January 17, 2002 - SofTec Microsystems introduces the ultimate, low-cost yet powerful tool for the STMicroelectronics ST7 family. inDART-ST7F, the in-circuit debugger/programmer which supports the whole ST72F FLASH family (both XFlash and HDFlash devices, from 2.4 to 5.5 V), is now available.

Like previous inDART-ST7 series models, inDART-ST7F takes advantage of STMicroelectronics' STVD7 (STMicroelectronics Visual Debug) Integrated Development Environment and the ISP (In-System Programming) feature to program the FLASH memory of the microcontrollers. Together with STVD7, inDART-ST7F provides users with everything they need to write, compile, download, in-circuit emulate and debug user code. Full speed program execution allows users to perform hardware and software testing in real time. inDART-ST7F is connected to the host PC through an USB port, while the 10-pin probe of the debuggers fit into the target's standard ISP connector. The instrument is powered by the USB bus, so an external power supply is not required.

ISP programming uses a serial protocol to interface a programming tool like inDART. The ISP feature can be implemented with a minimum number of added components and board area impact. inDART-ST7F uses the standard, 10-pin ST7 ISP connector to program and in-circuit emulate the target device.

The ISP feature allows users to update the content of the FLASH program memory while the device is plugged into or soldered to the application board--device removal is not necessary. Likewise, during debugging, the very same target device mounted on the application board is used.

The inDART-ST7 user interface (common to all of the inDART-ST7 series in-circuit debuggers) is based on the ST7 Visual Debug Integrated Development Environment (STVD7). STVD7 enables programs to be executed and stopped where desired, while viewing the memory's contents. It offers the ability to step through and examine code at the C source level and the Assembly instruction level. Users can introduce breakpoints and run or single-step the executable, while viewing the source and observing current program values. All registers and memory locations are accessible for both read and write operations.

The tool is available in the Starter Kit package (standalone debugger/programmer, at $249--a working user application board is required) or in Design Kit packages (starting from $299--which also include a derivative-specific, full-featured experiment board). Each demo board includes DIP-switches, jumpers, LEDs, push-buttons, a potentiometer, prototyping area and a standard ISP connector and can be used for evaluation/experiments in the absence of a target application board.