ST AN2557 APPLICATION NOTE

October 2010 Doc ID 13588 Rev 8 1/16

AN2557

Application note

STM32F10x in-application programming

using the USART

Introduction

An important requirement for most Flash-memory-based systems is the ability to update

firmware when installed in the end product. This ability is referred to as in-application

programming (IAP). The purpose of this application note is to provide general guidelines for

creating an IAP application. The STM32100B-EVAL, STM32100E-EVAL, STM3210B-EVAL,

STM3210E-EVAL and STM3210C-EVAL boards were used to validate the IAP driver.

The STM32F10x microcontroller can run user-specific firmware to perform IAP of the

microcontroller-embedded Flash memory. This feature allows the use of any type of

communication protocol for the reprogramming process (such as CAN, USART, USB).

USART is the example used in this application note.

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Contents AN2557

2/16 Doc ID 13588 Rev 8

Contents

1 IAP overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.1 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2 IAP driver description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2 Running the IAP driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.1 HyperTerminal configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2 Executing the IAP driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 IAP driver menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.1 Download image to the internal Flash memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.2 Upload image from the internal Flash memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.3 Execute the new program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.4 Disabling the write protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 STM32F10x IAP implementation summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5 User program conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

6 Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

AN2557 List of tables

Doc ID 13588 Rev 8 3/16

List of tables

Table 1. STM32F10xxx IAP implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Table 2. Revision history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

List of figures AN2557

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List of figures

Figure 1. Flowchart of the IAP driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 2. COM port properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 3. IAP Driver menu when the STM32F10x Flash memory is not protected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 4. IAP driver menu when the STM32F10x Flash memory is write-protected . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 5. Flash memory usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

AN2557 IAP overview

Doc ID 13588 Rev 8 5/16

1 IAP overview

Low-density devices are STM32F101xx, STM32F102xx, and STM32F103xx

microcontrollers where the Flash memory density ranges between 16 and 32 Kbytes.

Medium-density devices are STM32F101xx, STM32F102xx, and STM32F103xx

microcontrollers where the Flash memory density ranges between 64 and 128 Kbytes.

High-density devices are STM32F101xx and STM32F103xx microcontrollers where the

Flash memory density ranges between 256 and 512 Kbytes. High-density devices are

implemented in the STMicroelectronics STM3210E-EVAL evaluation board.

Connectivity line devices are STM32F105xx and STM32F107xx microcontrollers.

Connectivity line devices are implemented in the STMicroelectronics STM32100C-EVAL

evaluation board.

Low-density value line devices are STM32F100x4 and STM32F100x6 microcontrollers

where the Flash memory density ranges between 16 and 32 Kbytes.

Medium-density value line devices are STM32F100x8 and STM32F100xB

microcontrollers where the Flash memory density ranges between 64 and 128 Kbytes.

Medium-density value line devices are implemented in the STMicroelectronics STM32100B-

EVAL evaluation board.

XL-density devices are STM32F101xx and STM32F103xx microcontrollers where the

Flash memory density ranges between 768 Kbytes and 1 Mbyte.

High-density value line devices are STM32F100xC, STM32F100xD and STM32F100xE

microcontrollers where the Flash memory density ranges between 256 and 512 Kbytes.

High-density value line devices are implemented in the STMicroelectronics STM32100E-

EVAL evaluation board.

1.1 Principle

You should program the IAP driver to the Flash memory base address via the JTAG/SWD

interface using the development toolchain of your choice or the factory-embedded boot

loader in the System memory area.

'The IAP driver uses the USART to:

● Download a binary file from the HyperTerminal to the STM32F10x's internal Flash

memory.

● Upload the STM32F10x's internal flash memory content (starting from the defined user

application address) into a binary file.

● Execute the user program.

1.2 IAP driver description

The IAP driver contains the following set of source files:

● main.c: where the USART initialization is set. A main menu is then executed from the

common.c file.

● common.c: contains display functions and the main menu routine. The main menu

gives the options of loading a new binary file, uploading a new binary file, executing the