EMBEDDED-PROGRAMMING

Each product that has an embedded CC3120/CC3220 device on board must also have a serial flash device connected. The serial flash must be formatted and, at minimum, be programmed with the Service Pack that contains necessary software updates and additional features. In the case of CC3220, a binary image running on the internal MCU processor must also be programmed. There are several existing options for serial flash programming:

• Uniflash – A PC based utility offering Image creation and programming. Content is programmed via UART.
• Over The Air programming – Content is delivered through a network connection. However, this requires the serial flash to be formatted in advance during production. Content is programmed via the host interface (UART or SPI).
• Industrial Flash Programming – flashing a complete image prepared with Uniflash directly to the serial flash. Can be applied when no simplelink device is attached to the serial flash. Content is programmed via the serial flash SPI lines.

The new Embedded Programming is an additional option that leverages the programming feature of Uniflash, but eliminates the need of a PC. Image Programming tool and source code can be leveraged by customers and used as a reference to implement their own PC tool, program an external programmer on production line, or embed it into their product. The primary use of this tool is for some production line setups that may not have a connected PC, but an embedded device (e.g. MCU, FPGA, DSP, etc) for programming instead. Note that this tool is not a replacement for Uniflash. Some key feature differences includes:

• Uniflash has more functionalities that just image programming
• The embedded programming implements just a subset of options exposed in boot loader. Uniflash uses all.
• An image needs to be prepared before applying Embedded Programming, and this image can only be created with Uniflash.
• The source code of this Embedded Programming is provided for custom implementation.