TM4C123BH6ZRB: Getting Production Ready

Surely your fellows will respond shortly yet I'd like to confirm that your "10 pin ARM connector" employs dual rows, 0.050" pin pitch and includes (both) external JTAG pull-up resistors as well as small series resistors - imposed between your  "10 pin" header & the MCU.

Depending upon the, "Size of your production run" different programming methods are available. The "Gold Standard" would see one program - feeding one cable - with "drops" for multiple, chained boards - yielding the fastest & least physically taxing, programming effort.

"One at a time" board programming is fairly standard - although after the 20th or so board completes - so too, the interest & attention of he/she - assigned such repetitive duty.     Use of an "over-designed, rock-solid, uninterruptable" power supply is highly recommended to insure highest programming through-put...   (you do not want a "lost-power crash" during the programming sequence...)

And - as the completed board has reached its maximum monetary value - you must continue to enforce, "High ESD Handling/Transport Standards" - "before, during and after" board programming completes...

Akash Patel said:

How do we program the device when time comes for production (which software/hardware tool)?

That depends on volume and the kind of program you have.

For high volume at least you can do it in your ICT. ICT setups usually (?) have the ability to program devices. Or you can have them pre-programmed by a service company.

If you are doing functional test then you can also do it in the functional test jig. The test sequence becomes

1. Program the device with the test program
2. Perform functional test
3. If the board passes program the device with the release S/W
   • Depending on how sophisticated the setup is, this is when you also program a serial number and any calibration constants.

As far as hardware, look at Segger. Besides the standard J-Link they have devices designed specifically for programming only.

Akash Patel said:

Which file format should we have in order to do this?

Almost every tool will accept binary and hex. Most will accept both Intel and Motorola Hex. There's often a list of other formats as well.

Robert