AC-JTAG: Empowering JTAG beyond Testing DC Nets

Sung S.Chung and Sang H. Baeg

Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 W. Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134

ABSTRACT
This paper presents the new technology that extends
todays JTAGs capability from DC domain to both AC
and DC domains. New concept, AC_EXTEST is
introduced to support AC interconnection test and to have
backward compatibility with EXTEST. It leverages
existing application software available within boundaryscan test industry to promote this technology to
manufacturing floor with minimal impact.

Introduction

Bandwidth requirements for internet devices (e.g.

switch, router) have increased over multiple Tera-bits per
seconds in todays network equipments. This type of
industry trend promotes use of high-speed serial
interconnections instead of parallel bus based
communications in relatively lower speed. The typical
serial interconnections can be found in devices such as
SERDES (SERializer DESerializer) and VCSEL (Vertical
Cavity Surface Emitting LASER) device. SERDES takes
parallel data and transforms to serial bit stream or vice
versa. It is often interconnected with VCSEL devices to
transmit or receive optical signals or with SERDES for
high-speed serial connection. Transmission speed in the
connection starts from 1 GBPS (Giga-Bits Per Second) in
optical interface.
In many cases, such serial interconnections are AC
coupled nets. For performance reasons, only high
frequency signals are delivered to other party and
amplified.
To
increase
noise
immunity,
the
interconnections are often connected differentially. Since
receivers only see the differences of the signals, the noise
appearing both differential lines is canceled out by so
called common-mode rejection. The traditional
interconnection test schemes based on IEEE 1149.1 are no
longer valid under such conditions [1, 2, 5-8]. Devices
utilizing AC coupled connection in parallel optics

Paper 2.1

transceiver modules are under development by optical

vendors for Cisco Systems Inc.
Figure 1 shows two types of interconnections between
devices in terms of interconnect testability. The first type
is a net testable by standard IEEE 1149.1, where DC value
is driven and captured. The second type of nets is AC
coupled net, which goes beyond the IEEE 1149.1s
capability. Capacitance can be coupled on board or
embedded inside devices, which look like DC nets by
outward appearance.
IEEE 1149.4 [5] addresses analog pins, however current
IEEE 1149.1 defines them as linkage so that the signals
are no longer test resources [1, 2, 9]. IEEE 1149.1 based
approach was considered as a better candidate for the AC
coupled line test than with IEEE 1149.4 since AC coupled
signal lines carry high speed digital signals rather than
analog signals. Additional issues listed below prevented
further utilization of IEEE 1149.4 as primary means of
testing AC coupled nets.

IEEE 1149.4 is harder to implement and has higher

area, delay and power overhead than IEEE 1149.1.
High-speed differential signaling technology requires
very tight timing constraint so that fully compliant
ABM implementation is difficult with todays
technology.
Wide variations of termination methods used in
differential lines add longer test time with IEEE
1149.4 when there are 100s of such nets within the
device.
Power budget needed for Parallel Optics modules is
not suited for the 1149.4 implementation because it
adds substantial area overhead, in turn it adds more
power dissipation.
Device must work with the DC coupled and AC
coupled application with existing IEEE 1149.1
environment.
The solution must support interoperability with the
existing legacy device within IEEE 1149.1.

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In this paper, new boundary scan method is proposed to

solve testing of AC coupled interconnection nets under
IEEE 1149.1 environment. Section 3 discusses objectives
of this project. The system view of AC-JTAG is explained
in Section 4. The new concept, AC_EXTEST is defined in
section 5. Design examples for boundary scan cells are
shown in section 6. The philosophical aspect of fault
coverage is discussed and coverage result is shown for
LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signal) in section 7 [3].
Device 1

Device 2 or
Connector

STD 1149.1
capable

We call this technology as DC-JTAG for

convenience. Under DC-JTAG, DC patterns are
applied by drivers and DC patterns are captured by
the counter-part receivers. If there is an AC coupling
element on the DC line, the AC signals need to be
transmitted and received for proper communication.
When such AC signals are used for interconnect test
under boundary-scan environment, we call it ACJTAG.
AC-JTAG and DC-JTAG should be
selectively executable.

Self-Contained Technology: AC-JTAG should be

developed, deployed, and executed independently and
should not depend on or be driven from the mission
logic function. It should be portable to migrate
designs easily from one design to different designs
and process technologies. It should also be as
transparent as possible to existing boundary-scan
ATE equipments.

