This white paper explains how the "IEEE P1687 IJTAG" standard will enable instruments originally embedded into chips for chip characterization and test can be reused later in circuit board design validation, volume manufacturing test and field service troubleshooting. The white paper describes and illustrates the on-chip IJTAG architecture. The paper also describes how validation, test and debug engineers will be able to deploy IJTAG-based tools to automate and schedule the operations of embedded instrument.

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Leveraging FPGA in PCB System Designs

FPGA devices create compelling business drivers generating a tidal wave of FPGA adoption for the implementation of system PCB designs. Obviously, the time to market advantages and capacity/performance characteristics of FPGA devices have delivered on the promise for a viable alternative to more capital resource intensive custom IC/ASIC solutions as well as a successful consolidation vehicle for standard “off the shelf” components in system design creation.

Power Integrity in Systems Design: Part 1

This paper discusses the fundamental requirements of power integrity (PI), and the most important concept used in PI, the network impedance. It answers the questions commonly asked by digital designers on how a power delivery network (PDN) is represented, how PDN impedance is generally defined, what the target impedance is and its effective range, and the factors affecting impedance analysis. The paper also addresses the contributions of IC current, package inductance, and on-die capacitance to PDN impedance analysis.

The Universal PCB Design Grid System

This paper reviews one of the single most important, but sometimes overlooked or taken for granted, aspects of the electronics industry – The PCB Design Grid System. Mixing PCB Design Layout units will compromise perfection every time. PCB Design perfection starts with building CAD library parts and quickly moves to part placement, via fanout and trace routing challenges. Outputting data for machine production can be extremely complex or very simple based on the PCB Design Layout units that were used throughout the PCB design process.