Introduction
PEmicro's Cyclone production programmers are powerful, fast, and feature-rich in-circuit programming solutions. PEmicro offers two models which have the same feature set and differ only in the devices they support.
Figure: Cyclone LC Programmer
This user manual is for the Cyclone LC line of Cyclone programmers, which features the part numbers below:
Part# CYCLONE-LC-ARM supports a wide variety of ARM Cortex devices. A complete listing is available at pemicro.com/partners.
Part# CYCLONE-LC-UNIV supports those ARM Cortex devices (a few families are included in the listing below) as well as several additional NXP device families:
| MCX | MPC55xx-57xx | S08 | i.MX |
| MPC5xx/8xx | ARM Nexus | MAC7xxx | Kinetis |
| DSC | HC08 | LPC | S12Z |
| HC(S)12(X) | S32 | RS08 | ColdFire |
It also supports Infineon’s TriCoreTM (DAP only - AUDOTM TC1xx and AURIXTM TC2xx/TC3xx) and STMicroelectronics’ SPC5 & STM8 (with STM8 adapter).
Cyclone programmers are designed to withstand the demands of a production environment. They can be operated manually using the touchscreen menu and Start button, or their functions can be automated using tools from the included Cyclone Control Suite.
Supported Devices
An up-to-date list of devices supported by PEmicro’s Cyclone programmers, including vendors/families, is available at PEmicro’s website on the Cyclone product page, under the tab “Choosing a Cyclone Model”: pemicro.com/cyclone.
For ARM devices specifically: if PEmicro supports an ARM Cortex-M device then it is supported by all models of Cyclone. A list of ARM device manufacturers where users can locate their specific supported device part number is available at: https://www.pemicro.com/partners/index.cfm
Programming Images
The Cyclone works with user-generated programming images, which are self-contained files that contain everything needed to perform programming. For more details, refer to Creating and Deploying Programming Images. These image files can be stored on disk or loaded onto a Cyclone for programming operations. They are managed via the Cyclone and its accompanying software.
Cloud-Connected Images
Additionally, users can choose to connect their image to PEcloud to leverage the capabilities of that platform. These are referred to as cloud-connected images. When using a cloud-connected image, the Cyclone checks with PEcloud before every programming operation to manage any limitations that the user has configured, and PEcloud logs programming operations. Cloud-connected images can be paused, deleted, updated, and their programming logs can be inspected via the user’s PEcloud account.
Cloud-Connected images can be loaded locally into a Cyclone the same way as non-connected images or they can be delivered automatically via PEcloud. In either case, they are tracked by PEcloud.
A cloud-connected image is always tied cryptographically to the user’s specific Cyclones via their private ImageKeys. Cloud-connected images (including those uploaded to PEcloud) will only function on those Cyclones. For added control, at any time the user can delete or disable any cloud-connected image.
Provisioning Cyclones to be authorized for PEcloud is fast and simple. There is currently no cost to use PEcloud.
Note
When working with cloud-connected images, Cyclone LC programmers are temporarily provided with ProCryption Security features (part# LIC-CYC-PROCRYPTION), due to PEcloud’s stringent security requirements.
To learn more about how to work with cloud-connected images, please refer to Cloud-Connected Programming Images.
Cyclone Feature Comparison Table
Each type of Cyclone offers a different feature set. Whether or not a specific section of the user manual applies to the user's Cyclone will depend on whether their Cyclone supports the corresponding feature. Below is a table which displays the features at-a-glance by Cyclone type.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Feature | Cyclone LC | Cyclone FX |
| SDHC Expansion Port | no | yes |
| Wi-Fi Communications | no | yes |
| Target Current and Voltage Measurement | no | yes |
| Programming Control Port | yes | yes |
| USB Expansion Port (Launch w/ Barcode Scanner) | no | yes |
| Expanded Internal Memory | no | yes |
| Remote Monitoring and Control | yes | yes |
| SDK and Automation Support | yes | yes |
| Extensive Device Programming Support | yes | yes |
| Hashed, Verifiable, Secure Programming Images | yes | yes |
| Dynamic Data and Serialization | yes | yes |
| Supports Security, Fuses, OTP, Option Bytes, Life-Cycle States, HSM | yes | yes |
| Flash Programming Performance | fast | extremely fast |
| Expanded Architecture support | yes | yes |
| Advanced Power Management | no | yes |
| Advanced Testing Features | no | yes |
| ProCryption Image Encryption | with ProCryption license | yes |
| Can Restrict Programming Counts and Date Ranges | with ProCryption license | yes |