Minimal Impact to JTAG Application Software:

The current boundary scan softwares should be
available with minimal additive enhancement without
invalidating existing functions. This is critical aspect
of the new technology development due to time
pressure on the manufacturing floor.

Interoperable with Broader Supply Base: ACJTAG should use simple and clear protocol so that
many different devices from different vendors can
support AC-JTAG. At the same time, legacy devices
should work with devices equipped with AC-JTAG.

STD 1149.1
incapable

STD 1149.1
incapable

Figure 1: DC and AC Coupled Nets

Definitions

AC: Alternating Current

AC Coupling: if steady state value at the receiving end
of the net is no longer the same value as in driving end,
then the net is so call AC coupled. The net has serial
coupling with a capacitive component. A DC de-coupled
net is an AC coupled net.
AC Boundary-Scan: general term to describe AC
coupled net test capable boundary-scan structure. It
consists of a pattern generator and pattern capture with
optional synchronizing pulse, and a pattern mapping
mechanism if necessary to map captured AC signals back
to the expected DC value.
AC pattern: consist of serial bit stream with certain
clock speed. The pattern has fixed length and repeats itself
continually. As a simplest form, it can be a LFSR with
single feedback, which has polynomial form of f(x) =
1+Xn. Other known coding sequences also can be used.
AC pattern clock: clock used to generate AC pattern.
DC pattern: test pattern with the constant driving value
during the entire duration of given test cycle.

Objectives

This section discusses the major considerations taken

during the development.

Dual Mode Support for both AC and DC: The

conventional JTAG is used to test only the DC lines.

System Overview

Figure 2 shows the logical view of the AC-JTAG

system. This layer model is introduced to explain and
discuss AC-JTAG in IEEE 1149.1 domain. There are
three layers in the system model, application link layer,
logical link layer, and physical link layer. When two AC
boundary-scan cells are communicating each other, they
are communicating through the three layers. The bold
lines in the figure show the data flow through layers.
Application link defines communication protocols
between devices, and runs boundary-scan test algorithms.
It works over the logical link layer. The protocol is named
as AC_EXTEST and discussed in the next section.
Logical link layer provides the foundation under which
interconnection is checked. The link is logically connected
when the driven value is same as the received value. The
logical values are either high or low.

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Driving AC Boundary Scan Cell

Application Link

1149.1

Receiving AC Boundary Scan Cell

Protocol under
AC_EXTEST and RTI

Logical Link

Physical Link

1149.1

101010...

101010...

010101...

010101...

Figure 2: System Layer Model for AC-JTAG

Since we assume the application layer works on the
logical layer, the application software in boundary-scan
industry doesnt need redevelopment.
Physical link layer represents physical connection
between two devices. When DC-JTAG is selected, a
driver takes a logical value from logical link and puts it on
the physical link. The receiver does the same but in
reverse order. Note that the values in the physical link are
same as in the logical link. When AC-JTAG is selected, it
takes a logical value from the logical link layer, translates
it to an AC signal, and drives the actual physical link. The
receiver monitors the AC signal and translates it back to a
logical value, which will be passed to the logical link
layer.
Two major components in the AC-JTAG system are
discussed further in detail: AC pattern generation, and AC
pattern sample.

4.1

AC Pattern Generation

AC patterns generation belongs to the physical link

layer. The patterns are generated and driven from the
driving side of the AC boundary scan cells and received
by the receiving side of AC boundary scan cells. Three
different pattern generation schemes are discussed here.

Built-in AC pattern generation (BAPG): this

scheme is a distributed test generation system, in
which each AC boundary scan cell in a chip has a
built-in AC test pattern generator.
Parallel AC pattern generation (PAPG): this is a
centralized test generation scheme, in which one
centralized test pattern generator drives a group of
AC boundary scan cells in a certain sequence. In this

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scheme, all AC boundary scan cells receive the same

pattern from the central test generator.
Serial AC test generation (SATG): this is also a
centralized test generation system like the parallel
scheme. It is different from the parallel scheme in
how patterns are delivered to boundary scan cells. In
this scheme, test pattern is fed to boundary scan cells
serially through a shift register chain instead of a
single wire common to all boundary-scan cells as in
the parallel scheme.

