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Altera_Forum
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9 years ago

Powering FPGA During Programming

Hi everyone- I am finalizing a PCB layout using a Max10 FPGA. This PCB will (hopefully) go into production in our small electronics business, and it will usually be programmed by technicians o...
Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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9 years ago

The 'VCC' wire on the USB Blaster 10pin cable pinout is an input to the USB Blaster that tells it what voltage level the I/Os run at. So the 3.3V power on that pin either needs to come from your board or as you indicate an inline interceptor power cable.

That being said, it also depends on your MAX FPGA board design and how the 3.3V power rail on the board is generated. Can that rail be powered on independently (by your external 3.3V supply) without damaging the board level 3.3V supply (which will be back powered). Is your MAX FPGA design a single rail 3.3V power supply, or is it 3.3V for I/O, and 1.8V (or so) for core? If so, is the core 1.8V derived from the I/O 3.3V, or is it generated independently?

So without additional information on the very low level details of your system power supply configuration the question can't be answered with an unqualified yes, but at best, maybe, at this point.