ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming
About ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming
Your FPGA is a powerful accelerator to reduce device programming times in production.
How’d you like to reduce your production test beat rate by 2x, 10x, 40x? In today’s complex FPGA-based designs with larger and larger memories that need to be programmed, the long pole in the tent is device programming time. If you can dramatically reduce that, your overall test time per unit in production drops. Test time is money, so the savings are real!
ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming Resources
How ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming boosts efficiency
ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming (FFP) builds on a boundary-scan foundation. If you are using boundary scan to program devices, like Flash, then if it is a small amount of data the time to do that is relatively quick. But if the data is large than times can be in the 10’s of minutes to hours. That does not work on a production line. ScanWorks FFP has IP, like the Short-Scan Chain, to reduce the data having to go through an entire boundary-scan data register encompassing all the FPGA IO, which can be long, thus wasting time. By using the Short-Scan Chain IP inside the FPGA programming time is dramatically reduced.
To reduce programming time even further takes specific IP engines for specific protocols like SPI, I2C, etc. ScanWorks FFP, for example, has a SPI IP that reduces the time even further than the Short-Scan Chain approach to almost data sheet programming time. That is the best you can do!
The ScanWorks FFP development environment and its IP library works with your specific FPGA design tools automatically to generate the Verilog needed and then have that converted to SVF to program the FPGA. Then like ScanWorks boundary scan, a low-cost FFP manufacturing runtime version can be deployed in production to achieve the dramatic speed improvement, thus reducing your beat rate.
Optimization with software-driven instruments
FFP is another non-intrusive board test (NBT) technology for the ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments. ScanWorks FFP is unique from the other NBT technologies since it is both the software to control the embedded instrument, but also includes the embedded instrument IP. FFP and the platform’s other NBT technologies combined give you high test coverage and device programming options to optimize your overall production test program.
Because of the skyrocketing gate densities in today’s FPGAs, they can serve as the perfect launching pad for a non-intrusive software-driven board tester. ScanWorks FFP can help you program and debug your circuit boards during any phase of their lifecycle. Designers can do early stage programming of the prototype hardware before final firmware or operating system software are ready. Look into ScanWorks FFP, you’ll be pleased with what you see.
ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming Manufacturing Software
The ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming (FFP) Manufacturing Software will enhance your production line with greater efficiency by reducing programming and test time.
Features:
- Re-use ScanWorks FFP programming instruments that were employed during the design and prototype board bring-up phase
- Dramatically reduce the production test beat rate
- Easily remove the ScanWorks FFP IP so that the FPGA’s functional firmware can be loaded as the next step in the production process
- Just like ScanWorks Boundary-Scan manufacturing software, seamlessly integrate ScanWorks FFP into functional testers, third-party test executives like NI LabVIEW and TestStand, or you own custom test application
ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming Highlights
Altera (Intel) Devices Supported
- Arria GX
- Arria V
- Arria 10
- Cyclone III
- Cyclone IV
- Cyclone V
- Max 10
Microchip Devices Supported
- IGLOO2
- IGLOO
- PolarFire
- PolarFire-SoC
- ProASIC3
- RTG4
- SmartFusion
- SmartFusion2
Support for additional FPGA’s considered at the customer’s request
AMD Devices Supported
- Artix 7
- Kintex
- Kintex 7
- Kintex UltraScale
- Kintex UltraScale+
- Spartan 6
- Spartan 7
- Virtex 5
- Virtex 6
- Virtex 7
- Virtex UltraScale
- Virtex UltraScale+
ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming Development Software
The ScanWorks FPGA-based Fast Programming (FFP) Development Software is an automated and extremely flexible methodology for embedding IP into an FPGA in your design. You’ll simply select and configure the instruments needed from the included library and ScanWorks automatically connects them into a cohesive on-chip test architecture. Next, it facilitates the synthesis of this design into firmware for the FPGA and creates the software image for programming the FPGA. Once inserted, ScanWorks serves as a drag-and-drop user interface for operating any and all instruments in the FPGA.
AMD Devices Supported
- Artix 7
- Kintex
- Kintex 7
- Kintex UltraScale
- Kintex UltraScale+
- Spartan 6
- Spartan 7
- Virtex 5
- Virtex 6
- Virtex 7
- Virtex UltraScale
- Virtex UltraScale+
Related Products
The ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments is supported by a wide variety of hardware controllers and accessories with which engineers can connect ScanWorks to their unit under test (UUT). Hardware is available for development, production and repair environments. The test platform required for ScanWorks is either a standard PC or a system with a built-in (embedded) JTAG controller.
