Charge pumps, the heart of the XC9500/XL ISP circuitry require a modest amount of care. The voltages to which the pumps must rise are directly derived from the external voltage supplied to the VCCINT pins on the XC9500/XL parts. Because these elevated voltages must be within their prescribed values to properly program the CPLD, it is vital that they be provided with very clean (noise free) voltage within the right range. This suggests the first two key rules: 1. Make sure VCC is within the rated value: 5V ±5% for XC9500/XL and 3.3V ±10% for XC9500/XL. 2. Provide both 0.1 and 0.01 mF capacitors at every VCC point of the chip, and attached directly to the nearest ground.