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Overview of Remote System I/O control signals |
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Remote System |
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The ‘Remote System’ is the remote hardware / control mechanism which is used to control the programmer. This could be another microcontroller based system, a PLC or any other system which has TTL I/O capability.
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Main Features |
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The ‘Remote TTL I/O Control’ method is a very simple and yet powerful way of controlling an Equinox programmer.
The main features of this control method are as follows:
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Allows an Equinox ISP Programmer to be controlled using any ‘Remote System’.
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Programmer control uses only 4 x TTL signal lines
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Ideal for interfacing a programmer to an In-Circuit Tester (ICT) or other ATE equipment which only has TTL or 12 / 24V control outputs available.
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Ideal for interfacing a programmer to a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)
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Ideal for interfacing a programmer to any Remote System which does not have a serial port
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Remote System only needs to have the ability to assert / monitor 4 x TTL I/O lines in order to control the programmer.
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Supports automatically starting a single pre-loaded ‘Standalone Programming Project’
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Progress of the programmer can be monitored using the ACTIVE signal line
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The programmer reports a PASS or FAIL result via the OK and FAIL signal lines
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An opto-isolated 'Remote Control Port' is available on the 'ISPnano Series 4 ATE' programmer.
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Advantages and Disadvantages |
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The relative advantages and disadvantages of the ‘Remote TTL I/O Control’ method are as follows:
Advantages:
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Very simple method to control the operation of an Equinox Programmer.
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It is compatible with any Remote System which can sequence 4 x TTL I/O lines e.g. external ATE / ICT equipment or PLC
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Very simple to implement – no specialist programming knowledge required.
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Opto-isolated control on the ISPnano Series 4 ATE programmer isolates external ATE / PLC equipment which may be running at 24V or has a different EARTH potential
Disadvantages
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Only supports control of a single pre-loaded ‘Standalone Programming Project’
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It is NOT possible to control multiple ‘Standalone Programming Projects’ as there is no mechanism to select the correct project via TTL port.
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It does NOT allow control of individual programming actions e.g. Erase, Program FLASH, Program Fuses etc.
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No diagnostic information available if the programming operation fails for any reason.
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ISPnano Series 3 - Remote Control Port |
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ISPnano Series 4 ATE - Remote Control Ports |
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