the Standard and some forces that appear to be driving this movement. Familiarity with the Standard is presupposed.