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After supplying all your  Embedded Development Tool needs for 42 years
 Computer Solutions Ltd and its web shop are now closed.

  

  
 

 Having reached the grand old age of 75 it is time to relax and fulfil other ambitions.

 Its been an exciting ride with you, our customers, often on the bleeding edge of technology
 and I thank you for your friendship, your trust, and your orders.

Stay well        I wish you all success in your future projects.

 Chris Stephens.

 

 R4

     But what to do with the web site ?  It has taken >12 man years of work to create a repository of knowledge on many aspects of the art and science of embedded microprocessor development and even after closing the shop it still gets over 4,000 visitors per month.  So as a service to my customers I have decide to keep it live providing my technical insights on the products and then redirecting viewers to sites where they can purchase the items they used to buy from us. Follow the link   "Home"

       The  "Information zone"  consists of articles produced as background tutorials on subjects of interest to those designing new products.  As different CPUs have became available this has lead to new development techniques and in particular to new ways of communicating between nodes.

 
Home Information Zone

Cortex M0-M4 and Kinetis  Development Tools

 

 

The cheapest JTAG interface to the Arm Cortex M0-4 range is the PEmicro Multilink-ACP interface

 

It currently supports the following families:

ATMEL SAMxxx, STM32,

NXP M0,M3,M4, NXP/Freescale Kinetis (all),

S32, TI-Stellaris LM3S,LM4,TM4C12xx,

Infineon XMC4xxx, Maxim 716xx,

Silicon Labs EFM32,SiM3, Cypress PSoC®4,

Toshiba TX00,TX03,TX04 as well as a wide range of on and off chip SPI and flash memories.

For latest list of chips see http://www.pemicro.com/arm/index.cfm#support 

 

For prices of all these PEmicro products visit eVision Systems Web Shop

 

 

 

 

 

The USB Multilink Universal Interfaces

These greatly simplify the task of programming and debugging embedded target systems. They allow a PC to communicate with a target processor through a high-speed USB interface at the PC and a debug port at the micro. The PC can then control the microprocessor via the debug port of the target ARM chip.

If you are unfamiliar with the use of "On-Chip-Debugging" we have a short tutorial

There are two models in the range

  -  The USB Multilink ACP which is low cost and only works with the ARM Cortex (see below † )

  -  The  USB Multilink Universal  which works with the ARM Cortex (see below † ) as well as the NXP Freescale architectures

Kinetis  (JTAG and SWD), HCS08, RS08, HC(S)12(X), S12Z, ColdFire V1, +V1 and  V2 - 4 , Qorivva MPC55xx/56xx/57xx, DSC

All have these Features

Fast, hassle-free USB 2.0 communications interface

Draw their power directly from the USB port – no external power supply needed

Multi-voltage support for targets ranging from 1.6 to 5.25 Volts

Includes ribbon cables for all supported architecture

  -  and thirdly the Multilink Universal FX is capable of loading, and for debugging reading the micro at 4 to 10 times the Universals  speed

 

 		    

 

The USB Multilink Universal FX

As well as supporting all the architectures listed for the Universal, in addition, these are supported:-

      683xx / CPU32, HC16, MPC5xx/8xx and Power Architecture® PX series

For Synchronous architectures such as the Cortex,  Qorivva,  Coldfire V2-V4, 683xx, HC16, Power Architecture PX Series and the DSC the communications can run at 4 to 10 times faster than the USB Multilink Universal or the older parallel Multilink interfaces.

         

Also it can provide 200 mA power to target MCU and it provides  I/O line clamping for added protection

Development Software support

By adding the Flash Programming Software these units can program Flash memory and EEPROMs on the chip or attached to it. They are suitable for both development and small production runs

PEmicro Products support a wide range of Cortex Development options

 NXP/Freescale CodeWarrior 10.6,   IAR  Embedded Workbench,   Keil  µVision

--   Built in support for Multilink Universal & FX as well as Cyclone Universal for both Debugging and Programming

  Atollic True STUDIO,  KDS  Kinetis Design Studio, Cosmic IDE & ZAP 

 --   Use the free PEmicro GDB Server to support  Multilink Universal & FX as well as Cyclone Universal for both Debugging and Programming

Unit programs  A set of C library calls that provide an API for using the BDM interface.  Ideal for those who need to write their own PC based test or diagnostics programs.  The standard version includes a license for 5 units.  The distribution version provides unlimited production of applications.

