How are surface mount Xilinx SPROMs programmed?

[Jayson]

I recently saw a board featuring a Xilinx FPGA and a sufrace mount SPROM, I was wondering how are the SPROMs programmed?

Can an SPROM be programmed through Xilinx Impact and using one of the available modes? Or does it always need an external programmer?

- Jayson

 

[maestor]

Hi Jayson,

You program the SPROM via JTAG with IMPACT. You can also program them with a programmer before fitting it on the board.

What we usually do is FPGA + re-programmable PROM + JTAG + Impact for prototypes. After testing the board and being happy with your FPGA code then the boards go to manufacturing and the PROM is replaced for an OTP (one-time-programmable) PROM (which is much cheaper) and is preprogrammed with a programmer before being fitted to the board.

Regards,
Maestor