PCB Tech - How is the PCBA program "moved" into the chip

PCBA processing technology has become increasingly mature, with a wide range of applications, and it plays a key role in various intelligent equipment today. In order for the circuit board to achieve the intended design function, in addition to the hardware in place, the matching support of the software and the program is indispensable. Then the question is: how can the program be run through the IC, and how can it be "moved" in?

The answer is "burning". Burning, the process of moving the program into the internal storage space of the chip, is generally divided into offline burning and online burning.

Offline burning

Compatible with different packaged chips through various adapters, and only when the chip and the adapter are used together can the program be burned. The adapter itself is a precision fixture, and different chips and different packages require different adapters.

At present, the packaging of chips such as Emmc, which is widely used, is developing in the direction of miniaturization and planarization such as BGA and QFN, and the price of adapters of this type of packaging is not low.

If there is an error during the production test, the production retrospective re-correction requires the chip to be removed from the adapter and re-programming in accordance with the prescribed process, which is time-consuming, laborious, and costly. There will be some unexpected situations during PCB processing and production, such as insufficient temperature resistance of the circuit board, and the chip will be deformed when the chip is disassembled, which will invisibly increase the risk of scrap.

Online burning

Online programming uses the chip's standard communication bus, such as USB, SWD, JTAG, UART, etc. The interface is generally fixed, and there are fewer pins that need to be connected during programming. Because the interface communication rate is not high, the programming can be completed by using ordinary wires without high consumption.

Since online programming is performed by wire connection, if an error is found during the production test, the PCBA that has the error can be traced back immediately, and the program can be re-programmed without disassembling the chip. It not only saves production costs, but also increases the efficiency of programming.

More importantly, the production line is also developing towards automation. More and more manufacturers add ICT, FCT and other functional testing machines to the production line. The production method of using automatic fixtures and online programming can be omitted in the programming stage. Manual operation, burn directly after mounting the board, and then send the PCBA to the testing machine for testing. The entire production process is fully automated, which can greatly improve production efficiency.

Therefore, in PCBA processing, the advantages of online programming are significant, and it has become one of the important indicators in the industry to measure the process accuracy, production efficiency, cost, quality control, scale, and capital of PCBA manufacturers.