PAPG saves hardware overhead paid for each

boundary-scan cell, but in turn needs global wiring from
the central pattern generation logic to every AC boundary
scan cells. SATG saves such global routing overhead by
shifting the AC patterns serially but it may need additional
shifting chain for the AC pattern. If BAPG implements a
simple AC pattern generation mechanism, the expected
overall hardware overhead penalty is not significantly
different among the three approaches. The major
advantage of PAPG and SATG is to provide rather
complex AC patterns such as 8B/10B encoding [4]
without adding too much of additional hardware overhead
when other AC pattern is implemented. A design example
is shown using BAPG in section 6.

4.2

AC Pattern Sample

The receiving device with help of the driving device

should determine the time to sample a constantly varying
AC signal. The receiving AC boundary-scan cell is
responsible for decoding a DC value from the AC pattern.
In order to achieve this goal, the cell must sample the AC
signal at pre-determined sample intervals. The sampled
value(s) are decoded, and then used by traditional test

software for comparison. The decoded value should be the

same logical value as on the driving side as a result of the
decoding process. This step corresponds to the procedure
from the physical link to the logical link in figure 2. The
time interval to sample AC signal can be determined
explicitly or implicitly.

4.2.1

Explicit AC Sample Scheme

Driving device reports the sampling time for a AC

signal to its counter-part receiving device by the explicit
signal, called AC capture signal. The receiving device
purely relies on the signal to sample the AC pattern.
While explicit signaling enables clear communication
among devices, it has disadvantage of having multiple
extra AC capture signals connected over multiple devices,
especially when a device is receiving AC capture signals
from multiple driving devices. Board designers may elect
one for a master driver to avoid multiple AC capture
signals from going to a device. Since the data and clock
signals are transmitted together, this scheme requires a
careful timing adjustment during board design as in source
synchronous designs.

4.2.2

AC EXTEST1

AC_EXTEST defines an application layer protocol to

enable testing AC coupled nets when AC boundary-scan
cells are used.

5.1

The AC_EXTEST Instruction

The AC_EXTEST is a public instruction in IEEE

1149.1 and is a super set of the mandated EXTEST
instruction. AC_EXTEST works with the AC boundaryscan cell, which is backward compatible with the
mandated EXTEST instruction when the cell is under the
EXTEST instruction. When the AC_EXTEST instruction
is selected, the boundary-scan register cells determine the
state of all system output pins.
As in the mandatory EXTEST instruction defined in the
IEEE 1149.1 Standard, AC_EXTEST would load data into
the latched parallel outputs of boundary-scan shift-register
stages using the PRELOAD instruction. The AC_EXTEST
capable AC boundary-scan register cells located at system
output pins (2-state, 3-state, or bi-directional) can
generate AC patterns during the Run-Test/Idle controller
state.

Implicit AC Sample Scheme

In this scheme, no explicit AC capture signal is

transmitted as in the previous case. The receiving device
recognizes the sample time by processing the protocol
defined in the application link layer. AC boundary scan
cells are timed to sample the AC signals based on such
protocol. The details are discussed in the next section.
Start

Preload Test Stimulus

Initiate
AC_EXTEST Instructio n

Execute
AC_EXTEST Instructio n

Reload
Net Test Data

The snapshot of AC pattern signal is sampled at the

system input pins during the Run-Test/Idle controller state
at every 16th AC pattern cycles and the falling edge of the
AC pattern clock as shown in Figure 5. The 16th cycle is a
part of implicit synchronization scheme discussed in
section 4 and selected as an interoperability reason.
Explicit synchronization can be used when a device-todevice interconnection is well defined.
The decoded DC value from sampled value(s) shall be
the same value as the data held in the driving AC
boundary-scan register cell at the system output pins.
Then the sampled value in the AC Boundary-scan cell is
loaded onto the boundary-scan Capture register cell on
the rising edge of TCK in the Capture-DR controller state.
Figure 3 shows the expected execution for AC_EXTEST.
Execution effects after Capture-DR

Transfer
AC_EXTEST Instructio n
Results

Instruction

Evaluate
AC_EXTEST Results

AC Scan Cell

DC Scan Cell

Passing through
RTI

Bypassing
RTI

AC_EXTEST

AC_EXTEST

EXTEST

EXTEST

EXTEST

EXTEST

EXTEST

EXTEST

End

Table 1: Comparisons of AC_EXTEST and EXTEST

Figure 3: Expected AC_EXTEST Execution

1

AC_EXTEST is a Ciscos invention

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5.2

a)

Both the system output pins and the system input pins
are interconnected and are under the AC_EXTEST
instruction. The test shall work properly regardless of
AC coupling between the interconnections.
b) If there is no AC coupling between two devices, the
system output pin under the EXTEST instruction shall
operate with the system the input pin under the
AC_EXTEST instruction.
c) The system output pins under the AC_EXTEST
instruction shall operate as the EXTEST instruction if
the TAP controller is not in the Run-Test/Idle
controller state.

