Optimize Your In-System Programming with FlashRunner Binaries (FRBs)

The .FRB is a smart format file created by SMH Technologies and that is handled by the programming systems to install firmware (FW) inside microcontroller memories.

It is one of the essential resources to use FlashRunner programming system to flash the ISP targets during the electronic board test and manufacturing process.

What is an .FRB?

One of the most important concepts of the ISP is the (FW) to be installed inside the ISP targets.

The most common formats of these FWs are:

– Binary;

– Intel Hex;

– Motorola SREC.

and these are all supported by SMH programming systems, together with many Silicon Producers proprietary format such as Infineon ahex, Renesas RPI, Texas Instrument txt…

The FRBs are the conversion of these source FWs files into this proprietary format handled during the flashing flow.

Possibilities on the FRBs are:

– Encryption to protect the intellectual property of the customer FW (.FRB à FlashRunner secure (.FRS).

– Conversion report creation to check in clear and totally transparent what has been done during the conversion.

The decryption happens in runtime during the program command and does not influence the production performances.

The conversion report is a .txt file stored in your PC where you can check the data block, sizes, and addresses where the .FRB will be programmed.

Why .FRB?

On the web, there is plenty of information about the compositions of the most common format files quoted in the previous chapter.

What is useful to remember for the purpose of this article is that the binary format contains raw data of the FW without indication about memory addresses where to place the parts of it or protection mechanisms on the data stored inside this format file, while the last two ones on the list have this kind of information and others.

From this, you can understand that on these formats something is not considered or missing:

– With the nowadays concerns about cybersecurity, having an integrity check/protection mechanism inside the FW is fundamental and this is an aspect that is missing on the binary file.

– With the nowadays concerns about production line performances, Intel Hex and Motorola SREC format file have a lot overhead mixed with the data that should actually be flashed in the ISP targets (address indications, size of records/data block).

The FRBs are combining the best of these format files to result in a format file that has integrity check and protection mechanisms and that reduces at minimum the overhead mixed with the raw data.

In this way, while manufacturing electronic boards, SMH Technologies’s programming system is giving the best compromise between file protection and performances in terms of production time and efficiency through the programming of FRBs.