SIGNUM SYSTEMS TO DEVELOP IN-CIRCUIT EMULATION AND DEBUGGING TOOLS FOR SIEMENS’
TRICORE UNIFIED PROCESSOR
Moorpark, Calif. –
October 27, 1998 – Signum Systems Corp. today announced an agreement with Siemens
Microelectronics, Inc. (SMI) to develop In-Circuit Emulation (ICE) and debugging software
tools for Siemens’ advanced TriCore™ 32-bit unified processor. Under the
agreement, Signum Systems will design and manufacture a line of TriCore in-circuit
emulators for different levels of debugging and provide support for many Tricore
derivatives. The debugging tools will range from a simple, inexpensive, JTAG based
debuggers, to full featured POD based In-Circuit Emulators equipped with real-time trace
and complex events.
Currently, Signum provides ICE and debug support for Siemens’
C5xx family of 8-bit microcontrollers – the TriCore agreement represents a
significant milestone in the long-term partnership between the two companies.
Signum’s strong presence in hard disk drives (all of the major drive makers are
Signum customers) compliments Siemens’ core capability to provide controller
solutions to the hard disk drive market.
We are very excited and proud to be a part of the TriCore
support team," said Jerry Lewandowski, president of Signum Systems. "The recent
agreement with Siemens for TriCore tools will solidify our presence in the 32-bit RISC
development tools."
We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with Signum
Systems," said Naveed Khan, product development manager for SMI tools partners.
"As one of the premier vendors of ICE tools, Signum offers expertise that will enable
designers to incorporate TriCore into their products quickly and easily."
iemens’ TriCore 32-bit RISC-based architecture features an
innovative multitasking engine that utilizes on-chip memory and nanosecond context
switching to concurrently support real-time control and digital signal processing (DSP)
tasks in a single core. TriCore is the first architecture to provide seamless processing
of both control and DSP functions, with C and C++ access to DSP functions and the
real-time performance required for embedded systems.
The first set of tools for TriCore will consist of a JDSnet™
standalone emulator based on the high-speed JTAG boundary scan port and 128 K deep program
flow trace buffer. With its serial, parallel and Ethernet interfaces the ICE will be able
to hook up to almost any host PC running Windows 95/98 or NT. With the JTAG port
connection to the target, the JDSnet emulator will be able to access all the on-chip debug
(OCD) resources, including run, stop, read, modify and breakpoint controls. Depending on
the chip used, the tracing of the program flow will be implemented via the embedded Trace
Port or by clipping over the TriCore devices.
User interface to the JDSnet emulator will be provided by
Signum’s Chameleon Debugger™. This multi-threaded debugger is the state-of-the
art in software debugging tools with multi-core, multi-CPU capabilities and Graphical
Event Triggering System that is intuitive and simple to use. Instead of the some
complicated syntax language, Chameleon Debugger lets the user draw the connections between
objects to create complex events or breakpoints. High level language debugging will be
provided for Green Hills and Tasking C/C++ compilers.
The first tools will be available in December 1998.
About Siemens
Siemens Microelectronics, Inc. (SMI), based in Cupertino, Calif. since 1969, offers one of
the broadest product portfolios in the microelectronics industry, including communications
ICs, microcontrollers, memory products, smart card ICs, wireless devices, radio frequency
ICs and discretes, power ICs and transistors, and optoelectronics. Along with a breadth of
products, SMI works from a strong manufacturing and technology base to provide system
solutions with a special focus on the computer peripheral, communications, wireless, and
automotive and industrial markets. SMI is a subsidiary of Siemens Corporation, N.Y., and
is the North American affiliate of the Siemens Semiconductor Group, Munich, Germany, which
had worldwide sales of approximately $3.5 billion in fiscal 1996/97.
Additional information on the company can be found on the Web at http://www.smi.siemens.com, or on
the TriCore website at http://www.tri-core.com.
About Signum Systems
Founded in 1979, Signum Systems has, from its inception, positioned itself in the
mainstream of the embedded emulation market. Signum Systems supplies full-featured pod
based in-circuit emulators (ICE), JTAG and BDM emulators, debuggers and simulators to
developers of microcontroller and DSP (digital signal processor) based systems. Its major
customers include hard disk drive makers, manufacturers of automotive, medical and
communication equipment, consumer electronics, microprocessor and DSP silicon vendors and
other embedded product manufacturers.
• • •
JDSnet and Chameleon Debuggers are trademarks of Signum Systems
Corp. TriCore is a trademark of Siemens Microelectronics, Inc. Other brands and products
are trademarks of their respective holders. |
