ASSET partners with leading EMS to accelerate adoption of new IEEE P1687 embedded instrumentation standard

Richardson, Texas -- Nov. 2, 2010  -- ASSET® InterTech (www.asset-intertechcom), the leading supplier of open tools for embedded instrumentation, has partnered with Flextronics, a leading electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider, to accelerate the adoption of the new IEEE PP1687 Internal JTAG (IJTAG) standard.

Once it is ratified next year, the IEEE P1687 IJTAG standard will specify an industry-accepted open architecture and interfacing mechanisms for instrumentation that is embedded into semiconductor chips, simplifying the use of these embedded instruments to validate, test and debug chips, circuit boards and systems. Most of the instruments currently embedded in chips are limited to a specific purpose, such as chip debug. The IEEE P1687 IJTAG standard will enable efficient use of embedded instruments throughout a product’s entire life-cycle, including circuit board validation during design, board test in manufacturing and maintenance diagnostics in the field. IEEE P1687 IJTAG is based on another standard, the IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan standard, which is often referred to as JTAG after the Joint Test Action Group that initiated its development.

The Flextronics Center of Excellence in Austin, Texas, will collaborate with ASSET on the development of tools supporting the IEEE P1687 IJTAG standard for ASSET’s ScanWorks® platform for embedded instruments.

In addition, the companies will undertake joint marketing activities on the life-cycle value of deploying validation and test strategies based on IEEE P1687. The two companies have plans for a variety of activities in the marketplace, such as conducting seminars to educate engineers, authoring joint whitepapers, presenting technical papers on IJTAG technology at industry conferences and compiling application notes to accelerate the adoption of the IJTAG standard.

ASSET will provide beta versions of its ScanWorks IJTAG tools to the Flextronics IJTAG Center of Excellence, where these tools will be exercised in a range of scenarios to simulate deployment in a production line for a variety of electronic products and systems.

“We are very excited to team up with Flextronics on this very important endeavor and we look forward to collaborating with them,” said Glenn Woppman, president and CEO of ASSET InterTech. “EMS companies like Flextronics are at the center point in the process that delivers systems to market. On one side, the EMS faces chip vendors and on the other they face system suppliers. So, it is quite strategic for the adoption of the IJTAG standard when a company with the critical importance of a Flextronics decides to throw its weight behind a standard like this. Both companies will gain from this relationship. Our ScanWorks IJTAG toolkit will certainly benefit from the insight of Flextronics’ experts and they will be able to further their knowledge of this new technology.”

ScanWorks – The Embedded Instrumentation Platform

ASSET, through its ScanWorks platform, is applying the experience it has gained from two decades as a leading supplier of IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan (JTAG) test tools to the development of open embedded instrumentation tools. The boundary-scan infrastructure that is embedded into chips and circuit boards is one of several technologies which can form the basis for an embedded instrumentation toolset. In recent years, ASSET has significantly enhanced ScanWorks beyond boundary-scan test with the addition of other embedded instrumentation technologies, including processor-controlled test (PCT) and tools for Intel® IBIST (Interconnect Built-In Self Test), an embedded instrumentation technology that Intel® and other companies are embedding into next-generation chips and chipsets.

About ASSET InterTech

ASSET InterTech is the leading supplier of open tools for embedded instrumentation for design validation, test and debug. The ScanWorks platform provides automation, access and analysis tools in one environment. Users can quickly and easily validate and test semiconductors, circuit boards or entire systems during every phase of a product's life, including design, manufacturing/repair and field maintenance. ASSET InterTech is located at 2201 North Central Expressway, Suite 105, Richardson, TX 75080. For product information, call 888-694-6250, fax 972-437-2826, e-mail ai-info@asset-intertech.com or visit www.asset-intertech.com.