JP2000242516A - Emulator system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To verify a microcomputer program even when a target does not exist and even when a target does not operate normally. SOLUTION: A signal inputting part 14 and a signal outputting part 15 are provided at the connection part of a microcomputer 8 and a target part 3. A debugger 4 controls the part 15 from a signal of the connecting part which is inputted from the part 14 or the access of computer 8 to an emulation memory 9 and verifies a microcomputer program by giving a signal to the microcomputer instead of a peripheral circuit part 10 on the part 3 that does not operate normally.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an emulator for developing and supporting a microcomputer program, and more particularly to an emulator capable of inputting / outputting a signal at a connection portion between a microcomputer and a target.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a conventional emulator. In the figure, 1 is an emulator, 2 is a host computer connected to the emulator 1, 3 is a target unit connected to the emulator 1, and 4 is software that operates on the host computer 2 that communicates with and controls the emulator 1 to verify the microcomputer program. The supporting debugger section 5 communicates with the debugger section 4 and the microcomputer control section 6
And a host interface unit for setting and reading information from a memory control unit 7, a microcomputer control unit 6 for controlling execution and stop of the microcomputer 8, and a debugger unit 4
Is a memory control unit that stores the microcomputer program sent via the host interface unit 5 in the emulation memory 9, 8 is a microcomputer that is connected to the target unit 3 and reads and executes the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9, 9 is a microcomputer 8 The emulation memory 10 stores a program to be executed by the microcomputer 10 and peripheral circuits connected to the microcomputer 8 on the target unit 3.

The operation of the emulator in a microcomputer program development environment using the emulator configured as described above will be described.

First, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the host interface unit 5 to make settings for storing the microcomputer program in the emulation memory 9 in the memory control unit 7 and transmit the microcomputer program, and the memory control unit 7 receives the received microcomputer program. Emulation memory 9
To be stored. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the host interface unit 5 and sets the microcomputer control unit 6 to permit the microcomputer 8 to read the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9. next,
The microcomputer 8 reads the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9 and starts execution. The microcomputer 8 changes the reading location of the emulation memory 9 according to the signal of the connection portion with the peripheral circuit 10 and reads and executes the microcomputer program corresponding to the peripheral circuit 10.

[0005]

However, when developing a microcomputer program in a conventional emulator, a target for connecting the emulator is required.
In addition, the target had to operate normally. In other words, as a premise, there is a target that operates normally, and it is verified that the microcomputer operates correctly against the target. For this reason, if there is no target or the device does not operate normally, the microcomputer program cannot be verified.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide an emulator that can verify a microcomputer program even when there is no target or when the target does not operate normally.

[0007]

To achieve this object, an emulator according to the present invention comprises a signal input means and a signal output means at a connection between a microcomputer and a target.

In addition, a function of setting the signal input means and reading a signal, a function of setting an output signal to the signal output means and controlling output, and an output signal corresponding to the signal read from the signal input means are provided. A debugger having a function of setting the output means is provided.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a microcomputer program development environment using an emulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an emulator,
2 is a host computer, 3 is a target unit, 4 is a debugger unit, 5 is a host interface unit, 6 is a microcomputer control unit, 7 is a memory control unit, 8 is a microcomputer, 9 is an emulation memory, 10 is a peripheral circuit,
These are the same as the configuration of the conventional example. An event unit 11 communicates with the debugger unit 4 via the host interface unit 5 to monitor access to the emulation memory 9 of the microcomputer 8 and generates an event when conditions match, and 12 denotes a debugger unit 4 and the host interface unit. Communication through the microcomputer 5 and the microcomputer 8
A trace unit for writing access to the emulation memory 9 to the trace memory 13 and reading data from the trace memory 13; a trace memory 13 for storing a history of access to the emulation memory 9 of the microcomputer 8 via the trace unit 12; Reference numeral 14 denotes a signal input unit which communicates with the debugger unit 4 via the host interface unit 5 to input a signal of a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3, and 15 denotes a communication unit which communicates with the debugger unit 4 via the host interface unit 5 A signal output unit for outputting a signal to a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3.

The operation of the emulator system of the present embodiment configured as described above will now be described on the assumption that the peripheral circuit section 10 does not operate.

(Embodiment 1) First, similarly to the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 stores a microcomputer program in an emulation memory. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal output unit 15 via the host interface unit 5 to execute the microcomputer 8 and the peripheral circuit unit 10 on the target unit 3.
A signal (initial value) is output to the connection part with. Next, as in the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 permits the execution of the microcomputer 8, and the microcomputer 8 reads out the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9 and starts execution. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal output unit 15 via the host interface unit 5 and outputs a signal (expected value) to a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the peripheral circuit unit 10. The microcomputer 8 changes the reading location of the microcomputer program in the emulation memory 9 using the signal from the signal output unit 15 as the signal from the peripheral circuit unit 10 and executes the microcomputer program corresponding to the expected value from the peripheral circuit unit 10.

