Cyclone Programmer Manual Control
For Cyclone LC, Cyclone FX
The Cyclone must be configured before it can serve as a Stand-Alone Programmer. The user may manually control the Cyclone via the LCD touchscreen menu and/or the Start button, or via PC software. See Cyclone Programmer Automated Control for information on how to use the Cyclone Control Suite to configure, control, and automate Cyclone operations. The target power management schemes remain the same for each control method.
Operation Via Start Button
There is a Start button on the top of the Cyclone which is used for stand-alone programming. Its function is as follows.
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Button | Function |
| START | Starts executing the tasks pre-configured into the Cyclone for the currently selected programming image. |
LED Indicators
The Cyclone has two (2) LEDs to indicate the current operation stage.
| LED | Function |
|---|---|
| LED | Function |
| Error | The Cyclone failed to execute the functions as instructed. |
| Success | The Cyclone executed the functions successfully. |
Procedure via Start Button / LEDs
The following steps must be followed in order for the Cyclone to operate properly after it has been configured:
- Turn off the target power supply if the "POWER IN" Jack is adopted.
- Turn off the Cyclone system power.
- Set the correct Power Management jumper settings.
- Connect the target power supply to the "POWER IN" Jack, if applicable.
- Connect the "POWER OUT" Jack to the target board power, if applicable.
- Connect the ribbon cable to the target board debug connector.
- Turn on the Cyclone system power.
- Turn on the target power supply, if applicable.
- Press the "START" button on the Cyclone.
When the "Success" LED lights up, you have successfully programmed your target.
Example
After the user programs the contents and procedures into the Cyclone's on-board flash, the Cyclone may be used as a Stand-Alone Programmer. Suppose the user wants to perform the following instructions for a target device:
- Erase Module
- Program Module
- Verify Module
If the Cyclone is providing power to the target board, the "Target Power" icon will illuminate on the LCD display.
The Cyclone will then perform the operations. If they are performed successfully, the "Success" LED will be illuminated. One stand-alone programming cycle will have just been completed.
Operation Via LCD Touchscreen Menu
Once the Cyclone is configured for stand-alone programming it may be operated by making selections from the touchscreen LCD menu. This section describes the menu functions that allow the user to easily execute stand-alone programming functions using the touchscreen LCD.
Home Screen
The home screen appears when the Cyclone is powered on, or when the Home button is tapped. 
Icons
A row of icons in the upper right corner indicates the status of various attributes of the Cyclone.
Note
The user may tap on the row of icons to view the meaning of each of the currently displayed icons.
Cyclone Unit Status: Ok / Bad
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Programming Status: Ready / Busy
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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USB-To-PC Enumerated: Yes / No
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Real-Time Clock Enabled & Working: Yes / No
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Cyclone Power Relays: Closed / Open
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Target Device Is Powered: Yes / No. "Yes" indicates that the Cyclone FX detects power on the Vcc pin of the target device programming header
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Wi-Fi Connectivity (if supported): Signal Strength / Enabled / Off
| Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 |
|---|---|---|
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SDHC Memory Card: None / Valid / Unformatted / Reset Cyclone*
| Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 | Image 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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PEcloud: Provisioned for PEcloud and Online
| Image 1 |
|---|
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Barcode Scanner (Requires Cyclone with Active USB Expansion Port): Detected / Not Detected
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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* Requires Cyclone that supports SDHC Port. "Reset Cyclone" indicates that the Cyclone FX needs to be reset before the SDHC card will register as Valid. The user can push the Reset button which is located on the front side of the Cyclone, below the LED indicators.
Descriptions of Current Icon Status
If the user clicks on the icon row at the top of the screen (manually, or using the Remote Display in the GUI) the LCD screen will display a list of the icons and their current status:
Figure: Descriptions of Current Icon Status
Configurable Display Area
The main area of the home screen can be configured to optionally display the following information, by using the Cyclone IP Configuration Utility (see Configure Home Screen):
- Firmware version of the Cyclone (always shown).
- IP address assigned to the Cyclone.
- Name assigned to the Cyclone.
- Number of programming images in the Cyclone's memory.
- Name of the selected programming image.
- First serial number associated with the selected image
- Current status.
- Results of the last operation performed.
- Time and date.
- Status Window and Main Menu button (always shown).
- Programming count & limit
- Target voltage and/or current
Status Window
The status window appears in the lower left corner of the home screen and displays the results of programming operations.
