Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Matt Pleis

Craig Nemecek

Manfred Bartz

Steve Roe

A method for emulating and debugging a microcontroller is described. In one embodiment, an event thread is executed on an emulator that operates in lock-step with the microcontroller. Event information is sampled at selected points. Trace information is also recorded at the selected points. As such, the event information and trace information are effectively pre-filtered. Accordingly, it is not incumbent on a designer to read and understand the event and trace information and sort out the information that is of interest. Instead, this task is essentially done automatically, helping the designer and reducing the probability of error. Furthermore, because only selected event and trace information is recorded, the resources of the in-circuit emulator system are not taxed.

Method for integrating event-related information and trace information

A method for emulating and debugging a microcontroller. In one embodiment, an event thread is executed on an emulator that operates in lock-step with the microcontroller. Event information is sampled at selected points. Trace information is also recorded at the selected points. As such, the event information and trace information are effectively pre-filtered. Accordingly, it is not incumbent on a designer to read and understand the event and trace information and sort out the information that is of interest. Instead, this task is essentially done automatically, helping the designer and reducing the probability of error. Furthermore, because only selected event and trace information is recorded, the resources of the in-circuit emulator system are not taxed.

Embodiments of the present invention effectuate a method and system for debugging a device such as a microcontroller in a distributed architectural scheme, where the device may operate at speeds much faster than the debugger program is run, with limited debugging resources physically incorporated into the device itself, and with relatively limited computational capacity, vis-&#xe0;-vis the platform deploying the debugging software. The embodiments place relatively modest, uncomplicated demands on the debugger software, and the ICE may also be relatively simple. Further, debugging methods and systems according to these embodiments are flexible and adaptable to a variety of different devices that must undergo debugging, yet remain effective, simple, and inexpensive.

Method and system for debugging through supervisory operating codes and self modifying codes

An emulation and debugging system that includes an in-circuit emulator couplable to a microcontroller. The in-circuit emulator is adapted to execute an event thread in lock-step with the microcontroller. Event information generated as a result of executing the event thread is sampled at selected points and the sampled event information is stored in memory. Trace information is also recorded at the selected points. The sampled event information and the recorded trace information are time-stamped. In one embodiment, a display device is coupled to the in-circuit emulator. The display device is used for displaying analog and/or digital waveforms representing the sampled event information and the recorded trace information. Accordingly, an in-circuit emulator system can also function as an oscilloscope and/or as a logic analyzer, allowing a user to view event and trace information, along with other information, that are generated as part of the debugging process.

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Carnation, WA, United States of America

Matt Pleis