(Embodiment 2) First, similarly to the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 stores a microcomputer program in an emulation memory. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal input unit 14 via the host interface unit 5 to permit input of a signal at a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal output unit 15 via the host interface unit 5 to execute the microcomputer 8 and the peripheral circuit unit 1 on the target unit 3.
A signal (initial value) is output to a connection portion with 0. Next, as in the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 permits the execution of the microcomputer 8, and the microcomputer 8 reads out the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9 and starts execution. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal input unit 14 via the host interface unit 5 to read out a signal at a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3. Next, the debugger unit 4 receives the read signal of the connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3.
Is a signal output unit 15 via the host interface unit 5.
To communicate with the microcomputer 8 and the peripheral circuit unit 10
The signal (expected value) is output to the connection part of. The microcomputer 8 uses the signal output from the signal output unit 15 as a signal of the peripheral circuit unit 10 and changes the read location of the microcomputer program in the emulation memory 9 to execute the microcomputer program corresponding to the expected value from the peripheral circuit unit 10. .

(Embodiment 3) First, similarly to the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 stores a microcomputer program in an emulation memory. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the signal input unit 14 via the host interface unit 5 to permit input of a signal at a connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the event unit 11 via the host interface unit 5 to perform communication with the microcomputer 8 input from the signal input unit 14.
Then, a signal for generating an event is selected from signals at a connection portion of the target unit 3 and an event generation condition is set. Next, the debugger unit 4 communicates with the host interface unit 5 and sets the microcomputer control unit 6 to interrupt (break) the execution of the microcomputer by an event generated in the event unit 11. Next, similarly to the conventional example, the debugger unit 4 permits the execution of the microcomputer 8, and the microcomputer 8 reads out the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9 and starts execution. When the microcomputer 8 reads the microcomputer program from the emulation memory 9 and starts execution, the tracing unit 12
Is the emulation memory 9 of the microcomputer 8
Access to the microcomputer 8 and a signal input from the signal input unit 14 at the connection between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3 are started to be stored in the trace memory 13. Next, when the signal of the connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3 input from the signal input unit 14 matches the condition set in the event unit 11, an event occurs and the microcomputer control unit 6
Suspends the execution of the microcomputer 8. When the execution of the microcomputer 8 is interrupted, the tracing unit 12 accesses the emulation memory 9 of the microcomputer 8 and traces the signal of the connection portion between the microcomputer 8 and the target unit 3 which is input from the signal input unit 14. Suspend the storage in. Next, the debugger unit traces the trace unit 1 via the host interface unit 5.
2 to read the contents of the trace memory 13 and display them on the host computer unit 2.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the signal output means at the connection between the microcomputer and the target, the microcomputer program can be verified even when the target does not exist or the target does not operate normally. It can be performed.

Further, by providing a signal input means and a signal output means at a connection portion between the microcomputer and the target, a signal corresponding to a signal from the microcomputer or the target is output to a connection portion between the microcomputer and the target. Can be.

Also, by providing signal input means at the connection between the microcomputer and the target, the history of the execution of the microcomputer is interrupted (break) by the signal at the connection between the microcomputer and the target or the history is recorded each time the microcomputer is executed. Can be easily left.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a microcomputer program development environment using an emulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a microcomputer program development environment using a conventional emulator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 emulator 2 host computer 3 target unit 4 debugger unit 5 host interface unit 6 microcomputer control unit 7 memory control unit 8 microcomputer 9 emulation memory 10 peripheral circuit 11 event unit 12 trace unit 13 trace memory 14 signal input unit 15 signal output unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] An emulation memory, a microcomputer that executes a program stored in the emulation memory, a memory control unit that stores a program in the emulation memory, and outputs a signal to a connection portion between the microcomputer and a target. An emulator system comprising: a signal output unit; and a debugger that is software for controlling an emulator that operates on a host computer connected to the emulator, and outputs a signal to a connection between the microcomputer and a target. 2. The emulator system according to claim 1, wherein a signal input unit is provided instead of the signal output unit, and a signal at a connection portion between the microcomputer and the target is input. 3. An emulator system wherein a signal input section is added to allow input of a signal at a connection portion between the microcomputer and the target, and a signal is output to a connection portion between the microcomputer and the target.