Case Study: Large Computer Motherboards Manufacturing Company achieves extended ICT access, higher test coverage and fewer probes with Keysight Cover-Extend technology

Overcoming Limited Access with Cover-Extend Technology at In-Circuit Test

Large Computer Motherboards Manufacturing Company faced shrinking test access on modern motherboards as higher‑pin CPU sockets and BGA devices and tighter PCB layouts made traditional in‑circuit probing impractical. They worked with Keysight using the Medalist VTEP v2.0 Powered vectorless test suite (including Cover‑Extend technology) and the Keysight Medalist i3070 ICT system to address lost probe access and rising test cost while maintaining coverage.

Keysight implemented its Cover‑Extend approach—a hybrid of VTEP and Boundary Scan that drives stimulus via Boundary Scan devices and senses it with VTEP sensors—to dramatically reduce probe counts and extend test coverage. In field studies Keysight showed Cover‑Extend cut probes from 17/12 down to 4 in a sample circuit, covered 370 of 818 connector pins (≈45%) on a notebook board, and could reduce server ICT probes from ~4,403 to ~1,403 with an estimated fixture cost drop from $18,209 to $9,209 (~50%), while also lowering solder‑ball crack risk.