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MSP-GANG: Possibel to put programmer connections into high-impedance state

franziskus
Expert 8319 points
Part Number: MSP-GANG
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MSP430FR6988

Team,

my customer is using the MSP-GANG to program 8x MSP430FR6988 in parallel in their own application via JTAG.

Due to mechanical reasons it would be an advantage to leave the MSP-GANG connected during production tests. However, this affords the programmer connections to be put into high-impedance state, so it looks like the programmer is not connected.

It looks like the programmer IOs can be put into high-impedance state.
Is this also possible for Vcc and GND connections?

Thanks!

  • 0
    TI__Guru**** 217467 points
    Hello Franziskus,

    I am fairly certain that this is not possible based on SLAU358 but will allow our MSP-GANG expert to further comment on the matter. Could your customer power the MSP430 devices through a voltage supply instead of the MSP-GANG? The VCC sense and GND pins would still need to be connected.

    Regards,
    Ryan
  • 0
    TI__Guru* 77991 points
    Hi FRAMziskus (awesome screen-name!),

    I would like to better understand the goal here, so I have a few questions:
    1. When you say leaving the MSP-GANG connected, you mean keeping it connected to the target device?
    2. Is the idea to be able to swap out devices in sockets for programming while keeping the sockets connected to the MSP-GANG so that you never have to mechanically disconnect anything between devices?
    3. OR, is the idea to be able to perform a series of tests on the same device but you need to be able to power cycle the parts between tests without disconnecting things?

    If you are using the DLL, I think you can disable Vcc to the targets. If you see www.ti.com/.../slau358 the MSPGANG_Set_IO_State function, there are bits for disabling Vcc to the targets in addition to putting IOs in high impedance state. Is the customer already using the DLL as part of their production flow, or are they using the GUI? Even with the GUI, I believe Vcc is only provided during the programming cycle and disabled after programming unless you set the "Finish Action" to provide Vcc for some certain amount of time to allow the device to run. But this could also be pretty easily tested with a multimeter.

    Regards,
    Katie
  • 0 in reply to Katie Pier
    TI__Expert 8319 points
    Hi Katie, Hi Ryan,
    thanks for your support.

    Concerning your questions:
    1) Yes, I mean keeping the MSP-GANG programmer connected to the target device on the customer's custom board.
    2) & 3) The idea is to have in-circuit programming of 8 MSP devices with the MSP-GANG programmer. Those same devices need to be tested after programming, ideally with the MSP-GANG still being connected (although it is not needed for those tests).
    This would be the easiest solution from a mechanical point of view.
    During testing, the MSP-GANG should act as if it was not connected, i.e. all connnections in high-impedance state.

    Regards
  • 0 in reply to franziskus
    TI__Guru* 77991 points

    Hi Franziskus,

    As mentioned above, I think this should definitely be possible using the MSP-GANG DLL, using the API that I mentioned in my post above, but I am less sure about the GUI. Is the customer already using the DLL or have concerns about using that? There are DLL examples found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Texas Instruments\MSP-GANG\Examples for C, C#, and C++.

    Regards,

    Katie

  • 0 in reply to Katie Pier
    TI__Expert 8319 points
    Hi Katie,
    this is very helpful for my customer, thanks!

    The only remaining questions is how to handle the ground connection.
    Do you have any idea?
  • 0 in reply to franziskus
    TI__Guru* 77991 points
    Hi FRAMziskus,

    Good question - I'm checking with our MSP-GANG designer about any further considerations we can take. It may be a little while before I have a response.

    Regards,
    Katie
  • 0 in reply to Katie Pier
    TI__Guru* 77991 points
    I got this response:
    "All data I/O can be set to tri-state, but tri-state is not infinite. It is very weak resistance 1 M connected to each I/O.
    The Vcc is disabled, but pull down resistance 20k connected to Vcc. Ground of course is permanently connected.
    "

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