Does information on how to burn common PLDs/PALs/GALs exist? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 03:26:46 am
content: I bought a couple ofAtmel ATF22V10C PLDsand twoTI TIBPAL16L8 PALsas a quick-decision addition to someone else's Element14 order.My plan was to bit-bang program them with an Arduino and then use them in a hybrid relay+fet H-bridge I've been working on. I did a cursory look at datasheets and guides on the web before buying them -- lots of information from a variety of sources, especially on created the JEDEC files, is available -- so I went for the dive.Lacklustre informationThe parts arrived a few days ago and I have been looking into how to program them. Absolutely no information about the signals you use to burn your logic into the arrays seems to be publicly available. From Atmel's side there is not even an admission that this information does not exist -- it's simply a confusing void, like when you don't know the exact name of what you're Googling for and never find what you are after.Atmel gives you this much:Thereferenced documentonly lists approved programmers, nothing on how they are actually programmed. Older documents for previous models such as the eeprom-based ATF22V10 share the same lack of information. They also have aswathe of "how to" and introductory guidessimilarly empty of relevant information, such as aUsing programmable Logic Devicesguide.Solving the problemTI atleast tells you that you can try contacting them or their distributors:I'm going to try this but I presume it won't work out. Something along the lines of needing to pay for this information or the fact I'm just a smelly hobbyist.The 'proper' option is to buy an approved programmer, but these cost triple-digit figures. This is far to steep for a student wanting to make a couple of their own boards for fun.Have I missed some vitally important information? At the moment I'm presuming I was silly and bought some NDA necessary chips. Does anyone have any CPLDs/etc they can recommend with documented programming interfaces?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 05:09:24 am
content: Yes it does, unfortunately much of it has been delinked from the Internet. I remember coming across a scanned PDF containing more details before, but seem to have lost it now.Here are some links I could find:http://web.archive.org/web/19961227102015/http://www.paranoia.com/~filipg/HTML/LINK/F_pal_gal.htmlhttp://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ti/_dataBooks/1986_The_TTL_Data_Book_Vol_4.pdfhttp://elm-chan.org/works/pgal/report_e.htmlhttp://www.armory.com/~rstevew/Public/Pgmrs/GAL/algo.htmhttp://www.piclist.com/techref/postbot.asp?by=time&id=piclist\1998\06\18IIRC some of the newer EEPROM devices are programmed like an SPI EEPROM, i.e. via a serial interface. You may have to do some reverse-engineering...

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 05:25:16 am
content: Here it is... the horrible scan quality was how I remembered this one:http://www.ti.com.cn/hirel/docs/midlevelcontent.tsp?sectionId=601&tabId=2359

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 06:16:41 am
content: Thankyou amyk and evb149, this is amazing!TI side: just what I'm afterAtmel side: I'll start reading into this code.

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 06:39:47 am
content: Quote from: evb149 on March 21, 2015, 05:08:23 amYes. I went for the absolute cheapest Element14 stocked in a DIP package. I will check out your suggestions.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 10:54:57 pm
content: QuoteThere are the "unapproved" programmers, like the TL866 Dave reviewed some time ago:

author: chickenHeadKnob
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2015, 11:40:15 pm
content: I haven't bought my GAL's yet but was planning to use my Minipro after I saw they listed Atmel 16v8 devices. Well this thread prompted me to wonder if it actually worked, one google it later and:From the Minipro review threadRe: Support for Atmel GALs?« Reply #346 on: January 25, 2014, 07:09:27 AM »Quote

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 12:29:27 am
content: Try finding the MMI pal handbook as a pdf file. MMI Invented these things. Their handbook had the algorithms in it. For gal's you need to look at lattice. Some can be programmed over a printerport with a simple circuit.