Differences

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--- microcontrollers:microcontroller_development_notes [2012/01/15 13:14] – [Tools for programming the target] mithat
+++ microcontrollers:microcontroller_development_notes [2013/08/23 20:34] (current) – mithat
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Microcontroller development notes ======
-:!: //Caution: This page is under development and is deeply clouded by the author's lack of significant experience with microcontroller programming.//
+:!: //This page is under development.//
 Establishing a working microcontroller development setup involves two major areas:
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
   * The selected s/w programmer must also support the target microcontroller.
-There are a few different "styles" of h/w programmers from the target's perspective. Some programmers require you to physically remove the microcontroller from the target system and place it into a socket on the programmer. You do a magic incantation on your host computer and the microcontroller gets programmed. Then you remove the microcontroller from the programmer and put it back into the target. This setup was the standard for many years, but clearly it has its disadvantages: the target microcontroller must be socketed on the target board (essentially making it impossible to work with SMD devices), and the repeated remove-replace cycles are not only tedious but can damage the target microcontroller.
+==== Classic programmers ====
-This has lead to a second type of programmer "style" called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-System_Programming|In-System Programming]] (ISP). With an ISP programmer (pardon the redundancy), new firmware can be loaded onto the target while the target microcontroller it is still in the circuit. In other words, the h/w programmer connects directly to the target board. This requires that the appropriate interface be designed into the target board (typically on the order of a six-pin header). ISP is often accomplished using an industry-standard communication protocol originally developed for testing assemblies called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Test_Action_Group|JTAG]]. So you'll see references to JTAG programmers---which are in fact ISP programmers.
+There are a few different "styles" of h/w programmers from the target's perspective. Classic microcontroller programmers require you to physically remove the microcontroller from the target system and place it into a socket on the programmer. You do a magic incantation on your host computer and the microcontroller gets programmed. Then you remove the microcontroller from the programmer and put it back into the target. This setup was the standard for many years, but clearly it has its disadvantages: the target microcontroller must be socketed on the target board (essentially making it impossible to work with SMD devices), and the repeated remove-replace cycles are not only tedious but can damage the target microcontroller.
-Do not confuse ISP with ICE ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-circuit_emulator|In-Circuit Emulation]]). ISP concerns itself with programming the target; ICE with debugging.
+==== In-System Programming ====
+The problems associated with "classic" target device programming have lead to a second type of programmer "style" called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-System_Programming|In-System Programming]] (ISP). With an ISP programmer (pardon the redundancy), new firmware is loaded onto the target while the target microcontroller it is still in the circuit. In other words, the h/w programmer connects directly to the target board. This requires that the appropriate interface be designed into the target board (typically on the order of a six-pin header). ISP is often accomplished using an industry-standard communication protocol originally developed for testing assemblies called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Test_Action_Group|JTAG]]. So you'll see references to JTAG programmers---which are in fact ISP programmers.
+:!: Do not confuse ISP with ICE ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-circuit_emulator|In-Circuit Emulation]]). ISP concerns itself with programming the target; ICE with debugging.
+==== Bootloaders ====
+FIXME
 ===== Other stuff =====
@@ Line 56: / Line 64: @@
 ==== Debugging ====
-A debugger is a software tool that you can attach to a computing process and use to pause program flow and inspect and in many cases adjust the program's and/or processor's state.
+A debugger is a software tool that you can attach to a computing process and use to pause program flow and inspect as well as in many cases adjust the program's and/or processor's state.
 You can attach a debugger to a microcontroller process in one of a few ways:
@@ Line 66: / Line 74: @@
 The last three above are all referred to as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-circuit_emulator|In-Circuit Emulation]] (ICE)---even though only one of them actually involve emulation.
-==== Bootloaders ====
-FIXME