Boundary scan description language (BSDL) is a

hardware description language In computer engineering, a hardware description language (HDL) is a specialized computer language used to describe the structure and behavior of electronic circuits, usually to design application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and to progra ...

for electronics testing using

JTAG JTAG (named after the Joint Test Action Group which codified it) is an industry standard for verifying designs of and testing printed circuit boards after manufacture. JTAG implements standards for on-chip instrumentation in electronic design ...

. It has been added to the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Std. 1149.1, and BSDL files are increasingly well supported by JTAG tools for boundary scan applications, and by test case generators.

BSDL overview

BSDL was a subset of

VHDL VHDL (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Program, VHSIC Hardware Description Language) is a hardware description language that can model the behavior and structure of Digital electronics, digital systems at multiple levels of abstraction, ran ...

. However, since IEEE 1149.1-2013, it is no longer a "proper" subset of VHDL but it is considered based on VHDL. It is formally defined in IEEE Standard 1149.1 Annex B. Each BSDL file describes one version of an IC and has many package pin maps as are available for a particular die. This is necessary because, for example, two different BGA packages will have different balls; even if the ball has the same name it may be bonded to a different signal on the other package, and sometimes bondings change between revisions. Each digital signal (pin or ball) on the package is defined, as are the registers and opcodes used in an

1149.1, IEEE 1149.6, IEEE 1149.8.1, IEEE 1532 and IEEE 1149.4 compliant IC. There is one instruction register, a minimum of a 1-bit bypass register, one boundary scan register and optionally a 32 bit device_id register. The registers other than the instruction register are called TDRs or Test Data Registers. The boundary scan register (BSR) is unique as it is the register which is also mapped to the I/O of the device. Many of the BSDL definitions are sets of single long string constants. Note that registers not involved in boundary scan are often not defined. Instructions that are not publicly defined are included in the INSTRUCTION_PRIVATE section.

Microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

debugger A debugger is a computer program used to test and debug other programs (the "target" programs). Common features of debuggers include the ability to run or halt the target program using breakpoints, step through code line by line, and display ...

References

External links

Free BSDL Compiler - Validates Grammar, Semantics and Syntax according to IEEE standard rules

BSDL & SVF file formats, functions and features
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boundary Scan Description Language Electronics manufacturing Hardware testing Printed circuit board manufacturing