A demonstration circuit to support e-learning on IEEE 1149.1/4 infrastructures

Teaching electronics in engineering encompasses several issues related to the specific technical subjects and the educational model considered. The first embraces a set of specific scientific concepts while the second usually includes a big number of laboratorial classes. Electronic design usually includes analog and digital components that are developed using different technologies, an analog device usually consisting of the association of different components, while a digital device is nowadays designed using hardware programming languages. In any case, circuit design should include the intended mission circuit but also additional circuitry in order to support debug and test operations. The additional functionalities included for this purpose assume special importance during the circuit prototype validation phase. The most common errors result from the use of programmable and configurable devices (e.g. microcontrollers, FPGA) although those resulting from analogue components are usually harder to diagnosis and correct. A structured way to face those issues is the use of IEEE1149.1/4 test infrastructures. Laboratorial classes on advanced subjects like this are one of the reasons why electronics is an expensive engineering education. Remote labs are presently being advertised as a mean to make the educational model more cost effective. Part of the laboratorial classes can be performed autonomously by the student, using remote circuits to verify if the developed code matches the intended result. Furthermore, as the remote laboratories are intrinsically based on ICT, it is easy to produce and use students´ knowledge information to optimize the educational model. This document presents part of an IEEE1149.1/4 remote access educational platform for use on electronics courses.