JP2002049446A - Download cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that since it is necessary to download circuit data to a PLD for realizing the PLD as a logical device by downloading the circuit data to the PLD connected through a download cable to a computer normally by an exclusive download tool installed in the computer, and it is difficult to confirm whether or not the circuit data are normally downloaded to the PLD by some kinds of download tools, it is necessary to actually operate a printed circuit board on which the PLD is mounted after the completion of downloading, and to light an LED by connecting a signal which is turned to be active after the completion of downloading to the LED for the printed circuit board. SOLUTION: This download cable for connecting a PLD to a device for writing circuit data in the PLD is provided with a means for notifying that the circuit data are normally downloaded to the PLD.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION PLD (Programmable Logic)
The present invention relates to a download cable for a PLD that connects a device and a device that writes circuit data to the PLD. In particular, the download cable is provided with means for notifying that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Ar)
ray) and CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Devic)
In order to realize a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) such as e) as a logic device, it is necessary to download circuit data. As one of the methods, there is a method of downloading circuit data via a download cable for connecting a personal computer and a printed circuit board equipped with a PLD.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a method for downloading circuit data to a PLD. In the figure, 61 is a PLD,
64 is a printed circuit board on which the PLD 61 is mounted, 62 is a computer, and 65 is a storage unit for storing circuit data of the PLD 61, and is connected to the computer 62.
The computer 62 and the PLD 61 are connected by a download cable 63.

The computer 62 has a dedicated download tool 67 for downloading circuit data to the PLD.
Is installed, and the circuit data stored in the storage unit 65 is downloaded to the PLD 61 via the download cable 63 by executing this tool. As a result, the PLD 61 becomes active, and the printed circuit board 64 also becomes operable.

However, the dedicated download tool 67
Some companies are compatible with PLDs and have not been created to notify the operator that all of the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD. In such a case, the operator operates the printed circuit board 64 to check whether the circuit data is normally downloaded to the PLD and checks whether the circuit data is normal.
As shown in the figure, an LED 66 is provided on the printed circuit board 64, and the LED 66 is connected to a signal that becomes active after the download is completed, that is, a download completion signal, and the LED is turned on when the download is completed.

[0006]

As described above, the conventional P
When downloading circuit data to the LD, it may be difficult to check whether the circuit data has been downloaded normally.
The problem is that the printed circuit board must be actually operated after the download is completed, and it is necessary to connect the signal that becomes active after the download is completed to the LED, and perform a work on the printed circuit board so that the LED is turned on. There was a point.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. In a download cable for connecting a PLD and a device for writing circuit data to the PLD, the circuit data is PLD. By providing a means to notify users that a download was successful,
Whether the circuit data has been successfully downloaded to the PLD
It can be easily confirmed.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (1) PLD and circuit data are stored in P
By providing a download completion detection notifying means for notifying that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD in the download cable connecting between the devices that write to the LD, it is easy to determine whether the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD. You can check.

(2) In the download cable described in (1), a signal line connected to the external pin of the PLD indicating that the download of the circuit data has been completed, and the signal line are monitored. An active detection unit for recognizing that the circuit data has been normally downloaded; a display unit for displaying the completion of the download when the completion of the download is recognized by the active detection unit; or a speaker unit for notifying the completion of the download by sound or voice. Is provided, it is possible to easily confirm whether the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

(3) In the download cable according to (1), the data signal is monitored, and when the last data of the circuit data is downloaded, a data end detecting unit that recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded; By providing a display unit for displaying the completion of the download or a speaker unit for notifying the completion of the download by sound or voice when the completion of the download is recognized by the end detection unit, the circuit data is normally downloaded to the PLD. Can be easily confirmed.

(4) In the download cable described in (1), a signal line connected to the external pin of the PLD indicating that the download of the circuit data has been completed, and the signal line are monitored. An active detector for recognizing that the circuit data has been normally downloaded; a data end detector for monitoring the data signal and recognizing that the circuit data has been normally downloaded when the last data of the circuit data has been downloaded; A detection condition switching unit for selecting the detection result of the detection unit or the data end detection unit; and a display unit for displaying the completion of the download when the completion of the download is recognized based on the detection result selected by the detection condition switching unit, or a display unit of the download. By providing a speaker unit that notifies completion by sound or voice, circuit data Or has been successfully downloaded to the PLD can be easily confirmed.

(5) In the download cable according to (2) or (4), a polarity switching unit for switching the polarity of High / Low of a signal line connected to an external pin of the PLD indicating that download of circuit data is completed. Is provided, it is possible to easily cope with the difference in the polarity of the active signal of the external pin of the PLD indicating that the download is completed.

(6) In the download cable described in (3) or (4), by displaying the progress of the display of the completion of the download, it is possible to understand the progress of the download and easily recognize that the download has been completed normally. Can be.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a PLD, 4 is a printed circuit board on which the PLD 1 is mounted, 2 is a computer, and 5 is a storage unit for storing circuit data of the PLD 1 and is connected to the computer 2. The computer 2 and the PLD 1 are connected by a download cable 3.

The download cable 3 is provided with download completion detection notifying means 31 for notifying that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram (1) of one embodiment of the download cable of the present invention. The download cable 3 includes a signal line 311 connected to an external pin of the PLD 1 indicating that the download of the circuit data is completed,
It monitors that signal line 311 and when it becomes active,
An active detection unit 312 that recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded is provided, and a display unit 313 that displays the completion of the download when the completion of the download is recognized by the active detection unit 312 is provided. The display unit 313 uses an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or a liquid crystal panel.

