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P&E has been providing
non-volatile memory programming solutions since
producing
the industry's first
general purpose EPROM programmer in 1981.
1) Overview
2) Programming Flash During Product Development
3) Programming Flash During Production/Manufacturing/Development
1. Overview
P&E offers flash programming solutions that are designed to program target
memory in-circuit. This includes both internal
memory on a Freescale processor and external flash connected to the
processor's address/data bus. These solutions give the user the option of mounting the processor or memory
device on the final
printed circuit board before programming it.
The
programming itself is
accomplished via a simple header on the board that is connected to
certain
pins on the processor. P&E's programming hardware connects
to this header to allow program, test, and debug of the target
microcontroller and any memory which is attached to it. The example below shows a PC-controlled Cyclone PRO (stand-alone programmer)
that is connected to a device under test:
P&E's robust and inexpensive programming solutions
are tailored to the main stages of product creation: 1) development and 2) production/manufacturing.
Our tools for flash programming during the product development stage are
designed to be:
- Easy to use
- Robust
- Inexpensive
Our production and manufacturing flash programming tools are:
- Fully automatable and controllable from other software
- Contain a superset of the product development stage tools
- Capable of high download speeds
- Electrically resilient to static
- Cost-effective
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2. Programming Flash\Eeprom
During Product Development
During product development, engineers will often
program the same target processor many times with different
versions of code. The engineer may want to interactively
access the memory, protect it, unprotect it, erase it, view it, modify
the contents, etc. However, it may also be useful to program the target
automatically with a single click of the mouse or keyboard.
Both methods are supported by P&E's development tools.
Two P&E products are used to program the target: flash programming
software (PROG), and a hardware interface connecting the PC to the target
processor. P&E sells each of these items separately.
Hardware
Interface
P&E offers several different target interfaces according to the
user's requirements. The interfaces fall into three general categories
(see the product matrix for
specific part numbers):
- Cyclone PRO/MAX Stand Alone programmers (supporting serial port,
USB, and Ethernet)
- Parallel Port Interface Cable
- USB Multilink Cable
Flash
Programming Software (PROGxxZ)
The Flash programming software allows the user to erase,
program, and verify either internal processor flash or external flash
connected on the processor's address/data bus. The flash programmer
comes with a host of programming algorithms for different memory
configurations. The current list of supported flash memories can be
seen on our Flash Programming
Algorithms download page. New configurations are put up regularly
on P&E's website for download by our customers. P&E also allows users to request custom algorithms for memory
configurations which we don't already support. P&E creates these
algorithms at no cost to the customer.
The PROGxxZ flash programming software package includes two
programming applications. The first is an interactive programmer, which features a variety of commands that can be used to query and modify the memory that is resident in the target. Many device-specific features are
supported in addition to the standard programming commands (e.g., block lock/unlock). An s-record object file can be
selected and programmed into the memory of the target. An example
PROGxxZ display is shown below:
The second programmer application in the PROGxxZ software package is a command-line flash programmer. It is
similar in capability to the PROG flash programmer, but instead of
taking commands from the user it takes them from a pre-written script
file. In this way, once the user
writes a script to define how programming should proceed, from then on only a single click is needed to
launch what can be a multi-step programming procedure. An example
script file is shown here:
RE
;Reset the MCU
CM C:\PEMICRO\9B32_32K.12P
8000 ;Enable 68HC912B32 Flash at address 8000
EM
;Erase the module
BM
;Blank Check the module
SS
C:\PEMICRO\TEST.S19
;Specify the S19 to use
PM
;Program the module with the S19
VM
;Verify the module again
A different version of PROGxxZ is required for each processor architecture
(68HC08, 68HC12, ColdFire, etc.). Please view the product matrix
for specific part numbers, and the product listings for more detailed
information. The license for PROGxxZ is a single user license and as
such multiple developers/workstations need to purchase additional
licenses.
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3. Programming Flash\Eeprom
During Production/Manufacturing/Development
P&E's tools for production programming also allow for high
speed programming of target flash. They feature the same reliability
and cost effective nature as the development tools, however they are
also specifically designed to be resilient in the production environment. In addition, these tools can be
integrated into or called from other test and development applications. We feel that the
Cyclone PRO/MAX stand-alone programmers are tools that no test, development, or production engineer should be
without. You may click below to view flash demonstrations of the capabilities of the Cyclone PRO or Cyclone MAX:
The Cyclone PRO is a
production programming solution for the HC08, HCS08, HC12, and HCS12
architectures. The Cyclone MAX is P&E's recommended production
programming tool for the ColdFire, PowerPC 5xx/8xx/55xx, and
ARM architectures. The Cyclone PRO and Cyclone MAX support Serial, USB, and Ethernet 10/100 connections from a
host PC.
