A Comprehensive Testing Technique for Embedded System PCBA

Objective: An electronic system developed for specific application with the integration of hardware and software is known as Embedded System. Due to complexity of hardware and software in a single system, it requires specific technique for testing before deployment of the device. This paper proposes the comparative study of testing techniques of embedded system. Methods/Analysis: In this paper, a test methodology of embedded system using PCBA has been proposed, that covers all the testing aspects of the embedded system from electrical board level hardware to the embedded system software. Three tests namely power rail test, interconnect test and the infrastructure tests are used for hardware functionality for stuck at and bridging faults. The functionality test has been used for programming validation using port interface. Findings: This paper proposed automatic testing of embedded board, which reduces manual errors, increases test coverage and reduces the test time in the production line. The proposed method showed that it can be applied to any board in any form with the same test hardware barring the input-output cables. The software in host machine has been used for testing purpose of different boards. This testing technique is useful for embedded systems implemented in control systems. Keywords: Boundary Scan, Embedded System PCBA, JTAG, System Testing