Click on the advert above to visit the company web site

Product category: Design and Development Hardware
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: XDS560 PCIbus JTAG scan-based emulator
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 23 May 2002

Emulator rips through real-time development

TI has added the fastest generation of JTAG emulation technology to its real-time eXpressDSP software and development tools

To help designers of real-time embedded applications to pinpoint and resolve real-time problems quickly and precisely, TI has added the fastest generation of JTAG emulation technology to its real-time eXpressDSP software and development tools. Compatible with previous TI emulators, the new technology features a high-speed real-time data exchange (RTDX) that transfers data bidirectionally between the target processor and the host development platform at more than 2Mbyte/s for unprecedented levels of real-time application visibility.

It also offers code download speeds at up to 0.5Mbyte/s, enabling rapid start-up of larger applications.

In addition, the new emulator supports XDS advanced event triggering for real-time, nonintrusive debugging and maximum user control in real-time digital signal processor and ARM processors.

The key issue for real-time developers today is 'vanishing visibility', or the increasingly difficult challenge of seeing into the real-time behaviour of an executing application.

Visibility diminishes as processor speeds increase, and more peripherals, buses and other system components are embedded on the devices.

TI has addressed this problem by introducing the XDS560 PCIbus JTAG scan-based emulator, which represents a major advancement in emulation technology.

'TI pioneered basic visibility techniques for system development of real-time applications over a decade ago with the invention of JTAG emulation, which is now the industry standard', said Bill Novak, emulation technology product manager, TI.

'TI is now taking that key innovation to the next level with the XDS560, delivering unequalled levels of visibility and control to real-time developers'.

The XDS560 emulator is the first DSP emulator to offer high-speed RTDX bidirectional data transfer rates of more than 2Mbyte/s between the target processor and the host.

Previous generation XDS510-class emulators supported a form of RTDX called standard RTDX, which is enabled on all TMS320C5000, TMS320C6000 and ARM processors and is capable of datarates in the 10-20Kbyte/s range.

The XDS560 also supports standard RTDX on all C5000, C6000 and ARM processors and improves its performance, but also offers high-speed RTDX for enabled processors at data rates of more than 2Mbyte/s, which is more than 100x faster than standard RTDX over the XDS510.

With this 100x improvement in bandwidth and performance far beyond any other competitive technology available in the industry, the XDS560 enables an entire new class of applications to take advantage of RTDX capabilities, including wireless basestations and streaming video servers.

The RTDX data is available from TI's Code Composer Studio integrated development environment (IDE) through an industry-standard Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) interface to ensure compatibility with other data visualisation and analysis applications such as Microsoft Excel and the MathWorks Matlab.

Through the XDS560's compatibility with XDS510-class emulators, developers using the previous generation XDS510-class products can improve their capabilities to support the latest features in the newest processors simply by plugging in the XDS560.

This protects significant existing customer investments in everything from development tools to custom-built or purchased target boards, RTDX instrumentation, testing harnesses, and training in the environment.

Another major enhancement with the new XDS560 emulator is the significant increase in code download speeds, up to 8x faster than the XDS510 emulator.

As applications become steadily larger, the time spent waiting for embedded code to be downloaded gets longer.

Extended program download times are non-productive and frustrating for developers.

TI mitigates this delay by offering top-performance code download speeds up to 0.5Mbyte/s, allowing designers the chance to save precious development time and stay focused on their task.

A key capability of the XDS560 emulator is Advanced Event Triggering.

This allows complex sequences of events to be defined and evaluated nonintrusively in real-time, before halting the CPU or taking an alternate action.

An advanced user interface makes setting even complex conditions simple and uniform across all processors.

Together, these features allow designers to get to market faster by enabling even difficult intermittent real-time software problems to be analysed and fixed more quickly.

To enable DSP developers with XDS560 technology, TI has worked closely with companies from the TI third party network to develop additional XDS560-class products.

Five companies are announcing availability of XDS560-class emulators featuring Ethernet, USB and PCI bus interfaces to provide designers with a variety of next-generation emulation products for DSP development.

The XDS560 PCIbus JTAG scan-based emulator is available today for order entry and can be purchased from the TI e-store and TI authorised distributors.

Pricing is $4995 each in single-unit quantities with a special introductory price of $3995 for a limited time.

The emulator includes an extremely flexible 1.5m cable with a low-profile, credit-card sized cable pod that provides a lightweight, flexible and convenient connection to the target system; and auto-sensing voltage capabilities that range from 5V down to 0.5V that will support both existing and future generations of low-voltage DSP and ARM processors.

The XDS560 emulator can be ordered using part number TMDX00560.

(This was Electronicstalk's Top Story on 22 May 2002)

• Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006): contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
•
• Electronicstalk Home Page

Search the Pro-Talk network of sites

Put your news on Electronicstalk  |   Advertise  |   Get the free Electronicstalk newsletter
Electronicstalk Home  |   About Electronicstalk  |   Copyright © 2000-2007 Pro-Talk Ltd, UK