Cypress Semiconductor has announced the latest release of PSoC Programmer 3.00, which is available at www.cypress.com/psocprogrammer . This Programmer release is intended to be used with PSoC Designer 5.0, PSoC Designer 4.4, PSoC Express 3.0. Please review the Programmer User Guide and Release Notes as there have been many changes to the software.

What is new for PSoC Programmer 3.00?

• PSoC Programmer 3.00 utilizes a new language neutral COM object architecture. This will allow developers the ability to design unique applications offering different features of PSoC Programmer from a high-level view. Included with this release will be example code for developers. The code examples include C#, C++, Python, and Perl.
• Microsoft Signed drivers for Miniprog1, ICE-Cube, and FirstTouch (XP/Vista)
• PSoC Programmer will institute 3 separate GUI views. Each view is easily selectable by the user from the drop down menu 'View'. The three views are Classic, Modern and Simple.
  • The Classic view will retain the look, feel, and functionality of PSoC Programmer 2.33. The classic view will not incorporate any new functionality and is meant to be preserved for individuals trained on Programmer versions 2.xx.
  • The Modern view incorporates a new GUI and long requested functionality.
  • The Simple view is meant to simplify the programming experience to the bare essentials. Please see the User Guide for detailed directions for usage.
• The GUI improvements are detailed in the User Guide. A short list of the new features include:
  • Programming Status Bar
  • Abort Programming Button
  • Visual Port Selection
  • Auto Chip Detection
  • Disable/Enable Programming Verification
  • Hex File Path
  • Erase Flash Block
  • Clear/Erase Device Button
• PSoC Programmer 3.00 will have improved updating options and features. The 'popup' countdown window has been completely removed along with the registry update that was used in PSoC Programmer 2.33. The user has the ability to set a Fixed, Automatic or Disable the update reminder. Expired software will notify the user in the software banner and text fields. PSoC Programmer will have no pop-up reminders.
• PSoC Programmer also contains bundled software inside the Root installation directory. The software is not installed with the PSoC Programmer 3.00 installation, but the executables are available if needed. The software includes:
  • USB and I2C Bootloader utilities which operate with the USB and I2C Bootloader User Modules from PSoC Designer.
  • The USB-IIC Bridge Software is also bundled with PSoC Programmer 3.00. This software is used for applications involving the CY3240 Bridge Utility.
• PSoC Programmer will give the user the ability to turn off the verification procedure when programming devices. This is intended to be used in a prototyping environment to help reduce programming time. Observed programming time reductions of 25% have been seen. This is explained further in the Release Notes.
• Additional device support is available for CY8C20x66, CY8C20x46, CY8CPWR0x and CYONS2xx devices.

The download file includes the .NET Frameworks for 32 and 64 bit XP. The installer will check and install the appropriate .NET Framework if needed. If the Framework is not needed the bundled .NET installers will be removed. The final installation PSoC Programmer 3.00 size is ~27mb.