 

Cyclone ARM programs Cortex chips from Kinetis, STM32, NXP LPCs, Texas Stellaris. ( it is lower cost than the Universal if you are just using it for ARM production programming for more info )

 

ARM Cortex Flash Programming Software

An interactive flash programming software package that allows you to program/reprogram both internal and external flash devices in-circuit, via a PEmicro interface cable. Perfect for development, production line programming, or field firmware upgrades. PEmicros products contains our entire library of setup files for this processor, and includes both interactive and command-line versions for use in development and production. 

To see which Flash devices PEmicro support follow this link .

Flash memory functions are : 

Program P&E Programmer screen shot
Verify
Blank check
Upload
Display
Erase

 

Cyclone Universal On Chip flash programmer and Debugger

 

 

Works with Kinetis, ARM Cortex † , ColdFireV1--4,
  MPC55xx/56xx/57xx Qorivva (AKA Nexus), MPC5xx/8xx,
Power Architecture S32, PX, DSC, MC56F8xx
STMicroelectronics SPC56,
 MAC7xxx (ARM)

68HC08  HCS08/RS08   68HC12/S12   S12X/12Z

Cyclone Universal Flash programing tool

 

† ARM Cortex M4 currently supports the following families:  ATMEL SAMxxx, STM32, NXP M0,M3,M4, NXP/Freescale Kinetis (all), S32, LPC, i.MX TI-Stellaris LM3S,LM4,TM4C12xx, Infineon XMC4xxx, Maxim 716xx, Silicon Labs EFM32, ERF32, SiM3, Cypress PSoC®4, PSoC®5, PSoC®6, Toshiba TX00,TX03,TX04  On-Bright OB90R,  Nordic semi nRF51, nRF52,  Silergy MAX716xx 

For latest list of chips see http://www.pemicro.com/cyclone/index.cfm#support and also as a wide range of on and off chip SPI and off chip flash memories.

 

PEmicro's latest product is a version of their Cyclone box that covers the widest range of target CPUs so far. It can be used for Debugging via its fast USB or Ethernet interface with support available in most popular software packages including GCC/GDB.  The same box can then be used as a standalone unit for field programming or as a production programmer in an ATE setup (batch or DLL driven).

For more details see this page

 

And now with faster links to both the PC and the target the Cyclone Universal FX  can speed up the production line and add extra security to your programming process. ......... For more details of this product  Cyclone Universal FX

 

 

CPU Support and features are as for the Cyclone Universal with the following enhancements :-

  • USB 2.0 link now supports "High-speed" protocol (up to 480Mb/sec link to the PC).

  • 1 Gbyte internal memory, no practical limit to # of images held.

  • SDHC Port for even more space.

  • For most recent CPUs ( e.g. Cortex M0-4, Qorivva, HC16/683xx, Coldfire  and MPC5xx/8xx ) a variant of the communication link to the target is provided that increases the download speed to a max of 25Mb/sec giving up to 5 x faster download of data.

  • Additional security features include ensuring that if you outsource your production no one can "run off a few units" without you knowing.

 Cyclone Universal Flash programing tool

 

The Cyclone Cortex can be used in 3 different modes:

A Software Development Kit is available that allows multiple Cyclones to be driven by a single CPU for economical operation in large production environments.

 

Cyclone Automated Control Package

These Windows packages include a command line driven application, Cyclone Launch a batch control system and a set of DLLs providing a range of features of value when using the Cyclone in production situations :-
Basic Edition -----  Free Download ----  Controls  a single Cyclone from a PC via USB or Ethernet allowing one Programming Image to be held on the Cyclone which does not have to be downloaded every time so increasing performance.
Professional Edition -----  Controls  up to 3 Cyclones from a PC via USB or Ethernet, allowing up to 8 Programming Images, which do not have to be downloaded every time, to be changed on the fly and dynamic data such as serial numbers to manipulated from the PC. Supported devices can be programmed in parallel, even if they are different devices with different data.
Enterprise Edition -----  As for the Pro version but unlimited numbers of Cyclones may be controlled from a single PC, More than 8 images can exist on the Cyclones and Licences for 5 end user PCs are included.  Also provided is a full description of the RS232 and Ethernet command Protocols so that non Windows users can implement similar functionality.

 

For prices of all these PEmicro products visit eVision Systems Web Shop

 

For more Information:
An overview of PEmicro products Summary of PEmicro tools for programming most NXP/Freescale Families from HCS08 to PPC,  Arm Cortex, Renesas, Hitachi and STMicro devices
Kinetis If you are using the Kinetis chip our Kinetis page shows the wide range of different software packages that our products support


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Computer Solutions Ltd
87 Briar Road,  Shepperton,  Middx,  TW17 0JB
 
Telephone: +44 (0) 77 4342 2526   
Email: sales@computer-solutions.co.uk      Web: www.computer-solutions.co.uk
 
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