I'm currently programming the boot flash on a C6747 EVM board by placing
the device in a special boot mode that allows the boot program to be loaded via
the C6747's UART/RS232 port. The C6747 rom code somehow sends this to the
SPI EPROM (flash?) chip. When this is done, I set the boot mode to be from the
SPI EPROM and magically the code boots and runs.
That's great, but we're going to be moving to production and I'm
wondering what's the best way to program the SPI EPROM in production?
Doing the UART/RS232 stuff seems doable, but clumsy.
Look for some advice.
jason
_____________________________________
programming boot flash on a C6747 board
Started by ●March 17, 2011
Reply by ●March 17, 20112011-03-17
Jason,
On 3/17/2011 5:30 PM, Jason wrote:
>
> I'm currently programming the boot flash on a C6747 EVM board by
> placing the device in a special boot mode that allows the boot program
> to be loaded via the C6747's UART/RS232 port. The C6747 rom code
> somehow sends this to the SPI EPROM (flash?) chip. When this is done,
> I set the boot mode to be from the SPI EPROM and magically the code
> boots and runs.
>
> That's great, but we're going to be moving to production and I'm
> wondering what's the best way to program the SPI EPROM in production?
> Doing the UART/RS232 stuff seems doable, but clumsy.
>
Depending on volume, the normal production issues are TTP [time to
program] and cost. With the exception of high volume production, the
only reasonable way to program the EPROM is via a serial path. With the
right hardware, like 1 or more 24 port RS232 switches, you can use
parallelism to maximize the throughput. If you use ATE, it _might_ make
sense to program the EPROM during test.
mikedunn
> Look for some advice.
>
> jason
On 3/17/2011 5:30 PM, Jason wrote:
>
> I'm currently programming the boot flash on a C6747 EVM board by
> placing the device in a special boot mode that allows the boot program
> to be loaded via the C6747's UART/RS232 port. The C6747 rom code
> somehow sends this to the SPI EPROM (flash?) chip. When this is done,
> I set the boot mode to be from the SPI EPROM and magically the code
> boots and runs.
>
> That's great, but we're going to be moving to production and I'm
> wondering what's the best way to program the SPI EPROM in production?
> Doing the UART/RS232 stuff seems doable, but clumsy.
>
Depending on volume, the normal production issues are TTP [time to
program] and cost. With the exception of high volume production, the
only reasonable way to program the EPROM is via a serial path. With the
right hardware, like 1 or more 24 port RS232 switches, you can use
parallelism to maximize the throughput. If you use ATE, it _might_ make
sense to program the EPROM during test.
mikedunn
> Look for some advice.
>
> jason
