Richardson, TX – The ScanWorks® platform for embedded instruments from ASSET® InterTech (www.asset-intertech.com), the leading supplier of open tools for embedded instrumentation, is the first third-party platform with validation and test tools for the newly announced families of server processors, the Intel® Xeon® 5600 and 7500 series, and the Itanium® 9300 series.
ASSET’s ScanWorks platform capitalizes on Intel’s embedded instrumentation strategy, which centers on that company’s Interconnect Built-In Self Test (IBIST) technology. Intel has been embedding IBIST into its leading processors and chip sets while ScanWorks has provided a comprehensive validation and test solution for Intel-based designs and their high-speed input/output (I/O) buses, including Intel® QuickPath Interconnect (Intel® QPI), PCI Express (PCIe), Direct Memory Interface (DMI) and Double Data Rate memory, third generation (DDR3).
“As Intel increases the capabilities of the Xeon and Itanium processor families and pushes the outer edge of the performance envelope in the server, workstation and high-performance computing (HPC) market, tools to quickly validate and test new design platforms become increasingly critical,” said Tim Caffee, ASSET’s vice president of design validation. “It’s always a race for equipment manufacturers to get to market before the competition with servers based on new processors. Effective validation tools like ScanWorks are imperative to do this.”
The ScanWorks validation tools for high-speed I/O include functionality for bit error rate testing (BERT), margining tests, and pattern generation and checking. In validation applications, these tools verify that the serial I/O buses perform as expected before the design moves into high-volume manufacturing.
Intel’s new Xeon processors are based on that company’s next-generation Nehalem microarchitecture, but each series targets a different strata of the server market. The 32-nanometer (nm) 5600 series supports data center servers, workstations and high-performance computing systems with one or two processors and offers a high level of security. The 7500 series scales upwards to servers with as many as 256 processors and includes new reliability features for mission-critical server applications.
The Itanium processors target the high-end server market and are currently running 80 percent of the mission-critical server applications at the largest 100 companies in the world. The new Itanium 9300 series (codenamed Tukwila) doubles the performance of this processor family by increasing the number of cores of previous Itanium processors from two to four. New scalability and reliability features have been incorporated for high-availability corporate IT applications.
ScanWorks® – The Embedded Instrumentation Platform
ASSET, through its ScanWorks platform, is applying the experience it has gained from two decades as a leading supplier of IEEE 1149.1 boundary-scan (JTAG) test tools to the development of open embedded instrumentation tools. The boundary-scan infrastructure that is embedded into chips and circuit boards is one of several technologies which can form the basis for an embedded instrumentation toolset. In recent years, ASSET has significantly enhanced ScanWorks beyond boundary-scan test with the addition of other embedded instrumentation technologies, including processor-controlled test (PCT) and tools for Intel® IBIST (Interconnect Built-In Self Test), an embedded instrumentation technology that Intel® and other companies are embedding into next-generation chips and chipsets.
About ASSET InterTech
ASSET InterTech is the leading supplier of open tools for embedded instrumentation for design validation, test and debug. The ScanWorks platform provides automation, access and analysis tools in one environment. Users can quickly and easily validate and test semiconductors, circuit boards or entire systems during every phase of a product’s life, including design, manufacturing/repair and field maintenance. ASSET InterTech is located at 2201 North Central Expressway, Suite 105, Richardson, TX 75080.
For product information, call 888-694-6250, fax 972-437-2826, e-mail ai-info@asset-intertech.com or visit www.asset-intertech.com.
Trademarks: ASSET, the ASSET logo and ScanWorks are registered trademarks of ASSET InterTech, Inc. Intel, Intel Xeon, Intel Itanium and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trade and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.
