The Promira™ Serial Platform with the SPI Active - Level 1 Application is the perfect tool to program SPI memory devices. Together, with the Flash Center Software, makes programming EEPROM and SPI flash devices as easy as one click, allowing you to erase, program, and verify an entire device.
Figure 1: Flash Center SoftwareBefore programming a memory device with the Promira platform ,it’s helpful to understand the different operations provided by Flash Center Software. There are three programming modes: Program + Verify, Program; Program; and Program (No Erase). Additionally, Flash Center offers Read Device, Verify, and Erase operations. Following is a summary of these modes:
- Program + Verify - Writes data to one or more attached memory devices and then reads back the data to verify it for correctness. If the device is an SPI Flash, an erase cycle will be performed first. The erase will cover only those sectors, which will be written.
- Program - Writes data to the device, but does not perform the verification step. If the device is an SPI Flash, an erase cycle will be performed first, with the same caveats as Program + Verify.
- Program (No Erase) - A special mode for SPI Flash devices. It writes data to the device, but does not perform an erase cycle. This is useful if multiple memory images are to be programmed to the device. verification step.
- Read Device - Reads the contents of the selected device and replaces it in the current contents in the data buffer.
- Verify - Verifies the contents of the selected devices against the contents of the data buffer.
- Erase - Allows the user to erase the entire memory device or allows the erasure of portion of it. For partial erasure, users can specify the start addresses and length in the erase parameters dialog as either a decimal value or as a hexadecimal value.
In addition to easy-to-use commands with an extensive XML-based library, the Flash Center Software directly supports programming a large number of I2C and SPI devices. This built-in support is regularly updated, and the files can be customized for special I2C or SPI devices that are not directly supported.
Want to learn more? This knowledge base article, Programming an SPI Flash Using the Promira Serial Platform and the Flash Center Software, provides examples of how easy it is to program an SPI flash and view the results through the Flash Center Software panel.
Figure 2: Flash Center Software GUI PanelAdditional resources that you may find helpful include the following:
- Promira Serial Platform User Manual
- Flash Center Software User Manual
- Programming an SPI Flash Using the Promira Serial Platform and the Flash Center Software
If you have questions about our Promira Serial Platform or other Total Phase products, feel free to email us at sales@totalphase.com, or if you already own one of our devices and have a technical question, please submit a request for technical support.