Error Notification Button
When the Cyclone experiences an error during programming operations, a red error notification button will appear to the left of the Menu button (or AUX button, if configured).
Press Details to view a detailed description of the error.
AUX Button (Appears If Configured)
The Cyclone allows the user to add an Auxiliary (AUX) button to the home screen which will perform a specific function when pressed. The specific function is chosen by the user when the AUX button is configured. The AUX button will appear on the home screen to the left of the "Menu" button, in the lower right corner of the home screen.
Figure: AUX Button on Home Screen (configured to perform CRC32 function)
For information on how to configure the AUX button, see Status.
Main Menu
The Main Menu is accessible by pressing the "Menu" button when the Home Screen is displayed. The Main Menu screen contains five selections. From these, select "Current Image Options."
Figure: Touchscreen LCD Menu - Current Image Options
The menu selections in "Current Image Options" will allow the user to execute programming operations, verify data, toggle power, validate the programming image, and modify the upcoming serial number if necessary.
Note
These apply to Images only and not to any cloud-connected images that might be on the Cyclone, with the exception of the Launch Programming selection, which will launch programming if an image is currently selected.
Execute Image Function
Execute Specific Image Function presents four programming functions that you may execute by tapping the function that you wish to execute:
This allows the user to execute the programming function. The Cyclone will program the target device, if able, using the currently selected programming image. This is functionally equivalent to pressing the Start button.
Performs a verify function on the data that has been programmed into the target device.
Toggles the target power and makes sure all ports are driven to debug mode level.
Toggles the target power and maintains tri-state mode for all signals.
Allows the user to perform a CRC32 validation on the currently selected programming image.
Set Image Validation
Allows the user to choose between two validation settings: 1) validate the image each time the Start button is pressed, or 2) do not validate the image.
Serial Numbers
Displays the serial number information associated with the currently selected programming image. If there is none, it will display, "This Image Contains No Serial Numbers." There may be one or more Serial Files associated with the image. The user can click on a specific Serial File name to see the following information about that Serial File:
- UID - Unique identifier of the serial number
- Next Serial # ASCII - Next serial number to be programmed (shown in ASCII format)
- Algorithm ID - Displays the algorithm ID of the serial file
- CS ID - Displays the ID of the CS (Choose Serial) command in the image file.
Figure: Serial File Selection
The user can also click on "Modify Serial Number" to edit that serial number. It is possible to Decrease or Increase the Next Serial by -10, -1, +1, +10. This is often done to address issues in the production process, such as during initial setup.
Figure: Increase or Decrease Serial Number
The adjustment buttons will display "Increase Not Allowed" and "Decrease Not Allowed" if the image/algorithm/CS file that the user has selected does not allow for this operation.
Note
Unlike PEmicro's current serial files, earlier "legacy" serial files are specific to one programming image, When viewing Serial Number info for an image that references one or more legacy serial files, the Cyclone will not show links to the serial files but will instead display serial number info for the first serial file. The user can then Modify Next Serial to change the next serial number, or click MORE at the bottom to proceed to the next serial file (if any).
Figure: Serial Number View With Legacy Serial Files (CS IDs #1 & #2)
| Image 1 | Image 2 |
|---|---|
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Show Image Restriction Stats (Requires FX or ProCryption Security Activation)
Displays current statistics, if any, for Image Programmed Count & Maximum Allowed, Errors Logged & Maximum Allowed, and Date Range Allowed. These limits can be set in the Security Features section of the Cyclone Image Creation Utility (see Image Restrictions).
Note: When Current Image Stats is displayed as a home screen item, only Image Programmed Count & Maximum Allowed are displayed on the home screen.
PROG Interactive Programming Software
Cyclones include PROG programming software executables for each supported device family. These are located in the path PEmicro -> Cyclone -> InteractiveProgrammer from the install directory. The Cyclone must be used as the hardware interface as PROG software included with the Cyclone has its license permanently installed on the Cyclone.
Users may find that the PROG software is helpful for identifying and correcting issues that are encountered via the other Cyclone programming methods, as the workflow is streamlined and those transitioning from PEmicro's Multilink probes may find the interface more familiar.
Detailed operating instructions for PROG software are beyond the scope of this manual. A separate user manual for the specific PROG being used can be found on the PROG product page of pemicro.com.
For scripted programming, CPROG executables are also included in the same folder.