DEBUG INSTRUCTION FOR USE IN A MULTI-THREADED DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM
For use in a data processing system comprising a processor configured to execute a first set of instructions corresponding to a first thread and a second set of instructions corresponding to a second thread, a method is provided. The method comprises in response to execution of a debug instruction by the first thread while executing the first set of instructions, generating a debug event for processing by the second thread.
1 . In a data processing system comprising a processor configured to execute a first set of instructions corresponding to a first thread and a second set of instructions corresponding to a second thread, a method comprising:
in response to execution of a debug instruction by the first thread while executing the first set of instructions, generating a debug event for processing by the second thread.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises posting a debug event to a debug event register.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises posting the debug event to the debug event register even when the second thread is not halted.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises determining whether an external debugger is enabled.
5 . The method of claim 4 further comprising processing an instruction exception when the external debugger is not enabled.
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a debug interrupt corresponding to the second thread when interrupts are enabled.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second thread is selected from a group consisting of a plurality of threads and wherein the second thread is selected based on a thread select field in the debug instruction.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein when the thread select field has a predetermined value, the second thread is selected based on a value stored in a thread key register.
9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein when the debug event is posted to the debug event register, if the second thread is inactive, the second thread receives a debug interrupt when the second thread becomes active.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute a third set of instructions corresponding to a third thread, and wherein the method further comprises in response to the execution of the debug instruction by the first thread while executing the first set of instructions, generating a debug event for processing by each of the second thread and the third thread.
11 . In a data processing system comprising a processor configured to overlap execution of a first set of instructions corresponding to a first thread and a second set of instructions corresponding to a second thread, a method comprising:
in response to execution of a debug instruction by the first thread while executing the first set of instructions, generating a debug event for processing by the second thread, wherein the second thread is selected from a group consisting of a plurality of threads and wherein the second thread is selected based on a thread select field.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises posting a debug event to a debug event register.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises posting the debug event to the debug event register even when the second thread is not halted.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the debug event further comprises determining whether an external debugger is enabled.
15 . The method of claim 14 further comprising generating an instruction exception when the external debugger is not enabled.
16 . The method of claim 11 further comprising processing a debug interrupt corresponding to the second thread when interrupts are enabled.
17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the thread select field comprises at least a portion of the debug instruction encoding and wherein when the thread select field has a predetermined value, the second thread is selected based on a value stored in a thread key register.
18 . A data processing system comprising:
a processor configured to execute a first set of instructions corresponding to a first thread and a second set of instructions corresponding to a second thread, the processor further configured, in response to execution of a debug instruction by the first thread while executing the first set of instructions, to generate a debug event for processing by the second thread.
19 . The data processing system of claim 18 , wherein the processor further comprises thread control circuitry configured to post a debug event to a debug event register.
20 . The data processing system of claim 18 , wherein the second thread is selected from a group consisting of a plurality of threads and wherein the second thread is selected based on a thread select field in the debug instruction.