A method for providing an IC design having a core functionality, an IO (input/output) ring surrounding the core functionality and a boundary scan architecture for providing access to the core functionality or the IO ring during a predefined mode of the integrated circuit, and a design tool implementing this method are disclosed. The method comprises a step (110) of providing a first netlist of the core functionality and the IO ring followed by a step (120, 130) of specifying a boundary scan design for inclusion in the first netlist. Next, a second netlist from the first netlist and the boundary scan design specification is synthesized (150), from which the instances of boundary scan design are isolated (420). In a separate step (410), a third netlist of the core functionality without the IO ring is provided, which is combined with the isolated boundary scan elements into a fourth netlist in a subsequent step (460). In a final step (470), a description of the IO ring is added to the fourth netlist. The integration of the boundary scan elements into the core netlist facilitates replacement of the IO ring in the IC design without the need to regenerate the boundary scan design.
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