TRACE32 capabilities proven in mixed ARM - MicroBlaze multicore-system

The design is based on a ZYNQ 7000 chip and utilizes two ARM Cortex-A9 hard cores and 24 x MicroBlaze soft cores. These are used to implement systems that are dynamically reconfigurable to provide better performance in applications that are computing intensive and context sensitive. This project has further confirmed Lauterbach's position as a leading manufacturer of development tools for multicore systems.

In the context of electronic systems containing a varying number of processors, debugging the software of these dynamically loadable processors is a key issue for the success of the project. While debugging of hard cores and a small number of soft cores embedded into FPGAs is an already well proven engineering activity, support for debugging a varying and possibly large number of soft cores is less common. TRACE32 has been a key helper in designing the system containing 24 MicroBlaze cores. Without TRACE32, it would have taken longer, would have been extremely difficult to debug, and it might have been impossible to get a working system. Thanks to TRACE32, a project scheduled for various months suddenly turned into a project that could be realized within weeks. Moreover, within a few hours we could debug the first MicroBlaze core. We were impressed by TRACE32 PowerView GUI and are very satisfied with the friendly and efficient technical and commercial support we got from Lauterbach said Dr. Bomel.

To implement debug support for a multi-core system with dual ARM Cortex-A9 and multiple MicroBlaze cores was an interesting prospect for Lauterbach. Therefore we were excited when Mr. Bomel approached us asking whether we could fulfill his debugging requirements. That our engineering team was able to adapt TRACE32 to this his highly dynamic multi-core system within a few days is proof of the flexibility and modularity of the TRACE32 tools platform. said Jean-Pierre Paradiso, Sales Manager at Lauterbach France.

With its latest release, TRACE32 has introduced full support for debugging asymmetric multicore systems with multiple ARM and MicroBlaze cores. The target hardware is accessed via a single debug interface while the host machine runs multiple GUIs for controlling the debug session. Also, TRACE32® supports the latest version of the MicroBlaze core, which as of February 2013 is version 8.40.b.