ASIX Forte PIC Programmer

Forte PIC Programmer

High speed USB In-Circuit Serial programmer from Asix that supports all PIC microcontrollers, including dsPIC. If you need fast programming, then this is the best choice. It includes variable programming voltage (VPP) to support the very latest PIC microcontrollers.

As a bonus, it also supports a wide range of other devices, including AVR, 89S, Xmega, ARM and AVR32 as well as serial EEPROMs and other memory chips. New AVR ATiny devices with UPDI interface are also supported.

Forte Programmer Main Features

• Very fast programmer (30 MHz out, 15 MHz in/out)
• Controlled and powered by USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbps)
• Embedded processor for fast execution of complex operations
• Both synchronous and asynchronous programming algorithms supported, JTAG support
• Supported voltage range 1.8 to 5.5V without any additional accessories
• Able to supply 1.8 to 5.5V to the external target circuit
• Programming voltage auto-set from 7-17V if needed by target device
• Programming interface gives 8 inputs/outputs with individually configurable pull-up/down resistors
• Built-in fast hardware I/O protection which works independently of the PC software
• Overcurrent protection on supply and programming voltage sources
• VDD pin overvoltage protection
• GO button on unit makes repetitive operations fast and easy
• Wide range of supported devices, new software versions with new devices support is freely available from ASIX website
• RoHS and CE compliant
• Command line and DLL support
• Works under Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 (both 32 and 64 bit versions) and Linux (using Wine)
• Includes an 8 way flying lead adapter, 0.1" (2.54mm) pin header connectors
  
• Plus 16-way cable with configurable I/O for more complicated device connection
  

Device Support

Hundreds of devices are supported by the programmer and the list is growing continuously. Moreover, many other parts can be programmed using JTAG Player software included.

• Microchip: PIC microcontrollers All serial programmable devices, which are all PIC, dsPIC, PIC24 and PIC32 chips except a few obsolete types
  Does not support dsPIC33/PIC24 Dual Partition Mode
• Atmel (now Microchip):
  • AVR microcontrollers - all devices which support "SPI Low Voltage Serial Downloading", e.g. ATtiny12, AT90S8535 or ATmega128
  • AVR Microcontrollers with UPDI interface
  • ATxmega microcontrollers all devices which support JTAG or PDI interface, e.g. ATxmega32D4 or ATxmega128B1
  • AVR32 microcontrollers e.g. AT32UC3A1256
  • 8051 microcontrollers all devices which support ISP programming e.g. AT89S8253, AT89LP4052, AT89LP216 or AT89S2051
  • AVR32
• Texas Instruments:
  • MSP430 16-bit microcontrollers with Flash memory
  • CC430 and CCxxxx
  Programming of code protection fuse is supported.
• Dallas/Maxim: 1-Wire
• Cypress: PSoC microcontrollers
• Serial EEPROM and serial Flash memory (variety of vendors) - I2C (24LCxx), Microwire (93LCxx) and SPI (25Cxx, 25Pxx), UNI/O(11LCXXX)
• UNI/O EEPROMs
• STM8 Microcontrollers
• Silicon Labs EFM8
• ARM chips from many manufacturers
• HCS3xx devices
• Great variety of devices with JTAG interface for which it is possible to create a SVF or XSVF file. For example: CPLDs (e.g. Xilinx XC95xx and CoolRunner), FPGA configuration memories (e.g. Xilinx XC18Vxx, XCFxxS, ...), microcontrollers (e.g. ATmega128), etc.

New devices are added when they have been released or when customers request them. Software upgrades are freely available for all users on the internet.

Full Device List in new window

FORTE Package Contents

• FORTE programmer
• ISP cables: ICSPCAB8 and ICSPCAB16
• USB cable (A-B)
• ASIX CD-ROM with documentation, drivers and software
• Quick Start Guide

Asix Multi-UP Program

UP software, which supports both PRESTO and FORTE, is now shipped with Multi-UP program. This is a great piece of software for running up to 4 programmers from one PC, ideal for production.

Multi-UP makes it easy to configure each programmer to program a different target.



Create a project (PPR) in standard UP software for each target combination - device, filenames, fuses etc and save it. Just load this PPR into Multi-UP along with the programmer serial number and in no time you have up to 4 programmers ready to go.

MultiUP can also be used with just one programmer to give an easy programming tool for your production workers.

FORTE versus PRESTO PIC Programmers

PRESTO is an excellent programmer but FORTE is much faster as it uses Hi-Speed USB (480 mbps). It has flexible voltage options to power target from 2.7-5.5V or it can be powered from target. FORTE also has flexible Programming Voltage VPP to support a wider range of microcontrollers, including all the latest PIC devices.

FORTE programs a much wider range of devices including ARM, AVR UPDI chips, STM8 and many more.

Download full PRESTO and FORTE comparision

Other Features

JTAG Player
JTAG Player allows Presto to program devices with a JTAG interface using SVF files. Typical devices include:

• CPLD - Xilinx (XC95xx, CoolRunner, ...), Altera, Lattice and others
• FPGA Configuration Memories - Xilinx (XC18Vxx, XCFxxS) and similar types by other vendors
• FPGAs - this is suitable especially during development because the FPGA internal SRAM programming takes much less time than programming of the configuration Flash memory
• Atmel MCUs with the JTAG interface (e.g. ATmega) ...and other ICs with the JTAG interface which you use or you plan to use

Download and Save JTAG Player for CPLD

FORTE DLL
A DLL is available for PRESTO to allow you to write your own interface. Please visit this link for more information in new tab. FORTE DLL has Delphi examples. FORTE DLL Application Note

PRESTO DLL information and download

Using FORTE with Linux
FORTE can be used under Linux. For an overview and to download the software, see this link.

Asix Linux Page

FORTE MultiUP Software
Up to 4 PRESTO or FORTE programmers can be run easily from a single PC. Each programmer is configured (device, files, fuses etc.) in UP software and saved as a project file. MultiUP uses this project files to setup multi-programming of up to 4 programmers.

MultiUP Brief Description