System for integrating event-related information and trace information
View Patent ↗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.
1. An emulation and debugging system comprising:
an in-circuit emulator couplable to a microcontroller, said in-circuit emulator adapted to execute an event thread in lock-step with said microcontroller and further adapted to detect a condition defined for said thread, wherein event information generated as a result of executing said event thread is sampled in response to detecting said condition and wherein sampled event information is stored in memory;
wherein trace information is recorded in a trace memory that is started at the time said condition is detected and then stopped, wherein event information and trace information corresponding to said condition are automatically pre-filtered; and
wherein time-stamps are applied to said sampled event information and recorded trace information, and wherein further said time-stamps are used to display said sampled event information and said recorded trace information as timewise waveforms.
2. The system of claim 1 comprising:
a display device coupled to said in-circuit emulator, said display device operable to display a first waveform representing said sampled event information and a second waveform representing said recorded trace information.
3. The system of claim 1 comprising:
an external pin coupled to said in-circuit emulator, wherein a signal received via said external pin is sampled and correlated with said recorded trace information.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein said signal is time-stamped.
5. The system of claim 3 wherein said signal is displayed as a waveform.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein said microcontroller is a mixed signal microcontroller for processing analog and digital signals.
7. An emulation and debugging system comprising:
an in-circuit emulator coupled to a microcontroller; and
a plurality of external pins coupled to said in-circuit emulator;
said in-circuit emulator adapted to execute an event in lock-step with said microcontroller, said event executed according to an event description comprising event points, said in-circuit emulator further adapted to sample event information and to sample trace information corresponding to occurrences of said event points, wherein sampled trace information is recorded in a trace memory that is started in response to said occurrences of said event points and then stopped, wherein said event information and trace information are automatically pre-filtered;
wherein information received by said in-circuit emulator via an external pin is correlated with sampled event information and said sampled trace information; and
wherein time-stamps are applied to said sampled event information, said sampled trace information and said information received via said external pin and wherein further said time-stamps are used to display said sampled event information, said sampled trace information and said information received via said external pin as timewise waveforms.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein said in-circuit emulator is adapted to apply said time-stamps.
9. The system of claim 7 wherein said information received via said external pin comprises a signal that is output from an external source coupled to said external pin.
10. The system of claim 7 wherein said microcontroller is a mixed signal microcontroller for processing analog and digital signals.
11. An in-circuit emulator comprising:
a programmable logic device operable to execute an event thread in lock-step with a microcontroller, said event thread comprising event points; and
memory coupled to said programmable logic device;
wherein upon occurrence of an event point, event information and trace information corresponding to said event point are sampled and wherein sampled event information and sampled trace information corresponding to said event point are stored in said memory, wherein said sampled trace information is stored in a trace memory that is started in response to said event point and then stopped, wherein said event information and said trace information are automatically pre-filtered;
wherein said sampled event information and said sampled trace information are plotted as timewise waveforms.
12. The in-circuit emulator of claim 11 wherein said sampled event information and said sampled trace information are time-stamped.
13. The in-circuit emulator of claim 11 comprising:
a plurality of external pins coupled to said programmable logic device, said external pins for carrying information from an external source.
14. The in-circuit emulator of claim 13 wherein said information from external source is sampled upon occurrence of said event point and correlated with said sampled event information and said sampled trace information.
15. The in-circuit emulator of claim 14 wherein said information from said external source is plotted along with plots of said sampled event information and said sampled trace information.