CC3200: Customize CC3200 serial flash programming header

Dennis Wang22

Part Number: CC3200

Hi
I am building a custom design based on CC3200 reference desgin. According to the production line guide, serial flash can be programmed either over UART or directly through SPI. I am quite interested in the SPI method. Would it be possible to use a programmer (such as TL886II) and connect a ICSP cable to the serial flash? I didn't see a ICSP header on the CC3200 Launchpad, and my impression of ICSP pins is not quite the same as SPI pins, so I would like to confirm if ICSP pins can be used to connect to the SPI pins of serial flash (M25PX80).

Thanks,
Dennis

over 5 years ago

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

Unfortunately, headers or test points were not tied to the serial flash on the CC3200 LaunchPad so that developers could experiment with this type of programming. However, if you provision for this on a custom board, then yes, you can program the serial flash via SPI this way.

BR,

Seong

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Seong Kim

Intellectual 910 points

Hi Seong,
Thanks for the confirmation. If I may ask further questions...
1. I am thinking to provision a 6-pin ISP header which consists of MISO, MOSI, SCK, GND, VCC, RST.
So I should bring out serial flash's DQ0 as MOSI, DQ1 as MISO, C as SCK to the ISP header, right? But what about chip select (S#) of the serial flash? Should it be brought out to header as well? Which header pin it should be routed to?

2. In this case, Vcc, Vss will connect to my system's 3.3V and ground. W#/Vpp, HOLD# should be tied to 3.3V, right?

3. Although ICSP cable (given by the SPI programmer) also uses 6 pins (Vpp, Vdd, Vss, ICSPCLK, ICSPDAT, AUX/PGM), can it be connected to a 6-pin ISP header mentioned above? How to make the connection? ICSPCLK -> SCK, ICSPDAT -> MOSI, but what about the rest of pins?

Thanks,
Dennis

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

As the diagram in Figure2 shows, all you need are pins or test points to connect to the SPI signals, DI, DO, CLK, and CS. You should decide what type of connector to use based on your SPI programmer. Keep in mind that VBAT and GND must be provided to the serial flash and you'll need a common GND between the serial flash and SPI programmer.
Yes and yes. Pin3 and 7 should be tied to VBAT.
It doesn't matter what connector you use, as long as you're able to tie the signals correctly.

BR,

Seong

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Seong Kim

Intellectual 910 points

Hi Seong,
Thanks for the confirmation on #1 and #2.
Also, please bare with my inexperience on this. Regarding #3, if the available programmer interface is ICSP, the target system needs to have ICSPCLK, ICSPDAT, Vpp, Vdd, Vss, AUX/PGM available as well. However, M25PX80 doesn't have those pins available, so I can't directly connect a ICSP cable to it, right? I need to look for programmer that supports SPI interface, right?

Thanks,
Dennis

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

The M25PX80 is actually not supported by CC3200 anymore since May 2015. See here.

Let's stop using the term ICSP as this only refers to one of the Arduino's programming methods. And when you say ICSP headers, I am sure you are simply referring to the 3x2 header that is on an Arduino board.

The method you are are interested in is using SPI communication to directly program your serial flash. There are 4 SPI signals, including the Clock, MOSI, MISO, and Chip Select.

On your custom board, you want to bring these signals out to whatever connector you want. It could be a 2x3 header, a 1x6 header, or 6 test points. Anything you can connect your SPI programmer's Clock, MOSI, MISO, and Chip Select signals to as shown in Figure 2 from the Production Line Guide. If your programmer has cables meant to connect to a 2x3 header, then you should add a 2x3 header on your custom board. If there are incompatible headers on your custom board and your programmer, you can use jumper wires to connect them, for example. I wouldn't worry so much about what type of connector you need to use.

Finally, I am not familiar with the TL886II programmer, but I have used the Cheetah SPI programmer to successfully flash a Macronix MX25V8006E before (one of the parts listed here). It is up to you to figure out if the TL886II will work or not. Unfortunately, the CC3200-LAUNCHXL does not bring pins 11, 12, 13 and 14, or the SPI Flash pins out to external headers for testing.

If you have a CC3220x-LAUNCHXL LaunchPad, you can try testing your programmer on this board. On this Launchpad, the SPI Flash signals are brought to the J12 connector. This requires a special connector, so you may need to solder some wires to J12's testpoints.

BR,

Seong

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Seong Kim

Intellectual 910 points

Hi Seong,
Thanks for the detailed explanation.
Even though M25PX80 is not supported, the other type of serial flash still uses SPI interface, so I think having a programmer that supports SPI interface can still be useful.
Because my programmer only uses ICSPCLK, ICSPDAT, Vpp, Vdd, Vss, AUX/PGM to program target devices, so it won't work with M25PX80's SPI pins.
Thanks for recommending the Cheetah SPI programmer. I will consider it for my design.

Dennis

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

Intellectual 910 points

Hi Seong,
While we are on this topic, I recalled that some serial flash vendor can pre-program serial flash before assembly. Are they on this list? Or do you recommend other vendors to pre-program the serial flash?
http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/CC3100_%26_CC3200_Serial_Flash_Guide#Serial_Flash_Vendor_and_part_number_selection

Thanks,
Dennis

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

Reach out to those vendors on the list and they will be able to assist you.

BR,

Seong

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Seong Kim

Intellectual 910 points

Got it, thanks a lot for the help

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

Intellectual 910 points

Hi Seong,
I am going through the list to find the serial flash alternatives, and realize that some of them are also discontinued.
I came across the following options, MX25V8006EM1I- 13G, AT25SF081-SSHD-B, MX25R8035FM1IL0 and W25Q80JVSNIQ. May I confirm with you if they are ok?

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/winbond-electronics/W25Q80JVSNIQ/W25Q80JVSNIQ-ND/6193771
https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=MX25R8035FM1IL0%20

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/macronix/MX25V8006EM1I-13G/1092-1118-ND/2744801

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/adesto-technologies/AT25SF081-SSHD-B/1265-1176-5-ND/4901551

Thanks,
Dennis

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

In terms of specifications, any of the serial flash devices you listed will work. What you need to consider is the memory size which will depend on your application image size as well as the size of the system files you will be storing. See the section "Flash minimal size".

You should also ensure that the serial flash you decide to use supports the commands listed under "Supported flash types".

BR,

Seong

0 Dennis Wang22 over 5 years ago in reply to Seong Kim

Intellectual 910 points

Got it, thanks!
May I know if there is a speed requirement for serial flash?

0 Seong Kim over 5 years ago in reply to Dennis Wang22

TI__Mastermind 46081 points

Dennis,

No. But keep in mind that the CC3200's max SPI clock frequency is 20MHz, so choose a serial flash that has a max clock frequency that is greater than 20MHz.

BR,

Seong

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CC3200: Customize CC3200 serial flash programming header