Answers Database


XPLA PC-ISP Programmer: Which download cable is needed to program an ISP CoolRunner CPLD.


Record #7587

Product Family: Software

Product Line: CoolRunner

Product Part: XPLA ISP

Problem Title:

XPLA PC-ISP Programmer:	Which download cable is needed to program an ISP CoolRunner CPLD. 


Problem Description:
Urgency: Standard

General Description: Which download cable is needed to program an
ISP CoolRunner CPLD?


Solution 1:

The XPLA PC-ISP software supports three different download cables,
the CoolRunner CPLD download cable, the Xilinx JTAG Parallel download
cable, and the Altera Byte-Blaster download cable. The XPLA PC-ISP
Programmer software will automatically detect and configure for a
specific cable.

The above cables will work in the ISP mode of configuration
for the Coolrunner products, however the CoolRunner CPLD
download cable supplied by Philips will no longer be sold by Xilinx.

The XPLA PC-ISP software will continues to support the
CoolRunner download cable to support existing CoolRunner
customers. For new customers the recommended cable is the
Xilinx JTAG Parallel download cable.


** Note: The XPLA2 family of CoolRunner CPLDs
are SRAM-based and support common FPGA-like
configuration modes such as slave serial, master
serial, etc. The most common way to configure
XPLA2 devices is by using a serial or parallel PROM
on the board. However, a download cable that
supports programming of XPLA2 CPLDs via the
slave serial configuration mode is in development.




End of Record #7587 - Last Modified: 02/07/00 15:06

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