allegro ASEK-20 and ASEK71240 Daughterboard User Manual

allegro ASEK-20 and ASEK71240 Daughterboard

Introduction

This quick guide documents the use of the ACS71240 daughterboard (TED-0002385) and the ASEK-20 (Part #85- 0540-004) with the Allegro ACS71240 samples programmer. The ASEK-20 chassis can be seen in Figure 1, and the top and bottom layers of the ASEK-20 ACS1240 daughterboard can be seen in Figure 2. See the Appendix section for the ASEK71240 Daughterboard Schematic.

Downloading the Programmer

1. Register for software on the Allegro Software Portal: https://registration.allegromicro.com/login.
2. Ensure that the ASEK-20 being used has the most recent firmware downloaded. Refer to the ASEK-20 firmware webpage (https://registration.allegromicro.com/parts/ASEK-20) and the ASEK-20 quick guide under “Support Files” on the ASEK-20 firmware webpage.
3. After registering and logging in to the software portal, the dashboard page will be shown. Choose the “Find a Part” button highlighted in Figure 3.
4. Click “Find a Part” to go to the “Available Parts & Software” page.
5. Search for “ACS71240” in the “Select by Part Number” search bar shown in Figure 4.
6. Click “View” next to the ACS71240 search result as shown highlighted in Figure 5.
7. Click “Download” next to the first result to open the Programming Application ZIP file as highlighted in red in Figure 6.
8. Open and extract the downloaded ZIP file and save to a known location.
9. Open the extracted ZIP file and open the folder “Allegro ACS71240 Samples Programmer V#”.
10. Open the “Allegro ACS71240 Samples Programmer” application file (EXE file extension) to open the samples programmer.

Connecting ASEK-20 to PC and ASEK71240 Daughterboard

1. Connect one end of the USB communications cable to the USB port of a personal computer.
2. Connect the other end of the USB communications cable to the “USB” port on the ASEK-20 chassis.
3. Connect a ribbon cable to the “J2” connector on the left-hand side of the ACS71240 daughterboard.
4. Connect the other end of the ribbon cable to the “Device Connection” port on the ASEK-20 chassis as shown in Figure 8.
5. Connect the DC Power Supply/Cable to the 5 V port on the ASEK-20 chassis.
6. Plug in the DC Power Supply to a 110/220 AC 60/50 Hz outlet with the appropriate power adapter.

Using the Programmer Connecting to the ASEK-20

To connect the ASEK-20, click “Setup” “Communication Setup”. The dialog box in Figure 10 will appear. Click the correct COM# in the pulldown menu next to COM Port. If the COM port is unknown, do the following:

1. Unplug the USB cable to the ASEK-20.
2. Click “Refresh” in the “Communication Setup” dialog window as highlighted in blue in Figure 10.
3. Click on the “COM Port” pulldown menu.
4. Note which ports are in the menu.
5. Plug the USB cable back into the ASEK-20.
6. Click “Refresh”.
7. Click the “COM Port” popup menu again.
8. Note the COM port not previously listed in the menu; this is the port connected to the ASEK-20.
9. Select this COM port to use. Once the correct COM port is selected and the ASEK-20 is connected to the PC, verify next to “Communication” the status of the ASEK-20.

Status Bar

The green or red colored rectangle on the right side of the status bar shown highlighted in red in Figure 11 indicates the status of the communication with the ASEK. If the status bar is red, the communication is not active and if green, the application is communicating with the ASEK. The COM port that is currently set is overlaid on the colored rectangle. Clicking on the rectangle will open the Communication setup dialog window.

Turning the Part ON and OFF

To power-on the part using the ASEK-20, click “Power On” on the right-hand side of the programmer as show in red in Figure 12.

Once the part is powered on, values for “VCC [V]” and “ICC [mA]” will populate with the measured values. Verify that the voltage is what is desired and that the device is consuming approximately 10 mA (maximum of 12 mA). To read the output of the ACS71240, select “Read Output” highlighted green in Figure 12. Verify the Output [V] is a reasonable number, around 2.5 volts with zero external field applied if testing a bidirectional part with 5 volts typical VCC (0.5 volts with zero external field applied for a unidirectional device). To turn the part off, select “Power Off” to the left of “Power On”, highlighted in blue in Figure 14 above. Clicking “Power Off” will cause ICC to fall to ≈ 0 mA.