Cyclone
PRO/MAX - Stand-Alone Configuration
The Cyclone PRO/MAX stand-alone programmers are designed to be
loaded with an image which will later be programmed into the
target microcontroller. This means that large volumes of data do not have to
be transferred from the PC. Instead, they only need to take one step
from the Cyclone PRO/MAX to the target. The
programming image contains the data to be
programmed, the device-specific programming algorithm, and the steps to be taken
during
programming and verification. The Cyclone
PRO/MAX stores the programming image in its internal flash so that it will be retained even
without power. The programming process may be initiated from a host
computer, or manually by an operator (with no computer required). New programming images may be downloaded into the Cyclone PRO/MAX either
manually or automatically via P&E command line utilities. A
detailed flash demonstration of the Cyclone PRO/MAX
capability may be viewed here:
Stand-Alone
Programming Mode - PC Controlled
In this mode, an image has already been programmed into
the Cyclone
PRO or MAX. The PC launches the programming process with a simple command
packet. As
part of the command packet, dynamic
data such as a serial number may be provided to be added to the fixed image being programmed into the target. Flash programming occurs directly from the Cyclone PRO/MAX to the target. The result of the programming process is sent back to the host computer.
P&E provides the following mechanisms to automatically launch the programming process and query the result:
- A command line executable
with settable script file (Serial, USB, Ethernet)
- A dynamically linked library
(DLL) for use with any PC application (Serial, USB, Ethernet)
- A published serial protocol
for directly controlling the Cyclone PRO/MAX (serial)
These mechanisms enable multiple Cyclone PRO/MAX units to be controlled from a PC at the same time:
Stand-Alone
Programming Mode - Human Controlled
When
not connected to a PC, the Cyclone PRO/MAX will still operate as a stand-alone
programmer. The latest revision of the Cyclone PRO features an LCD menu for configuration and stand-alone operation. The buttons may be used to navigate the menu, giving you full control over the Cyclone PRO. On the Cyclone MAX and older revisions of Cyclone PRO, the buttons may be used to perform programming operations. The
LEDs display the status of the programming operation. This is ideal for
short
programming runs or field updates where having a PC is not practical.
Interactive
Hardware Interface Mode
In this mode, P&E (and third-party) software on the PC uses the
Cyclone PRO/MAX as a hardware interface to communicate with and control
the target microcontroller. This mode is primarily used to
allow
programming and debug of a microcontroller during the development
stage. The user can assemble or compile code, download and debug it using
the
Cyclone PRO/MAX, and then return to editing the code. The Cyclone PRO includes interactive debug and
development software for the HC08 architecture. P&E also and sells a variety of similar software for other
PRO-supported architectures. The Cyclone MAX includes flash programming software and
configuration utilities for the architectures that it supports.
The PC-hosted flash programming software allows the user to erase,
program, and verify both internal processor flash and external flash
connected on the processor's address/data bus. The flash programmer
comes with host of programming algorithms for different memory
configurations. The current list of supported flash memories can be
seen on our Flash
Programming
Algorithms page. New configurations are added to this page regularly
for P&E's customers to download. P&E also allows users to request custom algorithms for memory
configurations that we don't already support. P&E builds these
algorithms at no cost to the customer.
The PROGxxZ flash programming software package comes with two
programming applications. The first is an interactive programmer, which features a
variety of commands that can be used to query and modify the
memory that is resident in the target. Many device-specific features are
supported in addition to the standard programming commands (e.g., block lock/unlock). An s-record object file can be
selected and programmed into the memory of the target. An example
PROGxxZ display is shown here:
The second programmer application in the PROGxxZ software package, the command line flash programmer. This application is
similar in capability to the PROG flash programmer but instead of
taking commands from the user it takes them from a pre-written script
file. In this way the user can define how programming should proceed by
writing a script, and from then on only a single click is needed to
launch what may be a multi-step programming procedure. An example
script file is shown here:
RE
;Reset the MCU
CM C:\PEMICRO\9B32_32K.12P
8000 ;Enable 68HC912B32 Flash at address 8000
EM
;Erase the module
BM
;Blank Check the module
SS
C:\PEMICRO\TEST.S19
;Specify the S19 to use
PM
;Program the module with the S19
VM
;Verify the module again
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