January 30, 2008 - The universal, standalone in-system programmer specifically designed for the production environment (FlashRunner) now fully supports Freescale MPC500 devices.

FlashRunner is a high-performance, standalone in-system programmer specific for Flash-based microcontrollers and serial memories. FlashRunner is targeted at production environments, easily integrates into your programming system or Automatic Test Equipment (ATE), and can work either in full standalone mode or controlled by a host system.

FlashRunner boasts programming algorithms that are as fast as target device's memory technology limit. In addition, it offers the flexibility to support a full range of current and future Freescale microcontrollers, including the MPC500 family. The MPC500 family is composed by a high-speed 32-bit Central Processing Unit that contains a floating point unit designed to accelerate the advanced algorithms necessary to support complex applications. High-performance data manipulation capabilities and a large on-chip Flash memory with powerful peripheral subsystems allow for the flexibility to change or upgrade your product late in the production cycle. The MPC500's 32-bit Core--compliant with the PowerPC instruction set architecture--supports a wide range of on-board peripherals and offers excellent functionality and performance. Its high level of flexibility is combined with low development costs and quick time to market cycles. In addition, code compatibility and scalability among the MPC500 family members eases the migration process and offers software reuse between family members. FlashRunner erases, programs and verifies a 448-KB MPC555 device in just 54 seconds.

FlashRunner can function autonomously in standalone mode on a production line using scripts stored on its SD card. In addition, it offers both serial and Ethernet connectivity for host system connection and comes with a Windows utility that allows you to communicate with the instrument and send programming commands, manage SD card files or update the instrument's firmware.

FlashRunner features state-of-the-art electronics to provide you with high integration flexibility in a compact footprint. The following are FlashRunner's main features:

• Fastest programming algorithms (as fast as target device's memory technology limit), approved by silicon manufacturers;
• Easy ATE integration;
• Standalone operations (projects and code images stored on a memory card);
• Also controllable by any host system via RS-232 or Ethernet;
• Supports most ISP protocols (BDM, JTAG, SPI, I2C, MON, ICC, SCI, etc.);
• Flexible, fully configurable;
• Compact and robust design for production environments (optoisolated control signals);
• Data integrity guaranteed (every data transfer to/from the host system or Secure Digital card is CRC tagged).

Moreover, FlashRunner's open architecture makes its firmware easily upgradable to support both new devices and new features.