Reading from and Writing to the Part

Note before reading and writing to the part, the part must be connected and powered on using the programmer GUI.
It is recommended that the user save the memory to a tabular file before experimenting with programming so the user can return the device to its original factory programmed state if necessary. See the Saving and Loading Memory Files section below. To read a field, select the desired field by checking the box under “Select” to the left of the register name and click the “Read Selected” button highlighted in red in Figure 15. To write to a field, select the desired field by checking the box under “Select” to the left of the name. Change the value under “Code” to the desired value and press Enter. Click “Write Selected” button highlighted in blue in Figure 15. To verify that field was written to the device, do the following: click “Clear Selected” causing the values in the “Code” and “Value” cells to disappear. Then click “Read Selected”. The values that were written will reappear in the “Code” and “Value” cells verifying the user correctly wrote to the part.

Below, each option on the programmer menu has been briefly defined

• Read Selected: reads value of the selected field.
• Write Selected: writes entered value to the part.
• Zero Selected: this option will zero the selected field but will not write zero to the device unless “Write Selected” is clicked.
• Clear Selected: this option will hide and clear the value of the selected field but will not change the value.
• Select All: selects all fields.
• Deselect All: deselects any and all selected fields.

Note that clicking on the name of a selected field will define the field to the user. Hovering over a field with the PC cursor will tell the user the address of that field

Accessing the Register Diagram

To access the register diagram, hover over “Help” on the menu bar. Select “ACS71240 Register Diagram”. This will open a dialog window identical to the window in Figure 18 below. See the appendix section below for a larger register diagram.

Manchester Programming Protocol

Under “Setup” “Device Setup…”, the dialog menu in Figure 16 below will appear. In this menu, the user can change various characteristics of the Manchester programming protocol used by the ASEK-20. To restore these settings to their default settings, click “Restore Defaults” as highlighted in red in Figure 16.

Below, each Manchester option has been briefly defined

• Program Enable [V]: used to set the voltage for the Program Enable.
• Serial Pulse High Level [V]: used to set the voltage for the high level of the Manchester signal.
• Serial Pulse Low Level [V]: used to set the voltage for the low level of the Manchester signal.
• Slew Rate [V/μs]: used to set the speed at which the Manchester signal will take to get from one voltage to another.
• Speed [kb/s]: used to set the bit rate for communication with the ASEK.
• Threshold [V]: used to set the threshold for determining the difference between a 1 and a 0 when performing register read.
• Initial Commands: used for commands that must be sent to the ASEK-20 when it is being initialized.

The ACS71240 uses a bidirectional communication on VOUT. When the voltage on the VCC pin is increased beyond the programming threshold, the device will enter programming mode (see Figure 17). Note the ACS71240 does not initiate communication; it responds to commands from the external controller. If the command is a write, there is no acknowledging from the ACS71240. If the command is a read, the ACS71240 responds by transmitting the requested data. To initialize any communication, VCC should be increased to a level above VprgL (6.5 V) without exceeding VprgH (9.2 V). At this time, VOUT is disabled and acts as an input.

Saving and Loading Memory Files

To save the memory as a tabular data file or text file, click “Save…” in the bottom right side of the GUI as highlighted in red in Figure 19. Clicking “Save…” will open a file explorer where the user can save the memory information as a CSV file or TXT file. Saving the memory is recommended before experimenting with programming so the user can return the device to its original factory-programmed state if necessary. The user can also save the memory by clicking “File” “Save Memory…”. To load a previously saved file containing memory information, click “Load…” as highlighted in green in Figure 19 below. Clicking “Load…” will open a file explorer where the user can navigate to a previously saved CSV or TXT file. The user can also load a memory file by clicking “File” “Load Memory”.

Appendix

Revision History

Copyright 2021, Allegro MicroSystems.
The information contained in this document does not constitute any representation, warranty, assurance, guaranty, or inducement by Allegro to the customer with respect to the subject matter of this document. The information being provided does not guarantee that a process based on this information will be reliable, or that Allegro has explored all of the possible failure modes. It is the customer’s responsibility to do sufficient qualification testing of the final product to ensure that it is reliable and meets all design requirements. Copies of this document are considered uncontrolled documents.

For the latest version of this document, visit our website: www.allegromicro.com

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References

• Allegro Customer Portal | Allegro MicroSystems

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