By configuring the download cable in this way, when the circuit data is normally downloaded, the display unit 313,
For example, an LED can be turned on. This allows
It can be easily confirmed that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

Further, instead of the display section 313, a speaker section 314 for outputting a sound or voice as shown by an arrow A
May be provided, and the completion of the download may be notified by sound or voice.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram (2) of one embodiment of the download cable of the present invention. The download cable 3 monitors a signal on a data line 316 through which circuit data flows, and when the last data of the circuit data is downloaded, a data end detection unit 317 that recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded, Detector 31
And a display unit 313 for displaying the completion of the download when the completion of the download is recognized by the control unit 7.

The data end detecting section 317 provides a data length area indicating the data length at the head of the circuit data, and recognizes that the download of the circuit data is completed by transferring the data indicated by the data length. , And a flag indicating the last data at the end of the circuit data,
The transfer of the flag may recognize that the download of the circuit data is completed.

By configuring the download cable as described above, when the circuit data is normally downloaded, the display unit 313 via the data end detection unit 317,
For example, an LED can be turned on. This allows
It can be easily confirmed that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

Further, instead of the display unit 313, a speaker unit 314 for generating a sound or voice may be provided as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 2 to notify the completion of the download by a sound or voice.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram (3) of an embodiment of the download cable of the present invention. The download cable 3 monitors a signal on the data line 316 through which the circuit data flows, and when the last data of the circuit data is downloaded, a data end detection unit 317 that recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded; And a signal line 311 connected to the external pin of the PLD 1 indicating that the download of the
A polarity switching unit 319 for switching the polarity of Low, an active detection unit 312 that monitors an output signal of the polarity switching unit 319 and recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded when it becomes active;
Alternatively, a detection condition switching unit 318 for selecting the detection result of the data end detection unit 317, and a display unit 313 for displaying the completion of the download when the completion of the download is recognized based on the detection result selected by the detection condition switching unit 318. Is provided.

By configuring the download cable in this manner, when the circuit data is normally downloaded, the display unit 313, for example, an LED can be turned on via the data end detection unit 317 or the active detection unit 312. Thus, it can be easily confirmed that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

Further, instead of the display unit 313, a speaker unit 314 for outputting a sound or voice may be provided as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 2 to notify the completion of the download by a sound or voice.

FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram (4) of one embodiment of the download cable of the present invention. The download cable 3 monitors a signal on a data line 316 through which circuit data flows, extracts a data in a data length region at the head of the circuit data, and a data length extraction unit 322, and outputs a signal on the data line 316 through which the circuit data flows. A data number counting unit 321 for monitoring and counting the number of bytes of the circuit data, and a ratio of the number of bytes counted by the data number counting unit 321 to the data length of the circuit data extracted by the data length extracting unit 322 is constantly updated. A display control unit 323 for displaying on the display unit 324 is provided.

The progress display section 324 is indicated by an arrow A in FIG.
The progress is displayed graphically using a liquid crystal panel as shown by, or the LED is turned on as needed to display the progress using a line of LEDs as shown by arrow B You may do so.

By configuring the download cable in this manner, the status of the download of the circuit data is displayed on the progress display section, so that it can be easily confirmed that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD.

[0029]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above, and has the following effects.

Even if it is difficult to confirm whether the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD, it can be easily confirmed that the circuit data has been normally downloaded.

Also, the progress of the download is known,
It is possible to sufficiently recognize that the download has been completed normally.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram (1) of an embodiment of a download cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram (2) of one embodiment of the download cable of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram (3) of one embodiment of the download cable of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram (4) of an embodiment of the download cable of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of downloading circuit data to a PLD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PLD 2 Computer 3 Download cable 4 Printed circuit board 5 Storage part 31 Download completion detection notification means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A download cable for connecting a PLD and an apparatus for writing circuit data to a PLD, wherein a download completion detection notifying means (31) for notifying that the circuit data has been normally downloaded to the PLD is provided. Features download cable. 2. The download cable according to claim 1, wherein the download of the circuit data is completed.
A signal line (311) connected to an external pin of the device; an active detection unit (312) that monitors the signal line (311) and recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded when the signal line becomes active; And a display unit (313) for displaying the completion of the download or a speaker unit (314) for notifying the completion of the download by sound or voice when the completion of the download is recognized by the unit (312). cable. 3. The download cable according to claim 1, further comprising: a data end detecting unit that monitors the data signal and recognizes that the circuit data has been normally downloaded when the last data of the circuit data is downloaded. When the completion of the download is recognized by the data end detecting unit (317), a display unit (313) for displaying the completion of the download or a speaker unit (314) for notifying the completion of the download by sound or voice is provided. Features download cable. 4. The download cable according to claim 1, wherein a PLD indicating that download of the circuit data is completed.
A signal line (311) connected to an external pin of the device; an active detector (312) for monitoring the signal line (311) and recognizing that the circuit data has been normally downloaded when the signal line becomes active; And when the last data of the circuit data is downloaded, the data end detecting unit (317) recognizing that the circuit data has been normally downloaded, and the active detecting unit (312) or the data end detecting unit (317). A detection condition switching unit (3) for selecting a detection result
18) and when the completion of the download is recognized based on the detection result selected by the detection condition switching unit (318), a display unit (313) for displaying the completion of the download or a speaker for notifying the completion of the download by sound or voice. A download cable provided with a section (314). 5. The download cable according to claim 2, wherein the download of the circuit data is completed.
High of the signal line (311) connected to the external pin of
A download cable comprising a polarity switching unit (319) for switching the polarity of / Low. 6. The download cable according to claim 3, wherein display of completion of download is displayed in progress.