iNEMI Survey Asks about Boundary Scan Adoption

HERNDON, VIRGINIA (February 6, 2009) — The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is surveying the electronics industry to gauge the current adoption rate of boundary scan and identify any impediments to widespread use.  The industry-led consortium has launched an online survey that covers the many uses of boundary scan and is encouraging as many people as possible from the global supply chain to participate in the survey.

“We want to hear about people’s experiences with boundary scan,” said Steve Butkovich, structural test manager for Cisco and co-chair of the iNEMI Boundary Scan Adoption Project.  “We’re looking for input from the people who would use boundary scan, such as PCB designers, test engineers, engineering managers or design-for-test consultants, and from IC designers who would integrate boundary scan into their products.  If they use boundary scan, we want to know how well it works — or doesn’t work; and if they do not use it, we would like to know why not.  This information will help us improve test implementation and coverage for electronics products, ultimately benefiting the entire supply chain.”

The questionnaire is divided into two sections — one for users (which takes approximately 20 minutes to complete) and another for IC designers (which requires about 10 minutes).  Only aggregated data will be reported from the survey, plus participants have the option to respond anonymously.

The iNEMI Boundary Scan Adoption Project was organized to promote wider adoption of boundary scan (JTAG/IEEE 1149.x, P1581) throughout the electronics industry, encourage semiconductor vendors to include the technology in their products, and promote the development of tools by ATE (automated test equipment) vendors to support boundary scan based board test.  This survey is an important first step in that process.

About iNEMI
The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative’s mission is to identify and close technology gaps, which includes the development and integration of the electronics industry supply infrastructure.  This industry-led consortium is made up of more than 65 manufacturers, suppliers, industry associations and consortia, government agencies and universities.  iNEMI roadmaps the needs of the electronics industry, identifies gaps in the technology infrastructure, establishes implementation projects to eliminate these gaps (both business and technical), and stimulates standards activities to speed the introduction of new technologies.  The consortium also works with government agencies, universities and other funding agencies to set priorities for future industry needs and R&D initiatives.  iNEMI is based in Herndon, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), with regional offices in Shanghai, China and Limerick, Ireland.  For additional information about iNEMI, visit http://www.inemi.org.

For further information:
Cynthia Williams, iNEMI
+1 207-871-1260
cwilliams@inemi.org