2.2.26.2 INTEL-HEX

Industry standard file. Extensions are HEX and IHX. For example, file2.hex or file3.ihx.

A standard format created by Intel. Memory contents are stored in ASCII files using hexadecimal characters. Each file contains a series of records (lines of text) delimited by new line, ‘\n’, characters and each record starts with a ‘:’ character. For more information regarding this format, refer to the Intel-Hex Record Format Specification document available on the web (search Intel Hexadecimal Object File for several examples).

The Intel Hex Record is composed of five fields and arranged as follows:

:llaaaatt[dd...]cc

Where:

  • ‘:’ : Is the start code of every Intel Hex record
  • ‘ll’ : Is the byte count of the data field
  • ‘aaaa’ : Is the 16-bit address of the beginning of the memory position for the data. Address is big endian.
  • ‘tt’ : Is record type, defines the data field.
    • 00 : data record
    • 01 : end of file record
    • 02 : extended segment address record
    • 03 : start segment address record ( ignored by Actel tools )
    • 04 : extended linear address record
    • 05 : start linear address record ( ignored by Actel tools )
  • ‘[dd...]’ is a sequence of n bytes of the data; n is equivalent to what was specified in the ll field.
  • ‘cc’ : Is a checksum of count, address, and data Example Intel Hex Record:

    :10000000112233445566778899FFFA

    Where 11 is the LSB and FF is the MSB.