News Release from: Cypress Semiconductor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 26 November 2003
Software upgrade speeds CPLD programming
Cypress Semiconductor has developed a new version of its ISR in-system reprogrammable software for CPLDs.
Note: Readers of the Editor’s free email newsletter will have read this news when it was announced. . It’s free!
Cypress Semiconductor has developed a new version of its ISR in-system reprogrammable software for CPLDs. ISR refers to the ability to reprogram Cypress CPLDs even when they are mounted on a circuit board. Cypress has also released a new development kit (CY3950I), featuring a USB 2.0/1.1 programming cable, which enables up to ten times improvement in programming speed over previous versions of the ISR software.
These recent additions, combined with Cypress's Warp Release 6.3 software, round out the company's full arsenal of tools to support its Ultra37000 and Delta39K CPLD families.
In addition to supporting the world's largest CPLDs, ISR Release 4.0 adds a new layer of capabilities and compatibility by supporting the Serial Vector Format (SVF).
SVF is a widely adopted industry standard used to describe Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) signals in a more compact way than Standard Test and Programming Language (STAPL), making it more suitable in certain embedded programming applications.
ISR Release 4.0 also extends its JEDEC STAPL support by adding the ability to create chain independent (CI) STAPL files.
The ability to create CI STAPL files, in addition to the STAPL chain dependent files supported by previous versions of ISR, provides further compatibility with third party JTAG tools.
New features present in ISR Release 4.0 include improved chain validation functionality as well as a new checksum operation, designed to guarantee programming file integrity.
ISR Release 4.0 supports Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 or later.
"Cypress has long history of providing designers with the best tool set possible", says Gahan Richardson, Senior Marketing Manager of Data Communications products for Cypress Semiconductor.
"With this major increase in performance for our CPLD tools, we've significantly reduced design time, resulting in faster time-to-market for our customers".
ISR Release 4.0 reduces design time in several ways.
The latest release eliminates the need to recompose the STAPL file before executing a new STAPL operation.
A more user friendly GUI detects all devices connected in the JTAG chain and automatically populates the GUI with these devices.
Additionally, ISR Release 4.0 supports a new playlist feature that allows multiple operations to be specified in a playlist; these operations can then be executed consecutively on a single or multiple devices in the JTAG chain.
As with earlier versions of ISR, Release 4.0 may be downloaded free from the Cypress website.
The development kit (CY3950I) is available now from the Cypress online store for $99.
• Cypress Semiconductor: contact details and other news
• Other news in Design and Development Software
• Email this news to a colleague
•
• RSS news feed for Cypress Semiconductor
• RSS news feed for Design and Development Software
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Copyright © 2000-2006 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK. Based on news supplied by Cypress Semiconductor - Subject: ISR Release 4.0