P&E engineer Edison Tam demonstrates how to program Freescale's QE128 with P&E's Cyclone PRO stand-alone automated programmer, and gives an overview of the development and production capabilities of the Cyclone PRO. To learn more, please visit the Cyclone PRO product page:

Watertown, MA - P&E Microcomputer Systems has expanded its line of UNIT Library Interface Routines by adding a new version that supports Freescale's RS08 microcontroller family. P&E's UNIT Libraries allow the user to create custom Windows applications that can fully control an RS08 processor using either P&E's Cyclone PRO (Rev. C) or USB-ML-12 (Rev. C)  interfaces. It also supports P&E's DEMO9RS08LA8, DEMO9RS08LE4, and DEMO9RS08KB12 development boards, available through Freescale.

The UNIT libraries are frequently used to build custom production line testers. The libraries allow applications to peek and poke memory, peripherals, and other resources of the processor by using P&E interfaces to access the debug port. With these abilities, the application can perform tests of the target hardware, calculate target calibration data, or simply control the target using debug mode. 

More information about P&E's UNIT Interface Library Routines for the RS08 can be found at P&E's website.

Did you ever wonder how to power cycle your device to force it into Background Debug Mode? Are you trying to eliminate an external power supply from your manufacturing setup? You can accomplish either task by using a Cyclone PRO. Using the Cyclone PRO's internal power generation mechanism, you can control power for any HC08/HCS08/RS08/HC(S)12 device. Click through to read more...

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Certain test procedures and production environments require the use of a cable longer than the typical 9-inch flat ribbon cable typically included with P&E hardware interfaces. Extending the cable length requires special considerations for signal integrity, crosstalk, and electromagnetic interference. Simply using a longer cable without understanding these topics will usually produce a setup that does not work reliably, if at all.

If it is necessary to use a longer cable, P&E recommends using a shielded jacketed cable . This cable configuration is excellent at reducing crosstalk as well as minimizing electromagnetic interference from other devices. Further improvement can be obtained if the wires are also arranged in twisted pairs. Shielded USB cables are inexpensive and easy to rework. The four wires provided can be used to create a cable for the standard 6-pin BDM header used by many Freescale microprocessors.

In general, these guidelines should be followed for all cables between the target microprocessor and the P&E hardware interface:

1. Use the shortest cable possible

    

2. Use shielded cable configurations to reduce parasitic effects

    

3. Lower the communication frequency.

For certain architectures, this can be configured in software by the user. For other architectures, the communication speed is only dependent on the processor's bus frequency. Reducing the bus frequency (ie. disabling the PLL) should improve results.

Did you know that P&E provides simulation for nearly the whole array of Freescale 8-bit microcontrollers (RS08/HCS08/HC08)? Simulation is  inexpensive and fast, and allows for a highly detailed look at the functionality of the simulated device. P&E Simulations include trace capabilities and are cycle-accurate (cycle accuracy allows for a low level, cycle-by-cycle analysis of the timing and general functionality of your code). Furthermore, simulation allows the seamless loading of code to the entire memory array of the processor, without the cumbersome flash burning that accompanies hardware development -- and byte by byte modification of the memory is allowed at any time.

     In addition to initial development, simulation can serve as a highly effective means of product evaluation. Evaluation of various devices via simulators can be relatively painless and inexpensive when compared to evaluating those same devices using actual hardware. In addition, our simulations are often published before the silicon is widely available, so simulation is also an excellent tool to help you stay on the cutting edge.

     Currently, P&E Simulations are available within the Codewarrior toolsuite. However, P&E will soon be releasing the Simulation Toolkit, which will include all simulations in one convenient package. Stay tuned to the P&E Newsflash for more updates on the release of this product.