Standard Flash Programming

PCT has a built-in Flash Programming utility, which is shown in the screen shot below. This utility supports a wide range of flash device types. Either the full flash device, or specific sectors can be programmed from an image file. Flash can be verified, and the contents of a known-good flash can be copied to a file for use in programming other flash devices.

Fast Flash Programming

PCT Fast Flash Programming is an alternative to the standard Flash Programming function provided in the Interactive mode of the Test Toolkit software. Fast Flash Programming offers significant speed increases for certain processor types.

Depending on the type of flash and the way it is implemented on the board, programming times can be less than 10 seconds per megabyte.

Processor types currently supported by the Fast Flash Programming feature are:

• Freescale™ PowerPC™ 7447, 7447A, 7450, 7455 (Apollo 2.0 and 3.0), 7457
• Freescale™ PowerQUICC™ 8540, 8541, 8543, 8545, 8547, 8548, 8555, 8560
• Intel® Pentium®, Celeron® and Xeon™ processor families

The Fast Flash Programming feature is more suited to board manufacture and high volume firmware upgrades because the user needs to develop a relatively simple, flash-specific programming algorithm in assembly language and a short PCT test script. However, the time and cost saved in manufacturing far out-weighs the program development effort.

For a full description of the Fast Flash Programming feature, please see Application Note #9.

Click the "more" button below to see PCT's Boundary Scan Test support.