Programming 5000 series chips in-circuit – Echelon NodeBuilder FX User Manual
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NodeBuilder FX User's Guide
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The system image resides in on-chip ROM. The application image and the system image are copied
from the external non-volatile memory into the on-chip RAM at chip startup and reset. The Neuron
firmware is responsible for copying any writes that are directed towards external non-volatile memory.
See the Neuron Chip or Smart Transceiver data book for more information.
The build process produces an .NME file for application code and data designated for external
EEPROM and an optional .NMF file for application code for external flash memory, if it is available.
You can download the device application over the network, or you can transfer the device application
over an I2C or SPI interface using the application images files generated by the build process if the
device has not been installed on the network. Using the I2C or SPI interface is ideal for the ex-circuit
programming of serial flash and EEPROM devices. In addition, you can use any compatible device
programmer with the I2C or SPI interface to program these memory devices in-circuit, which helps
with the development and mass-production of generic device hardware, and lowers production costs.
See the next section, Programming 5000 Series Chips In-Circuit, for more information on preparing
your device hardware for in-circuit programming.
You can load an alternate system image from external EEPROM or external flash, if required. This
feature may be required if a newer firmware image becomes available at a later date. In such a case,
the system image will always start at address 0xC000 in the external part. In the case of external
EEPROM, the part has to be at least 32K in order to support alternate system images.
The 5000 Series chips contain the version 18 Neuron firmware in their on-chip ROM; therefore, you
do not need to program the memory parts before the device is first used. When the Neuron firmware
initializes during power-up, it can detect empty memory parts, and then boot into the applicationless
state with communication parameters set for a TP/FT-10 channel at a clock multiplier setting of 1.
You can then load your application image using the NodeBuilder tool, LonMaker tool, NodeLoad
Utility, or other network tool.
You need to pre-program the serial memory parts if you want the device to start with a different
version of the Neuron firmware, or if you want to increase application loading speed during
production.
Programming 5000 Series Chips In-Circuit
You can use the I
2
C or SPI interface on the 5000 Series chips for the in-circuit programming of your
external non-volatile memory EEPROM and flash devices. This lets you pre-produce generic
hardware and load one of several application images into the board at production time, without the
need for costly sockets or re-soldering.
To perform in-circuit programming, you need a method to connect your external serial EEPROM or
flash memory device to a compatible device programmer, while disconnecting these signal lines from
the 5000 Series chip. Echelon has tested the Aardvark™ I2C/SPI USB Host Adapter from
TotalPhase™ (Part No. TP240141), with the 10-pin split cable from TotalPhase (Part No. TP240212),
as one method for creating this connection (for more information on this adapter, go to the TotalPhase
). The Aardvark has six signal lines: two
for the I
2
C interface (SDA and SCL), and four for the SPI interface (MOSI, MISO, SCL, and SS). The
I
2
C/SPI interface used by the Neuron 5000 Processor or FT 5000 Smart Transceiver has some pins that
are multifunctional; therefore you must program each external non-volatile memory device
individually.
After you connect the I
2
C or SPI interface to the Aardvark programmer or other compatible in-circuit
device programmer, you can use a program such as the Flash Center Memory Programmer from
TotalPhase to program your external serial EEPROM or flash memory device. You can download the
Flash Center Memory Programmer for free from the TotalPhase Web site at
. If you use the Flash Center Memory
Programmer software, you also need to change the extension of the .NME and .NMF application
image files generated by the NodeBuilder tool to .HEX. This is because the Flash Center Memory
Programmer requires hex files that have .HEX extensions.