JTAG ?
JTAG boundary scan started as a method of testing ICs and their interconnections using a shift register built into the chip so that inputs could be shifted in and the resulting outputs could be shifted out using only four I/O pins (clock, input data, output data, and state machine mode control). This eliminated the need for complex, expensive, bed-of-nails cards for low-speed probing of IC I/O pins.
Eventually, the uses of JTAG expanded to include things like debugging software for embedded microcontrollers, thus reducing the need for in-circuit emulators. And JTAG is a natural match for downloading configuration bitstreams to FPGAs.
**broken link removed**