Paper ET3.1 INTERNATIONAL TEST CONFERENCE 1
978-1-4244-4867-8/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE
Doing More with Less – An IEEE 1149.7 Embedded Tutorial :
Standard for Reduced-pin and Enhanced-functionality Test Access Port and
Boundary-Scan Architecture
Adam W Ley
ASSET InterTech, Inc. Richardson TX, USA
Abstract
IEEE Std 1149.7 offers a means to reduce chip pins
dedicated to test (and debug) access while enhancing the
functionality of the Test Access Port (TAP) as a
complementary superset of the original IEEE Std 1149.1
(JTAG). Extended features such as hot-plug immunity,
power management, optimization of scan throughput,
access to instrumentation, and access to custom
technologies provide welcome improvements for debug.
Further, the boundary-scan architecture is bolstered to
ensure full support for test. This important advancement in
test and debug interfaces is well suited for access to
multiple cores on SOC or multiple die in SIP or POP.
1. Introduction
In the 1980s, the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) was
formed to address a growing concern about diminishing
test access to chips on boards due to the adoption of
surface-mount assembly methods and ongoing
miniaturization of chip packages. In 1990, their efforts
culminated in the ratification of IEEE Std 1149.1 –
Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan
Architecture. While 1149.1 was firmly rooted in the need
to solve the problems of board test, as exemplified by the
provision for boundary scan, the proponents of the
standard realized the need for a generalized means of low-
level access to components on boards and in systems that
would suit a wide range of uses. As a result, the 1149.1
test access port (TAP), as specified, has met this need.
In fact, even before the ink was dry, the 1149.1 TAP was
being exploited for purposes beyond board test. In these
early days, its utility was deployed to support access to
chips for in-circuit emulation (debug), albeit often with
additional pins for proprietary signals. Somewhat later, the
ubiquity of the 1149.1 TAP was exploited in a normative
sense for in-system configuration of programmable
devices by way of IEEE Std 1532. Later still, use of the
1149.1 TAP as a debug interface was standardized by
NEXUS 5001 (although still requiring additional signaling
for many cases). Today, for the same reasons of utility and
ubiquity, the 1149.1 TAP is considered the most likely
means of access to chips that support embedded
instruments per P1687 (informally known as Internal
JTAG or IJTAG).
Notwithstanding the exceptional merits of the 1149.1
TAP, ongoing industry momentum toward greater
miniaturization and still more integration led some to the
conclusion that a makeover was needed [1]. In particular,
they proposed to enhance its functionality and utility in
applications debug, but also to reduce pins to be better
suited to multi-core/ multi-die architectures. IEEE Std
1149.7 [2, 3, 4, 5] has been developed to meet these needs
[6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
1.1 What is IEEE 1149.7
IEEE 1149.7 is a standard for a test access port and
associated architecture that offers reduced pins and
enhanced functionality. With regard to pin reduction,
whereas the conventional 1149.1 TAP (TAP.1) requires at
least four signals (with a fifth, for test reset, being
optional), the reduced-pin 1149.7 TAP (TAP.7) requires
only two signals (with the possibility for encoding the
optional test reset function onto these). Further, with
regard to functionality enhancement, it is expected that, in
many cases, extended signaling needs for uses such as
applications debug can be met on no more than two pins.
Even while delivering these benefits, 1149.7 has taken
great pains to preserve the investment that the industry has
made in 1149.1 for chips and on boards. Particularly,
1149.7 adopts the entirety of the 1149.1 boundary-scan
architecture to fully support board test and in-system
configuration. Further, 1149.7 does not replace 1149.1, but
rather adapts it and extends it, building upon its foundation
and legacy. For example, as illustrated in Figure 1, an
1149.1 chip can be adapted easily to provide a TAP.7. As
well, TAP.7s can coexist with TAP.1s on boards and, in
some cases, even on the same board-level TAP
connections.
1149.1
IC
1149.7 chip
1149.1
“core”
P1149.7
adapter
“before” “after”
1149.1
IC
1149.1
IC
1149.7 chip
1149.1
“core”
1149.1
“core”
P1149.7
adapter
“before” “after”
Figure 1—Adaptation of 1149.1 to 1149.7