User Manual For Cyclone LC Programmers
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12
AUTOMATIC SERIAL NUMBER MECHANISM
When producing a microcontroller- or microprocessor-based product, it is often useful to program
a unique serial number into the permanent memory (FLASH) of the product.
PEmicro offers a serial number mechanism to automate this process. Each time you issue a
serialization command in the programming software, the current serial number is programmed at a
specified address. In addition, the serial number is incremented to the next available serial number
and saved for future serialized programming operations.
The Cyclone adopts this automatic serial number mechanism for its stand-alone operations. The
user can create a Serial File using PEmicro’s Serialize Utility and then include commands in the
programming sequence of the programming image to implement that Serial File. If needed,
adjustments can later be made to the serial number of a programming image.by using the Cyclone
menu screen (see
Section 5.2.2.3 - Serial Numbers
12.1
Understanding Serialization
The automatic serial number mechanism supports serial numbers from 1 to 16 bytes in length.
Each byte of a serial number ranges between a lower and an upper bound. This approach allows
the individual bytes of the serial number to have distinct properties. Some of the forms these
properties can take are:
Type
Lower Bound (hex)
Upper Bound (hex)
Constant
Constant
Constant
Binary
00
FF
ASCII Printable
20
7E
ASCII Numeric
30
39
ASCII Upper Case Letter
41
5A
ASCII Lower Case Letter
61
7A
Other
XX
YY
Each serial number and its properties are stored in a separate file. Any file name can be used for
the serial number file, however the extension .ser is normally appended because it makes it
simpler to locate the file.
A utility called SERIALIZE has been developed to make it easy to create, visualize, edit, and
maintain these serial number files.
12.2
Serialize Utility
The serialize utility allows the user to create a serial number file with a serial number that is
anywhere from 1 to 16 bytes long. Each byte may be bounded as a full binary or as a Number,
Constant, Alpha Uppercase, Alpha Lowercase, or ASCII printable character. The serial number file
also has a field for a starting hex address that may range from 00000000 to FFFFFFFF. Serial
numbers can be programmed in order or in reverse order.
