Device Programming Solutions

Programming Capacity You Control

Sending boards out to be programmed works until it doesn't. Capacity belongs to somebody else's schedule, a firmware revision means another round trip, and your production rate is limited by a queue you cannot see.

Owning the capability removes that dependency. We help you specify and implement in-system programming on your own floor, built into the test system rather than standing beside it — microcontrollers, FPGAs, EEPROMs and flash devices, programmed as part of the test run.

There are two routes and the right one depends on your board and your volumes. A flying probe can program directly through the probes, contacting the programming pads as part of the test sequence. Alternatively a fixture can carry dedicated programmers — PICkits, for example — which suits higher volumes and boards with several devices to load, since multiple programmers can run at once.

• In-system programming of microcontrollers, FPGAs, EEPROMs and flash devices
• Programming directly through the flying probe, with no fixture required
• Fixture-based programming using dedicated programmers such as PICkits
• Full traceability of what was programmed onto which board, held in your records
• Integration alongside ICT, boundary scan and functional test

There is a control argument as well as a throughput one. Firmware is often the most valuable thing on the board. Programming in-house means release images stay inside your building, revisions go live the moment you approve them, and the production record belongs to you rather than arriving as somebody else's report.

The same capability scales. What proves itself at prototype and NPI stage carries into production rather than being replaced once volumes rise.

If you have a programming requirement we have not come across before, we will work through it with you to identify the right approach rather than force it into an existing one.

Call us to discuss your needs and leverage our understanding of test.