Altium's USB JTAG Adapter enables you to utilize JTAG communications – the heart of Altium Designer's LiveDesign methodology – with your chosen third party development board. Closer to home, the adapter enables you to update the normal operational firmware on a NanoBoard NB2, or reprogram the 'Golden' boot image on a 3000-series NanoBoard. The Adapter even caters for a JTAG link from your PC to a NanoBoard NB1 –- which possesses a parallel port header only –- using a USB connection!

When used with a NanoBoard NB2 or 3000-series NanoBoard, connection is made simple through use of a single cable from the adapter (19-pin mini HDMI) to 'SYSTEM JTAG' header on the NanoBoard (10-pin IDC) – typically referred to as a System JTAG cable.

When using the adapter with a third party development board, a custom board or even the NanoBoard NB1, a second cable is available for use – providing connection from the adapter (19-pin mini-HDMI) and ending in 10 separate 'leads'. This second cable is typically referred to as a JTAG Flying-Lead cable.

Knowledge of the pinouts of these available cables is especially essential when bringing the JTAG communications systems (Hard JTAG and Soft JTAG) to your chosen development or custom board. The following images present the pinouts for these two cable types.

Pinout for the System JTAG cable.

 

Pinout for the JTAG Flying-Lead cable.