What kind of programming method should PCB manufacturer

choose?

PCB manufacturer processing technology has become increasingly mature, with a wide range of applications, playing a key role in today's various intelligent devices.

PCB manufacturer in order to realize the function of the intended design, in addition to the excellent hardware, there is necessary for software or program matching support. Then the question comes: How can the program be run through the IC and how it is "moved"? ?

I believe many people have already guessed that the answer is programming. The process of moving the program into the internal storage space of the chip which is generally divided into offline programming and online programming.

Offline programming

PCB manufacturers are compatible with various packages of chips through different adapters, and the chips can be used with adapters to achieve programming. The adapter itself is a precision fixture. Different adapters are required for different chips and different packages.

Nowadays, the wide range used package Emmc chips is developed in the direction of small and flat BGA, QFP, etc., and the price of the adapters of such packages is not low.

If the PCB manufacturer makes a mistake in the production test and re-corrects the production backtracking, it is necessary to remove the chip from the adapter and re-program according to the prescribed process, which is time consuming and laborious, and the cost is high. There are some unexpected situations while the pcba is processed and produced. If the temperature resistant of the circuit board is not high enough, the chip will be deformed when the chip is removed, which increases the risk of scrapping.

Online programming

The online programming uses the standard chip communication bus, such as USb, SWD, JTAG, uart, etc. The interface is generally fixed, and the number of pins to be connected during programming is also less. As the interface communication rate is not high, the general cable can be used for burning without high consumption.

Since the online program is programmed by wire connection, if the PCB manufacturer finds an error during the production test, the PCBA can be traced back and re-programmed without disassembling the chip. Not only saves production costs, but also increases the efficiency of programming.

More importantly, the production line is now developing towards in the direction in automation. More and more manufacturers are increasing functional test machines such as ICT and FCT to the production line. The production method using automatic fixtures and online programming can be omitted manual operation in the programming stage , directly programmed after the board is mounted, and then the PCBA is sent to the test machine for testing, and the entire production process is fully automated, which can greatly improve the production efficiency.

Therefore the advantages of online programming are significant during the  pcb manufacturers’ pcb manufacturing,, and it has become one of the important indicators in the industry to measure PCBA manufacturers' technics precision, production efficiency, cost, quality control, scale, and capital.