Link to EXTEST

When the AC_EXTEST instruction is selected, the

system output pins follow rules set by the EXTEST
instruction, except for the system output pins with the AC
boundary-scan cells. The pins equipped with an AC
boundary-scan cell apply AC patterns in the Run-Test/Idle
controller state, instead of steady state logic levels as in
the EXTEST instruction.
Table 1 shows the effects of AC_EXTEST compared to
EXTEST. The devices under AC_EXTEST operate as an
AC_EXTEST only when the TAP controller goes through
Run-Test/Idle controller state. AC_EXTEST works the
same way as EXTEST if the TAP controller goes to the
Capture-DR controller state without passing through the
Run-Test/Idle controller state after each Update_DR or
Update_IR.

The system input pins under the EXTEST instruction

may not perform the test properly with the system output
pins under the AC_EXTEST instruction and should be
avoided. The input pins capture unpredictable AC values,
which
are
unknown
to
the
DC
world.

AC_EXTEST
instruction
should
provide
interoperability with the following test combination of the
conditions:
To next cell
Data from
system logic
From last cell
ShiftDR
AC_Test
AC_Pattern_Clock
or ClockDR

To system pin

0
1

0
1

ck Q

To next cell
0
1

0
1

ck

0
1

D
AC_Sync

ck

0
1

0
1

D
ck

Data to
system
logic

ck

AC_Test_Ran
From last cell
ShiftDR
ClockDR
UpdateDR
DC_Mode

AC_Test_Marker
UpdateDR
AC_Test
DC_Mode

TCK

From system pin

0
1

Figure 4: Example AC boundary-scan cell BC_1

value. Figures 4 shows the examples of AC capable
boundary-scan cells and various signals used in the
examples. The major signals are explained as follows:

Run-Test / Idle
AC Pattern A
=1
AC Pattern A =
0
AC_Sync A

Figure 5: Example timing diagram of critical signals

Boundary-scan cell Design examples

The AC boundary-scan cell can have predefined

function of BC_0 to BC_10, which carry all the semantics
of 1149.1 with additional AC related portions. The AC
test pattern generation and capture capabilities are added
to the existing boundary scan scheme. The AC boundaryscan cells together with the AC capable TAP controller
have pattern generator, and pattern capture functions, as
well as pattern mapping circuitry if necessary to convert
preloaded DC (logic) value into AC patterns and the
sampled AC signals back to the expected DC (logic)

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AC_Test: a function of the AC_EXTEST instruction

and the Run-Test/Idle controller state. It becomes true
when the TAP controller is in the Run-Test/Idle
controller state under the AC_EXTEST instruction.
AC_Pattern_Clock: the AC pattern generation and
pattern sample logic use the same clock known as
AC
pattern
clock,
shown
here
as
AC_Pattern_Clock
to
synchronize
pattern
generation and sample operations. The signal
AC_Pattern_Clock is a shared clock for AC pattern
generation and the ClockDR for capturing and
shifting of boundary-scan test signals.
AC_Test_Marker: a single event that is one and a half
pattern clock cycle long, and positive going pulse to
mark the beginning of the AC pattern generation
sequences. It is used to set the pattern generation flipflop with a known value.

6.1

AC_Test_Ran: used to control the input AC

boundary-scan register cells to capture from the
system pin input buffer instead of capturing from AC
pattern sample flip-flop. In special cases where the
AC_EXTEST instruction is executed without going
to the Run-Test/Idle controller state, this mode of
operation is enabled and the signal forces the AC
boundary-scan register cell to act like a DC scan cell.

