Analog Boundary-Scan Description Language (ABSDL) for Mixed-Signal Board Test

The IEEE Standard 1149.4 has been ratified and available for some time, now. However, describing the architectural content of an analog boundary-scan register has not yet been standardized. The work of the IEEE Std 1149.4 Working Group over the past several years has been to define and codify an extension to IEEE Std 1149.1 ´s BSDL. In this paper, a language to describe the boundary-scan implementation in a mixed-signal device is proposed. The language is called analog boundary-scan description language (ABSDL) and it is compatible with the existing IEEE Std 1149.1 BSDL. Using this language, test generation automation can proceed, and interconnect test on a mixed-signal board using analog boundary-scan cells can be performed to test both simple wires and discrete components between packaged devices with IEEE Std 1149.1 and 1149.4 infrastructure and access. Although not yet promulgated, the syntax definitions proposed in this paper are indicative of the current state of the Working Group´s attempts at this effort. Along with the generation of the syntax for describing IEEE Std 1149.4 structures, the semantic checks for such an ABSDL file are presented