This article describes the testability, debuggability, and manufacturability features of the UltraSPARC family of microprocessors. Due to the aggressive nature of this high-performance design, these three areas needed to be addressed at the beginning of the project to ensure success.

We present the goals and analysis that led to our decisions as well as the actual features that were implemented. The features described here have helped enormously in achieving the time-to-volume goals and hence the overall success of the product.