How does PCBA programming chips?

In order to be able to work normally, in addition to the hardware, the circuit board also needs software. In particular, there are more and more intelligent products, and more and more customization requirements for the program. Therefore, for PCBA processing, it is not only required for hardware processing but also chip burning.

Chip burning is to write the program into the internal storage space of the chip through the burning tool, which is generally divided into offline burning and online burning.

Offline burning

PCBA programmer

The chips are compatible with the chips in different packages through various adapters, and the chips can be used together with the adapters to achieve program burning. The adapter itself is a precision fixture, different adapters are required for different chips and different packages.

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

If there is an error in the production test, need backtrack the product and re-correct it, it is necessary to remove the chip from the adapter and re-burn according to the prescribed process, which are time consuming and laborious, and the cost is high. There are some unexpected situations when the PCBA is processed and produced. If the temperature 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 burning

IC programmer

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

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

More importantly, the production line is now developing towards automation. More and more manufacturers are adding functional test machines such as ICT and FCT to the production line. The production method using automatic fixtures and online burning can save manual operation in the burning stage, directly burned after the board is SMT and assembled, 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, in PCBA processing, the advantages of online burning are significant, and it has become one of the important indicators in the industry to measure PCBA manufacturers' process precision, production efficiency, cost, quality control, scale, and capital.