Having chosen a FlexProbe, Remote Connect or Ribbon Cable to 'physically' connect to your target, you then must 'map' those connections correctly. There are two main reasons for this:
• Emulator manufacturers have all chosen arbitrary pin arrangements and connector types for their products.
• JEDEC has, for the most part, established 'physical' standards for devices, but they have little or no control over the actual pin assignments that chip makers use.
There are four solutions available to you:
• Design your product with a connector mounted 'remotely' from the target device, matching the pinout of your emulator. This approach has definite disadvantages.
• Design and fabricate a custom adaptor board...this usually takes a few weeks.
• Order new firmware and a VCC/Gnd adaptor from your emulator maker...typically a one to two week wait.
• Use a PGM II Remap Adaptor and be emulating in one or two days.
ALPTEX's PGM II is a universal signal mapping adaptor. A bit larger than a business card, it connects between an emulator and a target and remaps all the connections. Many different types and sizes of connectors can be mounted on each end of the PGM II. The most popular configuration has a 60 pin socket on one end and a 60 pin header on the other.
By using a proprietary process, software and CNC machine developed here at ALPTEX, any or all of the pins at one end can be connected to any or all pins at the other. The CNC software normally needs only 2 pieces of information...what emulator are you using, and what memory device are you emulating...15 minutes later the mapping is complete. Our database contains all of the popular emulator and device maps, and when a new one is requested it can be added in minutes. With PGM II, any of about 40,000,000 possible maps can be provided overnight.
Although PGM II's can be made for nearly any existing emulator, the real advantage becomes clear when they are used as a part of our modular "ie" emulator system, because "ie" has a built-in PGM II port. Additionally, our emulator's host software contains a feature which allows the user to define a "map" file in minutes. E-mailing this file to ALPTEX automatically starts the production process. ALPTEX customers do not sit idle for weeks waiting for an adaptor to develop their product.