Pin Conduction Detection System For Connector Slot Of Circuit Board, And Method Thereof

A pin conduction detection system for connector slot of circuit board, and a method thereof are disclosed. A connector slot detection circuit board is plugged on a connector slot of a to-be-detected circuit board, and the connector slot detection circuit boards including different types of connector slots are concatenated with each other. A TAP controller can set a JTAG chip of the connector slot detection circuit board to be in a boundary scan mode, and the JTAG chip can read at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector via one of a ADC, a microprocessor, and a switch, so that the TAP controller can perform an conduction detection on the pin of the connector slot corresponding to the detection signal. As a result, test efficiency and coverage rate of testing the connector slot of the circuit board can be improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201711292332.1, filed Dec. 8, 2017.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a detection system and a method thereof, more particularly to a system capable of detecting conduction of different types of connector slots concatenated with each other, and a method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

The conventional manner of detecting conduction of a slot on a circuit board is to plug a specific test circuit board on a to-be-detected connector slot corresponding thereto, for example, a DIMM test circuit board is plugged on a DIMM slot, a PCI-E test circuit board is plugged on a PCI-E slot, and so on. The test circuit board detects conduction of the slot on the circuit board through a boundary scan technology.

However, the test circuit boards corresponding to different connector slots are different in design, that is, these test circuit boards may perform different detection methods in the detection process through boundary scan; for this reason, in general, the same type of connector slots are concatenated with each other to perform boundary scan for test. However, since a test access port (TAP) controller can provide a limited number of test ports, when the connector slot detection circuit boards including different types of connector slots test the to-be-detected connector slots corresponding thereto, the test ports provided by the TAP controller may be insufficient for above-mentioned test, and it affects test efficiency and the test coverage.

Therefore, what is needed is to develop an improved technical solution to solve the conventional problem that insufficient test efficiency and coverage for connector slot test on the circuit board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problem that insufficient test efficiency and coverage for connector slot test on the circuit board in a conventional manner, the present invention provides a pin conduction detection system for connector slot of circuit board, and a method thereof.

According to an embodiment, the present invention provides a pin conduction detection system for connector slot of circuit board, and the system comprises a to-be-detected circuit board including at least one connector slot, two connector slot detection circuit boards, and a test access port (TAP) controller.

Each of the two connector slot detection circuit boards comprises a connector slot connector, an input joint test action group (JTAG) connector, an output JTAG connector, a JTAG chip, and one of a microprocessor (MCU), at least one analog to digital converter (ADC) and a switch. The at least one ADC or the microprocessor is electrically connected to the connector slot connector and the JTAG chip. The switch is electrically connected to the connector slot connector, the JTAG chip, and the input JTAG connector. The JTAG chip is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector and the output JTAG connector.

The TAP controller is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector of one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards. The one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards is plugged on the at least one connector slot of the to-be-detected circuit board via its connector slot connector.

The output JTAG connector of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector of the other of the two connector slot detection circuit boards. The output JTAG connector of the other of the two connector slot detection circuit boards is used for series connection. The TAP controller is configured to set the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards to be in a boundary scan mode, and transmit a control signal to the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, and the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards reads at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector via the one of the microprocessor, the at least one ADC and the switch. According to the at least one detection signal provided by the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, the TAP controller performs a conduction detection on at least one pin of the connector slot corresponding to the at least one detection signal.

According to an embodiment, the present invention provides a pin conduction detection method for connector slot of circuit board, and the pin conduction detection method comprises following steps.

First, a to-be-detected circuit board comprising at least one connector slot is provided. Next, two connector slot detection circuit board are provided, wherein each connector slot detection circuit board comprises a connector slot connector, an input JTAG connector, an output JTAG connector, a JTAG chip, and one of a microprocessor, at least one ADC and a switch, and the at least one ADC or the microprocessor is electrically connected to the connector slot connector and the JTAG chip, and the switch is electrically connected to the connector slot connector, the JTAG chip and the input JTAG connector, and the JTAG chip is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector and the output JTAG connector. Next, the TAP controller is provided, and the TAP controller is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector of one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards. The output JTAG connector of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector of the other of the two connector slot detection circuit boards. The one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards is plugged on the at least one connector slot of the to-be-detected circuit board via its connector slot connector. The TAP controller is configured to set the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards to be in a boundary scan mode, and transmit a control signal to the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, and the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards reads at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector via the one of the microprocessor, the at least one ADC and the switch. According to the at least one detection signal provided by the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, the TAP controller performs a conduction detection on at least one pin of the connector slot corresponding to the at least one detection signal.

According to above-mentioned content, the difference between the technology of the present invention and conventional technology is that, in the system and method of the present invention, the connector slot detection circuit board is plugged on the connector slot of the to-be-detected circuit board, and the connector slot detection circuit boards including different types of connector slots are concatenated with each other, and the TAP controller can set the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards to be in the boundary scan mode, the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards can read at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector via the one of the ADC, the microprocessor and the switch; and, according to the at least one detection signal provided by the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, the TAP controller can perform a conduction detection on the at least one pin of the connector slot corresponding to the at least one detection signal.

