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Tech Focus: Tool up for HW/SW development at ESC DesignWest
HIGHLIGHTS
Tracing requirements through to object-code verification
Troubleshooting real-time software issues using a logic analyzer
Fixing concurrency defects in multicore design
Editor's Note
With embedded systems an integral part of our lives and used in virtually every market segment, developers are under pressure to develop reliable and bug-free designs using every hardware and software tool and technique available. Of all the design articles, white papers, and webinars included in this issue of the newsletter, two articles featured in the March ESD Magazine do the best job of capturing the essence of the problems faced and the diverse methods that need to be used to solve them.
In “Troubleshooting real-time software issues using a logic analyzer , ” author David Stewart shows developers how to take a tool normally used to search out and resolve hardware design issues – the logic analyzer – and use it as a powerful software development tool.. “A debug tool only provides clues ,” he writes. “The better the clues, the faster the problem can be found, and thus the quicker it can be fixed. The logic analyzer takes more setup time than print statements or a symbolic debugger, but the quality and quantity of the clues can be significantly better .” If you enjoy his article you can get more of David Stewart at ESC Design West, March 26-28 , where he will be teaching four classes on the following topics: solving real problems (ESC-210), costly real-time development mistakes (ESC-223), remote troubleshooting with log files (ESC-313), and real-time Linux/Android or Windows CE (ESC-316).
In “Tracing requirements through to object-code verification , ” author Mark Pitchford addresses the difficult job of guaranteeing the reliability of not only the source code written by the developer, but the object code created by the compiler to run on a particular target MCU. To do this means not only making use of every tool and method available – debuggers, static analysis, software testing, and requirements-driven Agile design – but doing so in new and unfamiliar ways. To help you make your choices at ESC DesignWest there are four conference tracks relevant to these challenges: “Best Practices: HW and SW”; “New directions in software, processes and tools”; “Programming, Languages and Techniques”; and “Reasons to consider Agile Development”.
Columns on related topics this week on Embedded.com include: “Probing pointers” by Jack Ganssle,”Combining C's volatile and const keyword” by Michael Barr, and “Discriminated unions” by Dan Saks.
Design How-Tos
Troubleshooting real-time software issues using a logic analyzer
This logic analyzer technique is a power-tool for the embedded software engineer's toolbox.
A “How To” tutorial on logic analyzer basics for digital design
This tutorial provides an overview of logic analyzer basics; most logic analyzers are really two analyzers in one: a timing analyzer and a state analyzer.
That Was Tricky: The logic analyzer versus a DVM
This is a story about a race between two instruments; which one do you think will win?
Tracing requirements through to object-code verification
Verifying object code can mean the difference between success and failure, quality and crap. But skipping the step because a standard doesn't require it or because it theoretically eats into profits is a surprisingly common practice. The author postulates that this practice is not only shortsighted but no longer valid.
Using CMMI for software requirements testing in system design & development
Use the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) standard to improve software project processes, particularly requirements management and traceability.
Hardware/software design requirements planning: Part 1 – Laying the ground work
In this series of articles, Jeffrey O. Grady, author of “System Verification,” delineates the basics of requirements planning and analysis, an important tool for using Agile programming techniques to achieve better code quality and reliability in complex embedded systems software and hardware projects.
Requirements Management Reduces Software Defects and Improves Code Quality
Investment in software requirements management, equal to that made for design and coding, is necessary to secure a firm foundation on which to construct a successful project.
I don't need no stinkin' requirements!
How to manage an embedded systems project by designing it without requirements.
Using static code analysis for Agile software development
Since the goal of Agile development is to have working software early, source code analysis enables developers to analyze the quality and security of code from day one of coding ” one of the earliest points in the software development process
Using trace to solve the multicore system debug problem
In this article, Aaron Spear of VMware outlines current multicore development trends, explores the deficiencies in traditional software development tooling when applied to multicore systems, introducing the “Common Trace Format” (CTF), a coming standard for tracing multi-core systems over time.
Fixing concurrency defects in multicore design
There are compelling reasons to move to multicore processor designs, but doing so introduces the risk of concurrency defects in the software. Apparently innocent code can harbor nasty multithreading bugs that are notoriously difficult to diagnose and eliminate when they occur. Paul Anderson of GrammaTech offers methods to avoid these problems.
Embedded Systems Bookshelf
Excerpts
Embedded Books Reading Room
Bernard Cole's favorite links to book excerpts.
Reviews
Engineer's Bookshelf
Airport fiction blows. A look at books other engineers are reading and why you should read them, too. Recommend and write a review yourself. E-mail Brian Fuller.
Jack Ganssle's Bookshelf
A list of book reviews by Jack Ganssle, contributing technical editor of Embedded Systems Design and Embedded.com.
Max's Cool Beans
Clive “Max” Maxfield, the editor on Programmable Logic DesignLine, often writes about interesting books.
Products
The eyes reveal all: ultra-fast logic analyzer tackles DDR, other high-speed, multichannel challenges
Agilent U4154A AXIe-based unit captures 4 Gb/s; 68 channels, sees 100 ps/100mV eyes; adds advanced probe sets
Logic analyzer option cut costs for data capture
Agilent Technologies Inc. has added a lower-priced entry-level 1.4-Gb/sec state mode option for its U4154A logic analyser.
Logic analyzer / signal generator for $99
The ScanaLogic2 from Saelig Company Inc. is a PC-based 4-channel logic analyzer and digital signal generator. It provides the ability to generate digital signals, while recording the response on other channels and computer-independent performance and timings, with a quartz-accurate maximum sampling rate of 20MSa/s.
Logic protocol analyzer enhanced for PCIe
Additional software capabilities for the Tektronix TLA7SA08 and TLA7SA16 Logic Protocol Analyzer Modules provide support for PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0. The additions include a Bird's Eye View (BEV) to help engineers visualize and investigate difficult flow control problems along with one-click calibration and auto configuration.
DDR2 test option for TLA6000 logic analyzers
Tektronix Inc.,has developed a complete DDR2 protocol debug and validation solution for the TLA6000 logic analyzers which provides everything needed to validate and debug the operation of memory sub-systems in designs.
Visure Solutions announces test management extension for IRQA
Visure Solutions has integrated test management into its IRQA requirements engineering solution.
New version of PLS Universal Debug Engine simplifies multicore control and debugging
PLS Universal Debug Engine (UDE) 3.2 features new functions for multicore control, unique visualization capabilities at system level, and dedicated support for a wide range of the latest 32-bit SoCs from different manufacturers.
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