SAU510-USB ISO PLUS JTAG Emulator. Key features

A wide range of XDS510 emulators is offered in the market of debugging aids for Texas Instruments processors. This is an average class of JTAG emulators that provides a good emulation speed greater than XDS100, but lower than XDS560. Emulators of this class support all the functions necessary to debug a function.

A wide range of XDS510 emulators is offered in the market of debugging aids for Texas Instruments processors. This is an average class of JTAG emulators that provides a good emulation speed greater than XDS100, but lower than XDS560. Emulators of this class support all the functions necessary to debug a function: Set/Reset breakpoints, Read/Write memory and the contents of the processor registers, Kernel stop, Run, Step, etc. They also support RTDX (real time data transmission from the device being debugged to a PC, but they provide relatively small transfer speeds – the data flow of 100-200 kb/s). Together with TI Code Composer Studio IDE, XDS510 emulators can work with processors in real time mode, providing access to the processor resources without stopping the kernel.

 

Unlike the entry-level emulators (XDS100), XDS510 emulators support debugging of all and any families of microprocessors, microcontrollers, signal processors and controllers (cores not supported include MSP430 and MCS51) from Texas Instruments, as well as any multiprocessor configurations of them, and enable the JTAG interface to work at high frequencies of the TCK signal. What limits the speed of XDS100 emulators is that they are FTDI-based USB-JTAG adapters enabling software (TI Code Composer Studio) to directly control JTAG signals. Solutions embedded in XDS510 allow block transfer of data – one or more scanning operations are combined into a single data block – query, transferred to the emulator and executed by them. Thus, using XDS510 helps to achieve higher performance than using XDS100.

The difference from expensive XDS560 emulators consists in the fact that XDS510 does not support HS-RTDX which is a high-speed real time data exchange using EMU pins [n:0] of a processor as the data channel. In addition, it has slower performance in general due to the fact that XDS560 emulators use hardware (powerful microprocessor emulator) to perform most emulation queries, but XDS510 use software (inside the emulation drivers of Code Composer Studio IDE)

Thus, an XDS510 emulator is exactly the optimal solution for most cases of software debugging for microprocessors, signal processors and signal controllers from Texas Instruments.

Sauris GmbH has developed and manufactures the SAU510-USB Iso Plus emulator, which has embodied all the useful properties of this class of emulators from other manufacturers, and also has a number of features that emulators from other manufacturers do not have:

  • It includes a galvanic isolation of the JTAG interface (2500 Vrms). This enables to debug devices whose ground potential differs greatly from the computer ground potential, and not to expect either the emulator buffer stages or the JTAG interface of the device being debugged to fail for this reason. In this case, the galvanic isolation is not an option but is a part of the emulator.
  • A wide range of JTAG interface levels – 1.65 ... 5V. In this case, the voltage of 5V means the zero tolerance of emulator inputs to such signals, and provides peak-to-peak output levels, which allows operation without adapter translators with the old processor families (such as TMS320F24x), as well as analog processors manufactured by Russian manufacturers.
  • A wide frequency range of the TCK cadence signal, from tens of kHz to tens of MHz. The TCK generator frequency is set in the settings in the development environment.
  • Controlled adaptive clocking. ARM microprocessors, such as ARM9, require a TCK frequency bounded from above by the core clock divided by a certain coefficient. As after the start the processor PLL is normally disabled and the core frequency is low, then to begin debugging requires a low TCK frequency, too, which can then be increased after the kernel PLL is run. Adaptive clocking is responsible for the automation of this process. It uses the TCK_RET signal of the JTAG interface to ensure that the next drop of the TCK signal is formed not until the previous drop has passed through the device to be debugged and returned to the emulator in this line. As a result, the emulator provides the TCK frequency set in the settings, but it can adaptively reduce it, as this is determined by the delay in the TCK-TCK_RET loop.
  • Parallel termination of input signals (TDI, TCK_RET). Inside the emulator, there are termination resistors that are enabled/disabled from the emulator settings in the development environment. They enable to adjust the quality of signals, in which emissions may occur due to reflections in the cable and interconnection wiring.
  • Possible shifting output signal edges of the JTAG interface against each other, as well as possible change in the clock polarity of the edge based on which they are formed in the emulator settings. This is also used to improve the signal quality and stability of the connection with the device being debugged. In addition, together with the control of delay in communication of the entire JTAG interface loop, it allows working with TCK clock frequencies, with periods greater than the delay in this loop and with the buffer registers on TDO or TDI signals which are additionally added to the loop.
  • Ability to work without a return clock frequency (TCK_RET). All currently known XDS510 emulators operate in full from the TCK_RET signal, and they only generate the TCK signal. SAU510-USB Iso Plus can work without a TCK_RET signal; in this case, the inner loop with an adjustable delay is enabled in its settings. This enables to work with devices that do not physically have a TCK_RET signal, for example, with many devices equipped with an ARM standard connector (in it, RTCK, analog of TCK_RET, is not obligatory)
  • The standard emulator delivery package is complete with three different cable assemblies: TI14 (standard TI), CTI20 (compact TI) and ARM20, which enables to debug devices with different connectors without manufacturing or purchase additional adapters.
  • The package includes a SVF player that enables to program FPLDs from different vendors (Lattice, Altera, Xilinx, etc.), in particular, if they are included in the same chain of microprocessors being debugged.
  • It includes an unrivalled tool, TCLXDS, allowing access to the device being debugged without using TI Code Composer Studio IDE, as well as to the boundary scan of any IC chips with the JTAG interface using scripts in TCL. It is available for free as part of the emulator drivers.
  • The TCLXDS-based free software also includes a tool to program memory IC chips connected to different interfaces of processors to be debugged (SPI Flash, SPI EEPROM, I2C EEPROM, Conventional parallel Flash, etc.). It also supports the programming of internal memory of microprocessors C2000, TMS470, etc., enabling to expand and support any types of memory and any processors (of those supported by Code Composer Studio).
  • Code Composer v4.10 (the previous TI development environment before the Code Composer Studio) provides support for the microprocessor TMS320VC33, and support for this processor in TCLXDS and in the memory I programming tool.

 

The price of SAU510-USB Iso Plus emulators is lower than that of most competitors. In addition, the manufacturer provides technical support for all customers who have registered their purchased emulators on the website www.sauris.de.

The described advantages make SAU510-USB Iso Plus emulators an attractive debugging tool for the line of DSPs and microprocessors from Texas Instruments