Device programming - how data is formatted and transferred

Hello,

I want to understand how a program is loaded into a device via ICSP.

I've read the AN910 but didn't find the answer to my questions (maybe it is there, but I can't understand it - let's be modest).

My two questions are:

a) since the target device is clocked by the programming device, is there any timing really requiered (with respect to the different sequences for the desired operation Read/Write/Verify)?

b) is it the compiler that will correctly "format" or "map" the program according to the device's memory specification so that it can be just flushed into the PIC?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flotulopex

a) since the target device is clocked by the programming device, is there any timing really requiered (with respect to the different sequences for the desired operation Read/Write/Verify)?
b) is it the compiler that will correctly "format" or "map" the program according to the device's memory specification so that it can be just flushed into the PIC?

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I'm not an expert in this area, but here's what I know:
1 - Timings, as long as a programmer doesn't bust the minimum timings (i.e. clocking too fast), I don't think going too long is a problem. The programming spec's datasheet specifies these for the most part.
2 - Formatting/Mapping - MPLAB handles this. After all, you don't NEED PBP to compile a program. You can write a program in straight assembly and MPLAB is able to generate the required code by itself.

Thanks skimask.

I just noticed that I can control the programming speed in the WINPIC software (well, I assume it is so); so I'll do some testing.