Atf150x programmer

ATF150x programmer

Program ATF1502AS and ATF1504AS chips with an Arduino Leonardo and a small open-source adapter board, instead of the expensive ATDH1150USB programmer and its vendor software.

These chips (CPLDs) hold a small digital-logic design that you create in a tool such as WinCUPL. That tool produces a .jed file; this project writes that file into the chip and checks that it arrived correctly.

Contents

• What you need
• Download
• Quick start (Windows)
• The desktop application
• Command line (Windows and Linux)
• Troubleshooting
• Technical details
• License

What you need

• The adapter board from pcb/atf150X-programmer, fitted on an Arduino Leonardo.
• A 5 V ATF1502AS or ATF1504AS in the PLCC-44 socket, with JTAG enabled.
• A .jed file for your design, for example made with WinCUPL.
• A USB cable and a Windows PC for the desktop application, or Windows or Linux for the command line.

Not supported: ATF1502ASV/BE and other low-voltage variants, other chip sizes, several chips in one chain, and chips whose JTAG port has been switched off.

Download

Newer versions and checksums are on the latest release page.

Quick start (Windows)

1. Install the desktop application with the installer above.
2. Insert the chip while the board is unplugged. Check the orientation.
3. Plug in the Arduino by USB and start ATF150x Programmer. It finds the programmer by itself. The first time, it offers to install the firmware on the Arduino: click Yes.
4. Open your .jed file with Open JEDEC… or by dragging it onto the window.
5. Click Program. The chip is erased, programmed and checked, which takes tens of seconds. Do not unplug the board while it runs.

The status bar and the log at the bottom tell you whether it succeeded.

The desktop application

An ATF1502AS design, fitted to the window.	Zoomed in; the cell under the mouse is described below the map.

• Program, Verify, Erase, Identify. Verify compares the chip with the open file without changing it. Identify reports which chip is in the socket. If you rebuild the .jed file in WinCUPL, it is reloaded automatically before programming.
• Fuse map. Shows every memory cell of the chip, colored by what it does. Hover over a cell to see its meaning. The side panel summarizes the design: chip type, how much of the chip is used, and whether the checksum is valid.
• Firmware updates. If the Arduino runs an older or different program, the application offers to install the right firmware. The Arduino's bootloader is never changed.
• Update notification. At startup the application checks for a newer release; turn this off in the Help menu.

Command line (Windows and Linux)

atfprog does the same as the desktop application from a terminal. Replace COM3 with your Arduino's port (on Linux, for example /dev/ttyACM0). In Windows PowerShell, type .\atfprog.exe instead of atfprog.

atfprog inspect design.jed            # check the file; does not touch the chip
atfprog scan --port COM3              # identify the chip
atfprog flash design.jed --port COM3  # erase, program and check
atfprog verify design.jed --port COM3 # compare chip and file
atfprog erase --port COM3             # erase the chip
atfprog --help

flash checks the .jed file before it touches the chip, and switches the new design on only after every bit has been read back and compared. If programming is interrupted, reconnect and run flash again. A nonzero exit status means the operation failed.

Troubleshooting

• "No Arduino Leonardo found" or the port is busy. Close the Arduino IDE Serial Monitor and other programs using the port, then press the refresh button.
• The chip reads as all zeros or all ones. Check that the chip is seated the right way round, the board is assembled correctly and the chip is a 5 V ATF1502AS/ATF1504AS. A chip with JTAG switched off cannot be recovered with this programmer.
• Linux: permission denied on /dev/ttyACM0. Add your user to the serial group (usually dialout), then log out and in again.
• Programming was interrupted. Nothing is switched on until the design has been checked; simply program again.

Technical details

• Building from source: firmware, command-line tool and desktop application.
• Protocol and programming algorithm: supported JEDEC records, fuse mapping, serial framing and safeguards.
• Validation on real hardware, including cross-checks with an official ATDH1150USB programmer, and matching WinCUPL test designs.
• Coding style and third-party attribution.

License

The software, firmware, tests, build configuration and documentation are licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 only (GPL-3.0-only); see LICENSE. Copyright (c) 2026 ATF1502 programmer contributors. Required upstream notices are kept in third-party attribution. The PCB files keep their CC BY-SA 4.0 license.