JTAG Live has made full debugging accessible for small companies - for 10 years already
“Historically, boundary-scan was developed as a testing method for the production phase,” Peter van den Eijnden says. “Since 1990, big companies started using it as their default device for testing. But for years, it remained a relatively expensive method for smaller companies. Not only because of its price, but also because of its capabilities: SME’s typically didn’t need all of its functionalities.”
That’s where, ten years ago, JTAG Live came in: a family of tool options to be used separately or in combination with each other. There’s JTAG Live Buzz, for example, an easy and free starting solution for debugging boards. “Offering it for free not only enabled smaller companies to get used to our debugging methods, but also a way for us to find new clients. Of course, for a free product, Buzz is limited in its functionality. Buzz is not a testing system, this is a totally different product but built on the same technology as boundary-scan. It measures what it sees, and does so very well, but that’s it.”
JTAG Live became - unlike the original boundary-scan - a product that could be used by more employees than just the test engineers in the factory. “You know, if you find out about a problem on one of your boards, you immediately want to check what it is. If you would first need a couple of hours to build your testing system, you almost forgot about the nature of the problem. Instead, you want to be able to check this at any moment. JTAG Live is perfectly equipped for that.”