AC Boundary Scan Cell Design Example

The examples in Figures 4 are boundary-scan register

cell type BC_1 and maintain compatibility with existing
EXTEST. AC boundary-scan cells can be mixed into the
design with any of the IEEE 1149.1 Standard compatible
devices.
The left portion of Figure 4 shows an AC scan cell with
a built-in AC pattern generator, it generates AC patterns
using AC_Pattern_Clock and boundary-scan Capture
register cell. First, the EXTEST value from the Update
scan cell is copied into the boundary-scan Capture
and
register
cell
with
AC_Test_Marker
Subsequent
AC_Pattern_Clock.
AC_Pattern_Clock starts to generate a AC pattern and
the pattern is fed into the system pin. The right portion of
Figure 4 shows an example of input scan cell with the
AC_EXTEST capability. There is an extra AC pattern
sample flip-flop with an AC_Sync signal, which can be
generated either explicitly or implicitly as discussed in
Section 4.

translated to the logical value used by the application

layer. Since there are so many types of drivers and
receivers combined with different technologies, we
believe that it is an entirely new area of research to define
both the sampling and encoding methods.
In this section, we have shown fault coverage for LVDS
(Low Voltage Differential Signal) without adding any
special receiving features for fault detection purposes on
normal LVDS receiver to demonstrate the coverage that
plain AC-JTAG without special buffer technology can
achieve.

7.1

LVDS Connection

The differential line with point-to-point connection

using LVDS is typically configured as in Figure 6. The
driver is both sourcing and sinking current. The
termination registers at the receiving side will provide
differential voltage of 350mV. Please see [3] for LVDS
specification.
LVDS Line
Driver
Q
D

SET

CLR

DATA
Transmit

SET

QB

CLR

3.5mA

Figure 6: A Typical Point-to-Point LVDS Application

gnd vdd

S ET

gnd vdd

SE T

CLR

fault injections

Figure 7: Faults inject points in LVDS pair

Signal before
CAP

Fault Coverage

Signal after
CAP

The application link layer (see section 4) determines the

physical link quality based on the translated logical value.
The DC connection in IEEE 1149.1 is checked pretty well
in this environment because logical representation is
identical as in the physical signal value system (i.e. high
and low values). However, AC connection is not easily
mapped to the existing JTAG system due to time variant
nature of AC signals.
While time factor is removed during transforming AC
signal to a logic value, it is likely to mask out some
failures. Therefore, test quality purely depends on how
AC signals are sampled and decoded before they are

DATA Receive

gnd vdd

Rt
100Ohm
350mV

CLR

When AC_Test_Ran signal becomes active,

signifying the AC_EXTEST has been executed under the
Run-Test/Idle controller state, the Capture scan cell
captures value from the AC pattern sample flip-flop;
otherwise, it captures a value from the system pin. This
selection of capture source is controlled by the signal the
AC_Test_Ran.

LVDS Line
Receiver

3.5mA

gnd vdd

Recovered
Signal

Figure 8: AC signal transitions

7.2

AC Coupled Capacitance

To create AC coupled lines to the differential lines, a

capacitance is added to the receiving end of a LVDS

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receiver. 100nf coupling capacitances are used in this

experiment; however, the coupling capacitance can be a
much smaller or higher value. As the coupling capacitance
is getting smaller, the signal after coupling capacitance is
no longer same as the signal before the coupling
capacitance. Since only the high frequency components
of the incoming signals passes through the capacitance,
the signals in the receiving side will be both positive and
negative going pulses at the rising and falling edges of the
incoming square waveform signal respectively. Signal
Number

Fault Type

1
2
3
4
5

Open
Open
Open
Open
Short

Short

Short

Short

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Stuck-0
Stuck-1
Stuck-0
Stuck-1
Stuck-0
Stuck-1
Stuck-0
Stuck-1

and

AC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Coverage
AC + DC
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

and

Yes

Yes

and

No

Yes

and

No

Yes

Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes
Yes/No

Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes
Yes/No

Signal
Positive before CAP
Positive after CAP
Negative before CAP
Negative after CAP
Positive before CAP
Negative after CAP
Positive after CAP
Negative before CAP
Positive before CAP
Positive after CAP
Negative before CAP
Negative after CAP
Positive before CAP
Positive before CAP
Positive after CAP
Positive after CAP
Negative before CAP
Negative before CAP
Negative after CAP
Negative after CAP

recovery logic can be added to handle such cases in the

receiving side before the AC signal is captured by AC
boundary scan cell. Such recovery logic belongs to the
physical layer. So the AC_EXTET protocol is not affected
by such signals behavior. Figure 8 shows the signal
transitions through a small coupling capacitance and
effects of the signal recovery logic. The signal transitions
are for one leg of the differential pair seen in Figure 7.

