JPH03177939A - Programmable in-circuit emulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm the function of a real device without producing an action confirming substrate, etc., by providing a simulator part which carries out the working of a circuit to be loaded to a device via software. CONSTITUTION:A constitution part 100 serves as a device which carries out the function of a CPU board, for example, which is to be loaded into a real device 200. The part 100 includes a simulator 1 which actuates the device 200 in the same way where the CPU board is produced and loaded into the device 200, and a CPU 2 which controls the working of the simulator 1. Therefore the function of a circuit to be loaded (CPU board) is carried out by the CPU 2. At the same time, the circuit to be loaded and the device 200 work with each other via the A and B connection circuits 300 and 301. Thus it is possible to confirm the function of the device 200 and to correct the circuit to be set into the device 200 in a short time and without producing actually a circuit substrate, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a programmable in-circuit emulator that performs an operation test after completion of a large-scale integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as LSI) without making a prototype.

[Prior art] As a method of operating a device (hereinafter referred to as an actual device) in which LSIs, printed circuit boards (hereinafter referred to as PCBs), etc. are incorporated, without manufacturing them, several boards are created by combining TTL etc. There is a way to incorporate these boards into an actual device and operate the actual device.

Furthermore, when manufacturing a new central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU), there is a method of simulating this CPU to confirm whether or not this CPU operates normally.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, these methods have the problem that it takes several months and a great deal of labor to manufacture the above-mentioned board, and the manufactured board is prone to wiring mistakes. If such errors exist, there is a problem in that it takes more time to correct them.

Also, when performing CPU simulation,
Even if it is determined through simulation that the CPU operates normally, there is a problem in that it is not possible to determine whether or not the actual machine will operate normally when the CPU is incorporated into the actual machine.

In addition, the creation of the test patterns for the above-mentioned LSI and PCB operation tests is done manually or automatically using test pattern generation software called ATPG, but creating them manually requires a lot of effort. It requires a lot of time and accurate data cannot be created. Also, A
When the TPG is used, a pattern different from the actual operation is generated, so there is a problem that defects in LSI etc. cannot be found in a particular pattern.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and allows the functionality of the actual machine to be checked without the need to create a circuit board for operation confirmation, and it is possible to modify the circuit that is to be installed in the actual machine in a short period of time. The first object of the present invention is to provide a programmable in-circuit emulator, and the second object is to provide a programmable in-circuit emulator that can create accurate and necessary test patterns.

[Means for Solving the Problems and Their Effects] The present invention provides an information processing unit that performs information processing necessary for executing the operation of a circuit scheduled to be installed in a device using software, and the information processing unit described above. a simulator section that has a display section that visually displays information to be sent and an input section that supplies information to the information processing section; a connection circuit that connects the simulator section and a device to which the circuit to be installed is installed; It is characterized by having the following.

With this configuration, the simulator section functions to perform operations when the circuit to be installed is installed in the device and to check the function of the circuit, and also displays the circuit of the circuit to be installed on the display section. It is possible to change the configuration using the input section and check the operational function of the circuit to be installed after the change. The connection circuit connects the device to which the circuit to be installed is installed and the simulator unit, and functions to facilitate confirmation of the function of the circuit to be installed in the device.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an information processing unit that performs information processing necessary for executing the operation of a circuit scheduled to be installed in a device using software, and a display that visually displays ti information sent by the information processing unit. a simulator section having a section and an input section for supplying information to the information processing section, a device to which the circuit to be installed is mounted, and the /mu-2
and a memory for storing information exchanged between the simulator section and the device to which the circuit to be installed is installed.

With this configuration, the memory stores the information exchanged between the device and the simulator section, and creates a test pattern for confirming the functionality of the manufactured circuit when the circuit to be installed is actually manufactured. act to do so.

[Embodiment] In FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the programmable in-circuit emulator of the present invention, a component 100 is a device that executes the function of, for example, a CPU board that is to be incorporated into an actual machine 200.

The component 100 includes a simulator that is connected to the actual machine 200 via the A connection circuit 300 and the B connection circuit 301 and operates the actual machine 200 in the same way as when the CPU board is manufactured and installed in the actual machine 200. 1. CPU that is connected to simulator 1 and controls the operation of simulator 1
2. A memory 3 connected to the CPU 2 for writing and reading data necessary for the simulation, a keyboard 4 connected to the CPU 2 for the operator to input data necessary for the simulation, and a circuit diagram etc. on the CPU board visually displayed. A CRT 5 for display is provided.

