JTAG Technologies UK celebrates its 20th year of supplying test and programming tools throughout the British Isles this month

Originally founded in 1995 JTAG Technologies is a spin-off from Dutch electronics giant Philips, focussing on PCB assembly validation, production testing and in-system device programming – based on boundary-scan (IEEE 1149.x). Working as a satellite of its design and development headquarters in Eindhoven, JTAG UK has successfully supplied hundreds of businesses in the UK & Ireland with high-performance testing and programming solutions from its offices in Bedford.

James Stanbridge, regional manager throughout this time comments ‘ We have achieved a great deal over the years, initially through education and by introducing the technology and then subsequently building some credibility in a market that was at the time dominated by ‘big iron’ ATE systems. More recently we have strengthened our toolset and built-up customer and industry confidence in this technology that has lead to some great working relationships.

20 years of product development

When we started back in the early 90s you could only buy a basic Auto Test Generator for board interconnections, an execution GUI and some test diagnostics – that was it! Fast-forward 20 years and the product range is far more impressive. Today JTAG offers a broad range of options for in-system programming of CPLDs, FPGAs and Micros with embedded memory and, in addition to harnessing boundary-scan for structural and functional testing, it is possible to utilise the [CPU] cores to action tests on peripheral circuits, memories etc. – even those without a JTAG interface.

For test diagnostics and DFT purposes JTAG has developed its own in-house graphical viewing tools for both CAD schematics and board layouts. Meanwhile on the hardware side we have developed high-speed configurable boundary-scan controllers with add-on modules for supporting analogue testing, multi-channel parallel IO and alternative bus interfaces. Ironically JTAG now supplies several 3rd party ATE companies with customised hardware and software solutions for boundary-scan.’

Why not call us for friendly advice or a quotation on products or test services. 

Tel 01234 831212, E-mail sales@jtag.co.uk, www.jtag.com