VHDL STK500
I’ve been looking for an AVR programmer to clone onto an FPGA, so as to be able to program blank microcontrollers. One with published specifications is Atmel’s STK500, and the advantage it has is that it is widely supported, so any clone would be as well. It seems to be a very flexible programmer, but I haven’t attempted to replicate all of its functionality: for the time being only the ICSP mode interests me, and of that only the bare minimum needed for AVRDude to function. Adding a few of the bulk transfer commands would greatly improve the speed, but that’s for a later date.
AVRDude Settings:
- Programmer: stk500v2
- Baud Rate: 230400
The ICSP protocol requires the programmer be able to turn the power on and off. The Linear Technologies LTC1477 high-side switch is a clean way of doing so, and fits neatly on Digilent’s Pmod™ form factor. A two-row board (connecting to both rows of Pmod pins rather than just one) would have been a better choice, however, as in addition to power and ground there are four other signals needed to program an AVR.
