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, and most commonly, digital logic circuits. A hardware description language e ...

for electronics testing using

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

. It has been added to the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

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 The VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is a hardware description language (HDL) that can model the behavior and structure of digital systems at multiple levels of abstraction, ranging from the system level down to that of logic gates ...

. 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 Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

. 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 where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

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 so ...

debugger A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program used to software testing, test and debugging, debug other programs (the "target" program). The main use of a debugger is to run the target program under controlled conditions that permit the pr ...

External links

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

BSDL & SVF file formats, functions and features

References

Electronics manufacturing Hardware testing Printed circuit board manufacturing {{comp-eng-stub