TMS320F28379S: Change SCIBOOT mode to use alternate IO

Hi Andy,

Thanks! Ok you may consider the following ideas.

1. Configure the target for SCI boot
2. Program the application into Flash via SCI
3. Once the programming is done, launch the application by jumping into the entry point of the application in Flash.

You may consider developing a simple monitor program that asks a few simple questions.
Upon startup, the monitor waits for a pre-determined period of time (say 5 secs) for user input
to see if there is a request for an application update to be made in Flash. If yes, the Flash update
is started and the application is launched.

If the answer is “no” or there is no response, the monitor simply launches an existing application
If there is one programmed in Flash. If there is no application in Flash, it continues to wait in the monitor.
This is a very simple monitor performing a very simple task.

You may consider additional ideas for your design. For example, the 5 second startup latency may not be acceptable
for your system. In this case, once the application is programmed into Flash, you simply launch the application
immediately on startup. If this option is chosen, then how do you update Flash at a later date? To address
future updates, the application will need to support accepting a user command by some means to return
to the monitor because there is a pending flash update.

Also keep in mind that when programming Flash, you must design the methodology in such a manner that you
never “brick” :-) the target/product. This means, an error in doing the flash update should not cause a
permanent failure in your target/product. You should always be able to recover.

So let us define the potential problem a bit. Let us say that your application cannot afford the 5 sec delay
In startup and you decide that the monitor will immediately launch the application upon startup.
You design in the necessary hooks into the application so it knows how to return to the monitor for a
Potential flash update in the future. Sometime in the future you use this approach and do a flash update.
Except this time, there is some sort of a problem during the programming ( a power glitch or whatever),
And the flash update fails during the course of the update. The programming stops and you think it is done
with the update. You power cycle the target, the application is immediately launched but gets lost part
way through execution. You cannot command the application to return to the monitor because the
app is no longer working as designed.

I will leave it to you to think about ways on how to recover from this type of a problem.

I hope this feedback is adequate to stimulate thought on how to go about with the design of your system.
Please do not hesitate to ask if you need further assistance.

Cheers!
Krishna