XJTAG DFT Assistant vs. DipTrace

The pace at which your product enters production is contingent upon the testability of your design. Unfortunately, physical testing cannot always detect prevalent errors that may result in expensive delays. With XJTAG®, the DFT Assistant seamlessly integrates into your Altium Designer environment, conducting Design For Test (DFT) evaluations directly on your schematic. This tool allows you to verify that the scan chains are properly linked to every JTAG-enabled component in your design, ensuring accurate and correct connections and terminations of each signal. Before you complete your layout, XJTAG® DFT Assistant thoroughly examines your JTAG-enabled devices, providing a crucial checkpoint. Additionally, XJTAG® Chain Checker identifies typical pitfalls and notifies you promptly, helping to prevent issues that could complicate JTAG testing later on. By implementing these tools, you can significantly enhance the reliability of your design and streamline the manufacturing process.

DipTrace is professional electronic design automation software for schematic capture and printed circuit board layout, developed by Novarm Ltd and in continuous development since 2004. More than 30,000 engineers in over 50 countries use it, including teams at companies working in aerospace, defense, medical device, automotive, and industrial electronics. For organizations evaluating EDA tools, the licensing model is the main structural difference from most alternatives. DipTrace is sold under a perpetual license: purchased once, owned permanently, with no subscription, no annual maintenance fee, and no loss of access when a term expires. Five editions range from $75 to $995 per seat depending on pin count and layer requirements, and volume, network, academic, and non-profit pricing is available. Technical support is included for every user at no extra cost, including those on the free edition. The software runs entirely offline on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with no cloud dependency and no design data leaving the workstation — a requirement for many defense and medical customers. Functionally, DipTrace covers the complete design flow in a single environment: hierarchical schematic capture with electrical rule check and SPICE simulation, board layout with interactive push-and-shove editing, shape-based autorouting, differential pair and length-matched high-speed routing, real-time design rule checking, 3D preview with STEP export, and manufacturing output in Gerber X2, ODB++, IPC-2581, and NC Drill. Version 5.3 introduced a native XML project format that works identically to the binary format, allowing designs to be managed in version control systems alongside firmware and mechanical files. Component sourcing integrates Mouser pricing data and SnapEDA libraries. Migration paths exist from Altium, KiCad, Eagle, OrCAD, EasyEDA Pro, Pulsonix, and PADS.