Comments

Combining with DC test might

detect this fault
Combining with DC test might
detect this fault
May require longer simulation time
Depends on Stuck voltage level
Depends on Stuck voltage level
May require longer simulation time
Depends on Stuck voltage level
Depends on Stuck voltage level

Table 2: Fault injection and coverage for LVDS AC coupled differential lines

7.3

Fault Coverage

Faults are injected using resistors as shown in Figure 7.

Certain resistors are initially set to infinite (zero) number
and changed to zero (infinite) value to create short (open)
faults.
Table 2 summarizes coverage report based on the Spice
simulation for the LVDS pair connection through
capacitance. The first column represents the fault number.
Fault type is shown in the second column. In the third
column, fault location is specified. Positive and
negative describe the polarity of differential signals in a
connection.
The forth column in Table 2 shows the coverage when
only AC_EXTEST result is considered and the fifth one
shows the coverage when both AC and DC test results are

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combined. The coverage analysis is purely based the

previously defined AC_EXTEST without assuming any
special circuitry in the receiver side. To demonstrate the
detection mechanism used in this experiment, two spice
simulation results are shown in Figures 9 and 10. Figure 9
shows the normal behavior and Figure 10 is the behavior
with fault number 1 in Table 2 . The first two signals in
the figures show the input and output pulses. The next
four signals represent the differential signal pairs before
and after the coupling capacitance. The output of circuit
with a fault is different from the normal behavior.

build and execute the instruction. AC pattern generation

and sample methods have been illustrated with design
examples. Fault coverage result is presented using LVDS
I/O technology.

Acknowledgements

Figure 9: Normal LVDS behavior

This technology has been presented and reviewed by

many MSA (Multi Source Agreement) partners for Cisco
Parallel Optics module vendors. Authors wish to thank the
those who provided advice and feedback, especially
Pandu Sharma at Cisco Systems Inc., and Robert Schuelke
at AMCC.

References

Figure 10: Behavior with fault number 1

All the open faults are detected. For the short faults,
there are two faults (i.e. 7 and 8) that are not detected in
AC test. However the faults can be identified when test
results in DC domain are combined. If a DC test is run,
the short faults will not be detected since the short line
creates a DC link instead of an AC link. The AC link is
not broken in this LVDS case since original LVDS is
working properly without the coupling capacitance.
However initial assumption is that the DC test should fail
because of the coupling cap, so the fault is detected by an
inductive analysis.
Faults are conditionally detected when Yes/No
appears in the coverage column. Since the LVDS is a
differential signaling method, the stuck voltage level at
one leg will affect the differential voltage across the
differential receiver, which makes coverage conditional.

Conclusion

[1] IEEE Standard 1149.1a-1993, IEEE Standard Test

Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture,
IEEE Standards Board, New York, October 1993.
[2] Supplement to IEEE Standard 1149.1-1990, IEEE
Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan
Architecture, IEEE Standards Board, New York,
March 1995
[3] TIA/EIA-644-1996: Electrical Characteristics of
Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS)
Interface Circuits.
[4] A. F. Benner Fibre Channel: Gigabit
communications and I/O for computer networks,
McGraw-Hill,1996.
[5] IEEE Standard 1149.4-1999, IEEE Standard for a
Mixed Signal Test Bus, IEEE Standards Board,
New York, March 1999
[6] L. Whetsel, Improved Boundary Scan Design,
Proc. International Test Conference, 1995, pp 851860
[7] H. Singh, G. Patankar and J. Beausang, A
Symbolic Simulation-based ANSI/IEEE Std 1149.1
Compliance Checker and BSDL Generator, Proc.
International Test Conference, 1997, pp 256-264
[8] B. Nadeau-Dostie, J.F. Cote, H. Hulvershorn and S.
Pateras, An Embedded Technique for At-Speed
Interconnect Testing, Proc. International Test
Conference, 1999, pp 431-438
[9] K. P. Parker The Boundary-Scan Handbook,
second edition, Analog and Digital, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, 1998, , pp 251-253

We have introduced a new AC-JTAG technology. It

allows testing of AC coupled nets in the boundary-scan
environment. In addition, adopting this technology into a
manufacturing board test process can significantly reduce
board test cost. AC_EXTEST is a public instruction,
which enables this technology. All the elements and
protocols between devices have been described to help
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