SIGNUM SYSTEMS EMULATOR FOR TriCore™ HAS TRACE BUFFER AND
MULTI-CORE DEBUGGING
Moorpark, Calif. – April 27,
1999 – Signum System today announced a new JTAG-based emulator to support the Siemens
Semiconductors (now Infineon Technologies, AG) TriCore™ unified processor.
The JDSnet emulator’s trace buffer is available in three sizes (128K, 256K or 512K
deep) and is designed to store the TriCore processor’s program counter (program flow)
information and a time stamp in real-time. Combined with the JTAG debug port for
breakpoint control and accessing all on-chip registers and memory, the JDSnet emulator
offers a complete and powerful debugging tool.
“Most JTAG-based emulators lack the capability to do real-time trace of instruction
execution that is essential for quick and efficient development of embedded
software,” said Jerry Lewandowski, president of Signum Systems. “Adding
conventional Trace Buffer to capture the external bus activity is of little help, if the
architecture has deep pipelines or internal code memory.”
Siemens, TriCore manufacturer, added real-time trace port to its TriCore processor to
enable simple and inexpensive way for tracing program flow that works even when executing
from internal cache memory. Now, a small trace connector on a target board replaces the
less reliable, bulky, clip-on adapters costing several hundred dollars or more, which are
required for conventional emulators with trace buffers.
The acquired trace is processed by the debugger and displayed in a trace window with the
corresponding C/C++ or assembler source code and a bus cycle accurate time stamp.
JDSnet combines a small, portable form factor with unparalleled debug functionality. The
available serial, parallel and Ethernet ports allow it to connect to any desktop, notebook
or workstation PC in a lab or it the field.
JDSnet uses two separate cables to interface to target application boards. One is
dedicated for the JTAG debug port (16-pin) and allows access to the on-chip registers,
breakpoints and internal or external memory. The other cable comes with the optional trace
board and connects to the embedded trace port that compresses the 32-bit TriCore program
counter and status into a 16-bit data stream for real-time acquisition by the
emulator’s trace buffer.
JDSnet is available bundled with Signum Systems’ multi-core Chameleon Debugger,
further enhancing the efficiency and quality with which developers can debug TriCore-based
embedded products. Chameleon Debugger is a 32-bit Windows multi-threaded application which
runs on Windows-95/98 and NT workstations. It supports all major C/C++ compilers at the
source level with the latest advanced software debugging and verification tools, such as
variable pop-ups in sources, pass-points, performance analysis, coverage analysis,
graphical complex breakpoint definitions, and virtual prototyping of target user
interfaces. |
Availability
JDSnet and Chameleon Debugger for the TriCore architecture are available now and will be
on display at the DSP World Spring Conference in Santa Clara (booth # 349) later this
week. Prices start at $2,995 for JDSnet, and $2,650 for the 128K trace buffer option.
Chameleon Debugger is $950 for a single core, single user license. For further information
call Signum Systems at (800) 838-8012 or visit our web site at www.signum.com.
About Signum Systems
Founded in 1979, Signum Systems positioned itself in the mainstream of the embedded
emulation market. Signum Systems supplies full featured in-circuit emulators (ICE), JTAG
based emulators and debuggers to developers of microcontroller, microprocessor, RISC and
DSP (Digital Signal Processor) based systems. Its major customers include hard disk drive
makers (e.g. Seagate, Maxtor, Ministor, Syquest, Micropolis, IBM, HP), embedded products
manufacturers and microcontroller chip vendors like: Intel, Texas Instruments, National
Semiconductor, Lucent, Siemens, Zilog, Silicon Systems/TDK, Adaptec and Cirrus Logic.
Signum Systems Corporation has its headquarters in Moorpark, CA and a sales office in
Fremont, CA.
• • •
JDSnet and Chameleon Debugger are trademarks of Signum Systems
Corp. TriCore is a trademark of Siemens Microelectronics, Inc. Other brands and products
are trademarks of their respective holders. |
