#394 AT89C2051 Programmer

Building a programmer for the Intel MCS-51/8051 compatible AT89C2051, with host software running on MacOSX.

Notes

I’ve been meaning to dive a bit deeper into Intel MCS-51/8051 devices and programming ever since I built the LEAP#088 ElectronicClockKit. While it’s long been EOL at Intel, this article By Jon Wilder is a valiant argument for why they are still around.

I have some (still in production) AT89C2051 chips - but before I can do much more, I need a programmer.

Reading the AT89C2051 datasheet, its seems programming is actually a quite straight-forward process - the only complication being the need for a 12V programming voltage in addition to standard logic high of ~5V.

So while I could go out and buy a programmer, the idea of building my own is very attractive for two reasons:

• it is a bit of a short cut to building familiarity with the chip and datasheet
• I can make sure it supports my host platform of choice - MacOSX

Inspirations and Prior Art

I found a couple of interesting projects that provided a good starting point. I’d recommend checking these out. In summary:

1. AT89C2051_programmer
   • by piotrb5e3
   • uses separate 12V programming voltage power supply [negative]
   • open source python host programming software distributed via PyPI (at89overlord) [positive]
   • uses Arduino Uno as a programmer [positive]
2. An Arduino-based programmer for the AT89C2051 chip
   • by ceptimus
   • uses a charge pump for 12V programming voltage [positive]
   • charge pump control is quite naive (bit-banging) [negative]
   • C# host programming software, open sourced but not in collaborative version control [negative]
   • uses Arduino as a programmer [positive]
   • quite wasteful of GPIO pins, so requires Arduino Mega/ATmega2560 [negative]

Boiling down my wishlist/plan:

• use an Arduino-controlled charge pump for programming voltage, but control it with PMW similar to LEAP#393 DicksonChargePump
• assign GPIO pins judiciously so can still use Ardiuino Uno/ATmega328 as the programmer
• base the Arduino programming sketch on piotrb5e3’s, but modified for charge pump control
• hopefully maintain compatibility with at89overlord so it can be used as the host programming software, else adapt as required

VPP/RST Power Control

We need to switch between 12V, 5V and 0V on the VPP/RST pin for the range of programming modes. From the datasheet

• VPP Programming Enable Voltage: 12V ± 0.5V (programming current is only 250µA)
• for HIGH with 5V supply: actually require 0.7 * VCC i.e. 3.5V minimum
• for LOW: actually require 0.2 * VCC - 0.1V i.e 0.9V maximum

My goal was to achieve this with as few Arduino pins as possible, and without requiring an external 12V power supply. I can’t find the specs, but I’m pretty sure we need negligible current/power at any of these levels, which simplifies things.

I finally figured out this scheme. It needs 3 Arduino pins:

• ~16V charge pump, generated with 62kHz PWM from 2 pins (inverted pair of PWM waves)
  • the output is fed to VPP/RST after clamping with a 12V zener diode
• 0/5V controlled with a digital pin:
  • 5V is connected to VPP/RST via a diode to prevent 12V appearing back on the Arduino pin
  • 0V signal is inverted via a pair of NPN transistors that pull the VPP/RST down hard
  • this avoids ~2V from the unexcited charge pump preventing a true 0V input

And it works;-)

There is one caveat: there’s an “invalid state” that must be avoided lest the magic smoke may be released in a possible high current/burnout. This is avoided in the programming software.

Here’s a breakdown of the control states. In this table:

• RST_PIN - pin A0 output
• Charge Pump PWM - pins 3,11 output

Possible improvement: I could probably reduce this to requiring 2 pins in total with the addition of an inverter IC to:

• invert a single PWM signal for charge pump control
• replace the 2 x NPN inverter for the 0V pull-down

Installing at89overlord

Using a Python3 virtual environment. Requirements are in requirements.txt

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt

This installs at89overlord 0.4.0 (there was a minor issue with the packaging of 0.3.0 that may cause problems; 0.4.0 works fine though)

Programming a Device

On my system, I have the Arduino plugged in and appearing on /dev/tty.usbmodem14511.

Using the hex file generated with the Blinky code here, programming a chip is as simple as this:

$ at89overlord -p /dev/tty.usbmodem14511 -f ../Blinky/Blinky.hex
# Initializing the programmer...
# Initialized!
# Confirming chip ID...
# Confirmed!
# Erasing flash...
# Done!
# Writing flash...
# Done!
# Verifying...
# Done!

Breadboard Construction

Putting it on a Prototyping Shield

With so many wires on the breadboard, this is not very practical to build every time I need to program an 8051, and it is pretty fragile - just one dodgy wire and programming/verification can easily fail.

It looks like a nice project to build a custom board, with ATmega328 built in … another project for later!

I have a spare prototyping shield for an Uno, so for now I’ve put the circuit on that. Here’s a sketch of the layout I used:

The finished shield:

Now it’s easy to program an AT89C2051..

Credits and References

• LEAP#395 AT89C2051 Blinky
• LEAP#393 DicksonChargePump
• LEAP#088 ElectronicClockKit
• Intel MCS-51
• Intel’s MCS-51 Microcontroller Family – It’s Here to Stay by Jon Wilder
• AT89C2051 product info and datasheet
• 12 Volt Arduino-based Charge Pump - similar project used as inspiration
• AT89C2051_programmer
• An Arduino-based programmer for the AT89C2051 chip - ceptimus
• ..as mentioned on my blog