ANALOG DEVICES EE-311 Service Manual

Engineer-to-Engineer Note EE-311

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Technical notes on using Analog Devices DSPs, processors and development tools

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VisualDSP++® Flash Programmer API for Blackfin® Processors

Contributed by Igor Likhotkin Rev 1 – December 14, 2006

Introduction

Embedded application testing usually involves using a JTAG emulator to debug an executable that has
been loaded onto a target processor. Toward the end of the development process, it becomes critically
important to test application code that has been booted into the processor from flash, PROM, or another
peripheral device. Often, this software development phase is difficult to fully automate. VisualDSP++®
features an additional set of API functions that facilitate the uploading (burning) of executable code and
data image files into flash memory. Using the new API functions, application images can be programmed
into flash, and flash contents can be filled or erased.

Hardware/Software Requirements

The Flash Programmer plug-in API interface requires VisualDSP++ Development Tools version 4.5 or
higher. In addition, a suitable hardware board is needed in order to test the loading of bootable application
images onto flash devices. The ADSP-BF533 EZ-KIT Lite® and the ADSP-BF537 EZ-KIT Lite
evaluation systems were used to construct and test the example code described by this EE-Note. However,
the Flash Programmer API supports all Blackfin® processors.

New API Functions

The API for the Flash Programmer plug-in provides a relatively small subset of functions:

 EraseAll – erases the entire contents of the flash device
 EraseBlock – erases the specified (numeric) sector of the flash device
 FillFlash – fills the flash memory with the specified number pattern
 LoadDriver – downloads the flash device driver program (.dxe) onto the processor, which facilitates

loading the flash image onto the flash chip

 LoadFile – uploads the bootable application image into the flash device

The Flash Programmer API is part of the general VisualDSP++ API, which enables users to create scripts
or programs in any language that supports Automation.

An example script (

programFlash.vbs

All of the code samples and commands below refer to the example script.

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) has been written to exercise the entire Flash Programmer API.

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Typical Use of Flash Programmer API

The most common use for the new API functions is to upload an embedded application image file into
flash memory on a target board as part of a large test suite. To accomplish this, scripts can be written in a
variety of Automation-enabled languages.

The example script performs each of the following tasks:

 Connects to the VisualDSP++ IDDE object
 Retrieves a handle on the Flash Programmer plug-in object
 Loads the flash chip driver program onto the target board processor
 Erases all (or specified) flash sectors
 Fills the flash memory range with a user-specified value
 Uploads the selected application image into flash memory
 Optionally sends a soft reset (boot up) signal to the processor

The example Automation script requires that the VisualDSP++ IDDE is open and



that an appropriate hardware debug session is established. To automate session
creation in the script, refer to VisualDSP++ online Help, which includes the complete
VisualDSP++ Automation interface reference.

Connecting to IDDE and Obtaining Flash Programmer Handle

Implementing the above steps is a fairly straightforward process with the VisualDSP++ API. The flash­related part of the example script begins with obtaining the handle to the Flash Programmer plug-in
object, as shown in Listing 1.

'...
WScript.StdOut.WriteLine "Starting the FlashProgrammer plugin..."
Set FPPlugin = app.PluginList.Item("Flash Programmer")
Set FlashProgrammer = FPPlugin.Open()
'...

Listing 1. Script to Obtain Handle to the Flash Programmer Plug-In Object

Loading the Flash Driver

Next, loading the flash driver into the target processor is accomplished in a single line:

FlashProgrammer.LoadDriver FPDriver

Since the script works with the ADSP-BF533 EZ-KIT Lite, the flash driver was provided by Analog
Devices. The Flash Programmer plug-in, however, can communicate with custom flash drivers for various
memory chips.

VisualDSP++® Flash Programmer API for Blackfin® Processors (EE-311) Page 2 of 6