The A connection circuit 300 is a circuit for transmitting and receiving data between the simulator 1 and the actual machine 200 in parallel and serially, and the B connection circuit 301 is a circuit for transmitting and receiving control signals between the simulator 1 and the actual machine 200 in parallel and serially. This is a circuit for transmitting and receiving data. Although these circuits are provided individually in this embodiment, they may be configured as one circuit.

The operation of the programmable in-circuit emulator configured as described above will be explained below.

It is assumed that the component part 100 constitutes, for example, a CAD device, and the component part lOO and the actual machine 200 operate as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the operation is started, both the simulator 1 and the actual machine 200 start operating individually, as shown in the step bar.
On the simulator 1 side, unless the data of the real machine 200 is needed, and on the real machine 200, unless the data of the simulator L is needed, the operations continue individually.

For example, if the real machine 200 needs data from the simulator l at step key 2, the real machine 200
is the A and B connection circuit 300.3 in step ゛゛゛.
Control signals and data are sent to the simulator 1 via the simulator 01. Therefore, the simulator 1 executes a simulation based on the control signal and data supplied in step "Engine".

The simulator 1 then sends control signals and data to the actual machine 200 in the step "When the execution of the simulation is finished, the simulator 1 sends control signals and data to the actual machine 200."

During this step ``work'' or ``power'', the operation of the actual machine 200 is stopped.Also, if the data of the actual machine 200 is needed while the simulator 1 is running, as in the case of the stethoscope, the simulator is the control signal and data of the actual machine 20
Send to 0. Then, in step "RI", the actual machine 200 operates based on the supplied control signal and data, and when the execution of the actual machine 200 is completed in step "ke", the control signal and data are sent to the simulator 1 by the steno knob force. do.

Then, in step ゛ko'', the above steps ``a'' to ``power'' are repeated until all executions are completed.

In this way, the actual device 200 can handle a circuit formed by software implemented in the component 100 constituting the CAD device in the same way as an actual prototype circuit board. Therefore, there is no need to prototype a circuit board, and the development period for a printed circuit board can be significantly shortened.

The circuit simulated in the component part 100 is as follows:
It may also be a specific LSI in the circuit.

Further, when it becomes necessary to change the circuit shown in FIG. 4 simulated in the component part 100 to the circuit shown in FIG.
5 on the screen, and the component 100 can perform a simulation on the circuit changed in this way. Therefore, the circuit board can be changed more easily than before, the change does not require a long period of time, and the function of the changed circuit can be easily confirmed.

FIG. 2 shows a memory 400 that stores simulation data during simulation in order to cause the fabricated circuit to execute the operations during simulation when the simulated circuit is actually fabricated using the programmable input shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a device added to a circuit emulator. Components in the circuit shown in FIG. 2 that are the same as those in the circuit shown in FIG.

The memory 400 includes the simulator 1 and the A and B connection circuit 3.
00, 301, and the actual machine 200 is stored in the memory 400.
The data necessary to operate the actual machine 200 and the data required by the simulated circuit are stored.

By adding the memory 400 in this way, when a simulated circuit is actually manufactured, the functions of the manufactured circuit can be checked accurately based on the data stored in the memory 400 without waste. can.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the functions of the circuit to be installed are executed in the simulator section, and the device and the circuit to be installed mutually operate through the connection circuit. It is possible to check the functionality of the actual machine and modify the circuitry to be incorporated into the actual machine in one period without actually producing a board or the like.

In addition, by providing a memory that stores information necessary for the mutual operation of the circuit to be installed and the device, after the circuit to be installed is actually manufactured, the functionality of the manufactured circuit can be confirmed using accurate and necessary test patterns. This can be done at

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the programmable in-circuit emulator of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the programmable in-circuit emulator of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the programmable in-circuit emulator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Figures 4 and 5 show the programmable system shown in Figure 1.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an in-circuit emulator. 1...Simulator, 100...Component part, 200
...actual machine, 300...A connection circuit, 301...B
Connection circuit, 400...memory.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An information processing unit that performs the information processing necessary to execute the operation of the circuit scheduled to be installed in the device using software, a display unit that visually displays the information sent by the information processing unit, and the above-mentioned A programmable inverter comprising: a simulator section having an input section for supplying information to an information processing section; and a connection circuit that connects the simulator section to a device to which the circuit to be installed is installed. Circuit emulator. (2) an information processing unit that performs the information processing necessary to execute the operation of the circuit scheduled to be installed in the device using software; a display unit that visually displays the information sent by the information processing unit; a simulator unit having an input unit that supplies information to the information processing unit; a connection circuit that connects the simulator unit to a device to which the circuit to be installed is installed; and a device to which the simulator unit and the circuit to be installed are installed. A programmable in-circuit computer characterized by comprising: a memory for storing information exchanged between the
emulator.