By using aforementioned technical means, the system and method of the present invention can achieve improvement in test efficiency and coverage rate for the connector slot of the circuit board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A more complete appreciation of the present invention, and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments below are used to illustrate operations of the system and the method of the present invention. Please refer toFIGS. 1, 2, and 3A to 3C.FIG. 1is a block diagram of a pin conduction detection system for connector slot of circuit board, according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2is a flow chart of a pin conduction detection method for connector slot of circuit board, according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 3A to 3Care block diagrams of connector slot detection circuit boards for detecting conduction of at least one pin of a connector slot of a circuit board, according to embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention provides a pin conduction detection system for connector slot of circuit board, and a method thereof. The method comprises steps101to105. In the step101, the system is provided with a to-be-detected circuit board10having at least one connector slot11, two connector slot detection circuit boards20, and a TAP controller30. In some embodiments, the at least one connector slot11can comprise at least one dual in-line memory module (DIMM) slot, peripheral component interconnect express (PCI-E) slot or universal serial bus (USB) slot, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present disclosure is not limited to these examples.

In an embodiment, as shown inFIG. 3A, the connector slot connector21of the connector slot detection circuit board20is the DIMM connector, and the connector slot detection circuit board20is provided with a connector slot connector21, an input joint test action group (JTAG) connector22, an output JTAG connector23, a JTAG chip24and a microprocessor25.

According to this embodiment, in the step102, the connector slot detection circuit board20is plugged on the connector slot11of the to-be-detected circuit board10by the connector slot connector21, and the microprocessor25is electrically connected to the connector slot connector21and the JTAG chip24, and the JTAG chip24is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector22and the output JTAG connector23.

In another embodiment, as shown inFIG. 3B, the connector slot connector21of the connector slot detection circuit board20is the PCI-E connector, and the connector slot detection circuit board20is provided with the connector slot connector21, the input JTAG connector22, the output JTAG connector23, the JTAG chip24and at least one analog to digital converter (ADC)26.

According to this embodiment, in the step102, the connector slot detection circuit board20is plugged on the connector slot11of the to-be-detected circuit board10by the connector slot connector21, and the at least one ADC26is electrically connected to the connector slot connector21and the JTAG chip24, and the JTAG chip24is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector22and the output JTAG connector23.

In another embodiment, as shown inFIG. 3C, the connector slot connector21of the connector slot detection circuit board20is the USB connector, and the connector slot detection circuit board20is provided with the connector slot connector21, the input JTAG connector22, the output JTAG connector23, the JTAG chip24and the switch27.

According to this embodiment, in the step102, the connector slot detection circuit board20is plugged on the connector slot11of the to-be-detected circuit board10by the connector slot connector21, and the switch27is electrically connected to the connector slot connector21, the JTAG chip24and the input JTAG connector22, and the JTAG chip24is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector22and output JTAG connector23.

Next, in the step103, the TAP controller30is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector22of one of the two connector slot detection circuit board20. In the step104, the output JTAG connector23of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20is electrically connected to the input JTAG connector22of the other of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20.

In the step105, the TAP controller30sets the JTAG chip24of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20to be in a boundary scan mode, and when the connector slot connector21of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20testing the to-be-detected circuit board10is the PCI-E connector, the JTAG chip24of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20is further set in an EXTEST mode, and the JTAG chip24of the other of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20which does not test the to-be-detected circuit board10is set in a BYPASS mode.

After the aforementioned setting step, in the step105, the TAP controller30transmits a control signal to the JTAG chip24the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20, and the JTAG chip24of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20reads at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector21via the one of the microprocessor25, the switch27and the at least one ADC26. For example, the at least one detection pin can be a power pin, a ground pin, an I/O pin, a differential I/O pin, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The JTAG chip24of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20can transmit the at least one detection signal to the TAP controller30. According to the at least one detection signal provided by the JTAG chip24of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards20, the TAP controller30can perform a conduction detection on at least one pin of the at least one connector slot11corresponding to the at least one detection signal.

During the process of searching a motherboard schematic diagram to determine a target pin to be tested, all interfaces on entire scan chain are processed uniformly; and during the process of collecting parameters and testing, all interfaces on the scan chain are classified upon interface types. During the test process, the jigs in the scan chain and not joined in the test process are applied by a boundary scan BYPASS command, so as to ensure that all test jigs plugged on one scan chain can be tested with a high coverage, thereby saving test time and achieving the test efficiency the same as the test efficiency of testing with multiple chains which is the one scan chain is split into.

To summary, the difference between the technology of the present invention and conventional technology is that, in the system and method of the present invention, the connector slot detection circuit board is plugged on the connector slot of the to-be-detected circuit board, and the connector slot detection circuit boards including different types of connector slots are concatenated with each other, and the TAP controller sets the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards to be in the boundary scan mode, and the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards can read at least one detection signal corresponding to at least one detection pin of the connector slot connector via the one of the ADC, the microprocessor and the switch; and, according to the at least one detection signal provided by the JTAG chip of the one of the two connector slot detection circuit boards, the TAP controller can perform a conduction detection on the at least one pin of the connector slot corresponding to the at least one detection signal.

Above-mentioned technical means can be used to solve the problem that insufficient test efficiency and coverage for connector slot test on the circuit board in a conventional manner, so as to achieve improvement in test efficiency and coverage rate for testing the connector slot of the circuit board.