Does information on how to burn common PLDs/PALs/GALs exist?

[Whales]

I bought a couple of  Atmel ATF22V10C PLDs and two TI TIBPAL16L8 PALs as a quick-decision addition to someone else's Element14 order. 

My plan was to bit-bang program them with an Arduino and then use them in a hybrid relay+fet H-bridge I've been working on.  I did a cursory look at datasheets and guides on the web before buying them -- lots of information from a variety of sources, especially on created the JEDEC files, is available -- so I went for the dive.

Lacklustre information 
The parts arrived a few days ago and I have been looking into how to program them.  Absolutely no information about the signals you use to burn your logic into the arrays seems to be publicly available.  From Atmel's side there is not even an admission that this information does not exist -- it's simply a confusing void, like when you don't know the exact name of what you're Googling for and never find what you are after. 

Atmel gives you this much:

The referenced document only lists approved programmers, nothing on how they are actually programmed.  Older documents for previous models such as the eeprom-based ATF22V10 share the same lack of information.  They also have a swathe of "how to" and introductory guides similarly empty of relevant information, such as a Using programmable Logic Devices guide.

Solving the problem
TI atleast tells you that you can try contacting them or their distributors:

I'm going to try this but I presume it won't work out.  Something along the lines of needing to pay for this information or the fact I'm just a smelly hobbyist. 

The 'proper' option is to buy an approved programmer, but these cost triple-digit figures.  This is far to steep for a student wanting to make a couple of their own boards for fun.

Have I missed some vitally important information? At the moment I'm presuming I was silly and bought some NDA necessary chips.  Does anyone have any CPLDs/etc they can recommend with documented programming interfaces?

[amyk]

Yes it does, unfortunately much of it has been delinked from the Internet. I remember coming across a scanned PDF containing more details before, but seem to have lost it now. Here are some links I could find:

http://web.archive.org/web/19961227102015/http://www.paranoia.com/~filipg/HTML/LINK/F_pal_gal.html

http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ti/_dataBooks/1986_The_TTL_Data_Book_Vol_4.pdf

http://elm-chan.org/works/pgal/report_e.html

http://www.armory.com/~rstevew/Public/Pgmrs/GAL/algo.htm

http://www.piclist.com/techref/postbot.asp?by=time&id=piclist\1998\06\18

IIRC some of the newer EEPROM devices are programmed like an SPI EEPROM, i.e. via a serial interface. You may have to do some reverse-engineering...

[amyk]

Here it is... the horrible scan quality was how I remembered this one:

http://www.ti.com.cn/hirel/docs/midlevelcontent.tsp?sectionId=601&tabId=2359

[Whales]

Thankyou amyk and evb149, this is amazing!

TI side: just what I'm after


Atmel side: I'll start reading into this code.

[Whales]

I guess if I were you and I'd had a hard time finding this information I'd consider looking at something that is easy to program but maybe vastly "overkill" for your actual logic needs.  Maybe something like an Xilinx Spartan 3AN FPGA or CoolRunner CPLD or MachXO2 FPGA or something "inexpensive" and which has an "inexpensive" development kit including programming hardware and free software to generate the logic configuration images.
Altera has a bunch of MAX something or other series CPLDs as well.

Yes.  I went for the absolute cheapest Element14 stocked in a DIP package.  I will check out your suggestions.

[westfw]

The 'proper' option is to buy an approved programmer, but these cost triple-digit figures.

There are the "unapproved" programmers, like the TL866 Dave reviewed some time ago:

[chickenHeadKnob]

I haven't bought my GAL's yet but was planning to use my Minipro after I saw they listed Atmel 16v8 devices. Well this thread prompted me to wonder if it actually worked, one google it later and:

From the Minipro review thread
Re: Support for Atmel GALs?
« Reply #346 on: January 25, 2014, 07:09:27 AM »

   

Quote from: tcleavela on January 22, 2014, 06:08:17 AM

    Does this device truly support Atmel's GALs? I see support for the ATF16V8B but I'm skeptical as the algorithm for programming these is different than that for Lattice's GALs.


I'm using TL866 with ATF16V8B and it support these devices. But... sometimes I get "Overcurrent protection error" with some parts. Sometimes this is temporarily error, sometimes is permanent.  All devices are "new".

[free_electron]

Try finding the MMI pal handbook as a pdf file. MMI Invented these things. Their handbook had the algorithms in it. For gal's you need to look at lattice. Some can be programmed over a printerport with a simple circuit.