
October 13 1995, Draft 1
389
Chapter 7 Software Debugging
so on. Pods D1–D3 must be connected to J7–J9. The POD_040._D file formats the D
and E analyzer cards for this configuration. The file, supplied by AMD or Corelis, is
normally located on the HP16500B directory /AMD/CONFIG/POD_040._D. Note,
a different POD_040._D file is required if HP16555A cards are used rather than the
lower cost HP16550A cards. The HP16550A card has a 4K sample memory depth (at
full channel width), the HP16555A can store 1024K samples.
Processing Trace Information
Enhancing MonTIP to control operation of the HP16500B logic analyzer offers
a number of advantages to the software engineer. It enables a UDI conformant debug-
ger to access the analyzer. This makes the analyzer usable with a range of different
Debugger Front Ends (DFEs), such as
UDB
or
xray29u
. It also enables trace in-
formation to be processed before it is presented to the DFE. It is desirable that only
the execution instruction path be included in the trace data. This, after all, is what
software developers expect, given their previous experience using In–Circuit Emu-
lators (ICE). A further advantage is that an analyzer can be combined with other UDI
conformant debug tools to produce a debug environment similar to that achieved
with an ICE.
The MonTIP program controls the logic analyzer and processes trace informa-
tion. The same MonTIP can also control the target 29K system via commands sent to
a MiniMON29K DebugCore. The operation of MonTIP is directed by the chosen
DFE. The user enters commands to the executing DFE program. When the DFE is
started it typically initiates the operation of MonTIP. When started, MonTIP esta-
blishes communication with the DebugCore and, via a LAN, the HP16500B logic
analyzer. The DFE user interface will appear on the display, along with the
HP16500B user interface which is requested by MonTIP. In addition to entering DFE
commands, it is possible to enter HP16500B commands directly into the logic ana-
lyzer window. Note, a colour terminal simplifies the process of entering analyzer
commands.
Using the logic analyzer window, unprocessed analyzer trace can be viewed.
This is a tedious task, particularity when the 29K processor is operating with its on–
chip caches turned on. The DFE can also be used to display analyzer trace informa-
tion, but this time in a fully processed format. Only instructions which actually
execute are reported in the trace listing.
The format of the displayed processed trace is dependent on whether the DFE
has been extended to display trace information. If a DFE has not been enhanced to
display trace in, say, source format, then the DFE must rely on MonTIP’s ability to
prepare trace information for display; this is achieved using a transparent–mode of
operation, which is described shortly. Bus signals selected for display in the pro-
cessed trace must be included in the format for unprocessed (raw) trace. However,
they need not actually appear in the analyzer state listing window.