The Benefits of In-System Programmers

In-circuit or In-system programming is the technique whereby the programmable device gets programmed only after its placement on the circuit board. It is quite possible to reprogram today's microcontrollers as well as external memory chips, without removing them in entirety from the board. This eliminates the additional handling process required during manufacturing to program the device externally.

In-system programming solutions are beneficial in a number of ways. Some of them are listed below. Go through these and get enlightened:

•    Convenience of operation: In-system programmers allow programming of electronic chips, even while they are installed within the computer system. This increases the convenience of operation to a great extent for the user.

•    Short cycle of development: These tools combine program integration and testing within a single phase of production, thus shortening the manufacturing cycle of facilities.

•    Low risks of damage & failure: In-circuit programmers entail a safe procedure and eliminate the risks of leads damage at the surface of mount devices and reduce the likelihood of damage to devices through ESD or electrostatic discharge.

•    Eliminates plausible delays: These programmers enable manufacturers to do away with delays, as they need not resort to the purchase of pre-programmed electronic chips from the distributor. With these devices they can instantly start up.

•    Amenable to production changes: ISP makes the procedure of adding changes in design or codes feasible in the long run.

•    ATE-compatible: In-system programmers make it possible to use ATE or automatic test equipment for performing multifarious operations while maintaining a normal test flow of production.

Avr JTAG programmer is a type of in-system programmer that supports debugging and examination as well. It is an effective tool and can be used for large devices too. Hence, get this programmer today itself and ease up the process to a great extent.

An Insight of Wireless Starter Kits and Their Features

It has never been so easy to get started with the wireless technology. These days, there are complete wireless automation kits available which includes devices which are wireless enabled. These Wireless Starter Kits are smart and are easily available these days in the market. These starter kits perform 3 basic functions, which include the following:

•    Packet Error Rate (PER) Demo: Plug and play testing demo, which is out of the box range. It offers a quick test of product capabilities, and enables packet transfer in one way.
•    RF Evaluation:  This is an environment of the test bench. You need to connect to the RF equipment and then evaluate the performance of the product in terms of sensitivity, current consumption, power etc.
•    Design Facilitator: Use the RF module in order to start designing the application, which includes powerful software, power supply before the actual form-factored customer PCB is stabilized and ready. 

What Comprises Such Starter Kits?

•    Devices which are wireless enabled:  Wireless enabled devices can be helpful when it comes to freeing up the stranded diagnostics from the wired devices.
•    Gateway: A smart, secured and robust gateway which enables and makes several tasks easy and manageable.
•    Asset Health and Configuration: The wired and non-wired network can be managed from a single application only.

It helps is assessing the health of the entire network and ensures good and efficient communication. When it comes to troubleshooting and installation of operating systems, these kits are very easy to work with. In short, these starter kits have added new dimension to the wireless technology altogether. As such, without giving a second thought order for these kits right today from reliable suppliers in discounted rates along with several other added perks.

A Review on Atmel AVR Dragon

When it comes to low cost development tools, the Atmel AVR Dragon set a new standard of the 32-bit and 8-bit devices which have an OCD or On Chip Debug capability. It is capable of performing symbolic debug on all those devices which has SPI with OCD, PDI, JTAG, parallel programming, high voltage serial programming, aWire modes. It supports debugging using JTAG, SPI, and PDI interfaces.

Main Features of this programmer

Here are some of its main features. Have a look on the same:

•    It supports 1 maskable data breakpoint or 3 hardware program breakpoints or (it depends on the OCD module on the AVR device)
•    It is capable of supporting software breakpoint up to 32 which is quite good
•    It comes with a 128kB SRAM, which is On-board and is required for  fast statement-level stepping
•    Robust level converters support 1.8V to 5.5V target operation
•    Is capable of uploading  256Kb code in ~60 seconds
•    It comes with a Full-speed USB 2.0 compliant host interface, which is 12 MB/s
•    Firmware can be upgraded in order to support the AVR devices of the future
•    It is capable of supporting nano traces. It depends on the OCD module on the AVR device. It uses the memory of the target device.
•    It is powered by USB cable and power can also be sourced from it to any external target.

In this respect it is important to mention that Atmel AVR XMEGA PDI mode on AVR Dragon do not work for some of the XMEGA devices, like A3/D3 - revisions B, C and E or A1.

So, these are some of the features of this programmer and if you are willing to possess this tool, it is better to know all these specifications and functionalities before ordering one to serve your purpose.

AVR USB Programmer – a Brief Overview

If you are interested in learning and studying microcontrollers and you wish to transform the digital based design which you have been using all these while into a micro controller enables device, then you need to have some knowledge about the devices, the technology and other important aspects. It takes a lot of skills and expertise to become an AVR USB programmer.

What are the Steps to get on with it?

The followings are the steps which are important for you to take a note of before you get on with it. Check them out to gain expertise over the same:

•    Being an expert of “C” programming language is not enough. This need to be mentioned right at the outset. However, your ability to analyze and solve a problem statement will come handy. This is one of the most important requirements while with a microcontroller system
•    An embedded system based on the microcontroller is built on a combination of both hardware and software. What is a Microcontroller? Well, it is nothing but an integrated chip that makes the hardware portion of a system. The microcontroller is designed in such a manner, that it is capable of storing a program, which has been preset.

What are the Components Required?

The followings are the components which you would require to use this controller:

•    A Microcontroller
•    One temperature sensor
•    A 16 chars by 2 lines
•    5V DVC Voltage Regulator

What are there in an AVR Kit?

An AVR kit consists of the followings:

•    Easy Connect Board
•    Touch Panel
•    Plastic Pen
•    Serial cable
•    USB Cable
•    Printed manuals

Apart from these components like SmartPROTO Board, Character LCD 2x16 with blue backlight and DS1820 Temperature Sensor are also included. If you get the kit from any renowned online supplier, along with quality products you will get other added advantages too.