Hardware Triggering

To use hardware triggering, you need to select one of the hardware triggers on the Setup screen:

There are four different choices. You can select the NSDSP pin - CTS or RX, and the polarity. Trigger is a transition from low to high or from high to low. NSDS Gang Programmer debounces the signal to allow push buttons as triggers. Therefore, a valid transition requires longer hold times. If the transition is from low to high, there must be at least 200ms in low state followed by 200ms in high state. If the transition is from high to low, there must be 200ms of high state followed by 200ms of low state.

When the programming phase begins, the Programming screen will be displayed:

The Programming screen displays a table where each row represents a single NSDSP. The first column contains NSDSP serial number. The serial numbers are always sorted. The next column shows NSZ data. This column is present only when an NSZ file has been specified during Setup. The third column displays status. The last column is a trigger state. It indicates whether the programmer waits for low or high state.

On this screenshot, CTS low-to-high transition has been selected. Both NSDSPs are connected to push buttons. The push button connected to NSDSP100000000 has not yet been pressed and it is waiting for the low state on CTS. The push button connected to NSDSP100000001 has been pressed and it is waiting for the high state on CTS. When the button is released, the transition will complete and the programming will begin.

When programming is done, an indicator showing success (green) or failure (red) will be displayed in the Status column.

In this example, the programming with NSDSP100000000 succeeded and the status column shows green success indicator. The "NSZ data" column shows 12340106 - this is the serial number programmed to the target device. This number has been removed from the NSZ file and will not be used again. The programmer waits for the next trigger event.

Programming with NSDSP100000001 failed and the corresponding status indicator is red. The "NSZ data" column shows 12340105. This number has been retrieved from the NSZ file, NSDSP Gang Programmer attempted to program it to the target device, but failed. Therefore, this serial number will be re-used. The programmer waits for the next trigger event.

Programming includes full and independent verification. Everything which is written onto the target chip is independently read back and compared to the original. If any difference is found, it is indicated as a failure.

Operations of different NSDSPs are independent and do not interfere with each other. If one of the NSDSPs get disconnected from the computer, the NSDS Gang Programmer will wait for it to be re-connected:

Recommended Operating Sequence

1. Connect all the NSDSPs to the computer through USB ports.

2. Start NSDS Gang Programmer and enter the necessary settings (if not locked).

3. Attach the target device to NSDSP.

4. Click on the push button to trigger the programmer. It is possible to generate the trigger event automatically.

5. Wait until programming is done. Depending on different factors, it may take fraction of a second or several seconds or more.

6. If red failure indicator is shown, either re-try the programming, or replace the target device with a new one and continue with step 4.

7. If green success indicator is shown, mark the target device as programmed. If you need to associate the NSZ number with the target device, record the serial number from the "NSZ data" column.

8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for each connected NSDSP in parallel or in sequence until all the programming is done.