JP2001273162A - Emulation system and its controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of debug processing in a small number of controller resources. SOLUTION: An emulation controller 12 is provided with a controller control memory 12c storing information on the identification number of active and available pods and a switching controller 12b switching pods used for debug processing by referring to information in the memory 12c, and the pods is provided with a pod control memory 13 (14a) storing information about a use situation and the identification number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an emulation system for controlling a pod connected to a target such as a microcomputer using an emulation controller to debug the target, and a control method thereof. By controlling multiple pods with the emulation controller of
The present invention relates to a technology that makes it possible to effectively utilize controller resources and perform an efficient debugging process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when debugging a microcomputer or the like, an emulation system as shown in FIG. 5 is constructed, and a pod 52 is connected to a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a target) 53 serving as a debugging target. And the emulation controller 51
The pot 52 is controlled from a host computer 50 (hereinafter, referred to as a host) via a controller (hereinafter, referred to as a controller) to perform a debugging process. In such an emulation system, one user is
Is occupied only for the time required to execute various settings such as execution / stop of a program and event break, and the idle time of the controller 51 is long.

[0003]

However, in the conventional emulation system, one controller is always assigned to one pod. Actions such as preparing a controller for only a few minutes or using controller resources alternately are required, and the efficiency of the debugging process is very poor.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an emulation system that effectively uses controller resources without waste and a control method thereof.

[0005]

In order to solve the above technical problems, the inventor has come up with a technical idea having the following features.

A first feature of the present invention is that in an emulation system which performs debugging of a target by controlling a pod connected to the target by using an emulation controller, the emulation controller is configured to control the number of pods being used and available. A controller control memory for storing information about the identification number;
A switching controller that switches a pod used for a debugging process with reference to information in a controller control memory, wherein the pod is an emulation system that includes a pod control memory that stores information on a use state and an identification number. is there.

As a result, the debugging process can be performed efficiently.

A second feature of the present invention is that in a control method of an emulation system for performing a debugging process of a target by controlling a pod connected to the target by using an emulation controller, a pod used for the debugging process is specified. It is a control method of an emulation system including a step, a step of confirming a use state of a pod, and a step of connecting an emulation controller and a pod by referring to a use state and a processing execution priority of the pod.

Thus, the debugging process can be performed efficiently.

[0010] Here, it is desirable that information relating to its own process execution priority in an available pod is stored in the pod control memory.

The controller control memory may store the identification number of the host computer using the emulation controller and information on its own process execution priority among a plurality of host computers.

Further, it is desirable that the emulation controller has a pod memory for storing firmware corresponding to the pod and an identification number.

Further, it is desirable that the emulation controller and the pod are connected via an electronic network, and a LAN dedicated to pod control is preferably used as the electronic network.

In the control processing of the emulation system, the emulation controller and the pod may be connected with reference to the processing execution priority of the pod together with the use status.

The method may further include the step of determining the processing execution priority of the host computer using the emulation controller, and connecting the host computer and the emulation controller with reference to the processing execution priority of the host computer.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration and operation of an emulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

(Emulation System) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an emulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The emulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of host computers 10a and 10b, a controller 12, and a plurality of pods 13 and 14, as shown in FIG. Are connected to each other via a network, and can be connected even if both are physically separated from each other. In addition, as the electronic network here, for example, L
AN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network)
ork).

Further, the controller 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention controls
The PU 12a, a switching controller (hereinafter referred to as SWC) 12b for switching the use right of the host computer and the pod, and the IP address (=
Identification number (hereinafter referred to as POD-IP), IP address of host computer (= identification number, hereinafter PC-IP)
Controller control memory (hereinafter referred to as CCM) 12c for storing various control information such as execution waiting time setting, the number of connected controllers, the number of pod types, and use flags.
Firmware (control program) corresponding to each pod
And a plurality of pod memories (hereinafter referred to as EPMs) 12d for storing IP addresses and IP addresses.
Reference numerals 3 and 14 denote pod control memories (PCs) for storing information such as the POD-IP of the own device and the priority number of the execution of the debug process in a plurality of pods and the status of the debug process.
M) It has 13a and 14a.

According to the emulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to control a plurality of pods with one controller, thereby eliminating waste of controller resources and realizing an efficient debug processing environment. be able to.

(Initial Setting Method) When using the emulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention, first, the system is initialized. Therefore, the initial setting method will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

(1) The POD-IP of each pod connected to the controller is determined, and the POD-IP number is
It registers with each of M, EPM, and PCM (pod IP registration step, S201).

(2) Download firmware corresponding to each POD-IP to the EPM (firmware download step, S202).

(3) The EPM registers a waiting time (usage right waiting time) when a use request is received from another host when the pod is being used (usage right waiting time registration step). S203).

(4) Register the priority number of debug execution of the pod with the PCM (pod execution priority registration step, S204). Here, the “pod execution priority number” is used to determine a pod to be used when an execution request is received when there are a plurality of pods of the same type waiting to be executed.

(5) Register the execution priority number of the host in the CCM (host execution priority registration step, S205). Here, the “host execution priority number” is used to determine a host to connect to when a plurality of hosts request execution for one pod. Note that the connection priority to the controller does not necessarily have to be superior or inferior, but when the same priority is set, the occupation time at the same priority is set for the CCM, and time sharing is performed. It is advisable to assign the right to use the controller.

(Control Method) Next, a control method of the emulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In this system, when the host connects to the pod, the host first transmits a connection request to the controller, and upon receiving the connection request, the controller executes the following control processing.

(1) The CPU refers to the information in the pod control memory of the connection request destination and confirms the debug processing status of the pod of the connection request destination (pod execution determination step, S
301).

As a result of the confirmation, if the connection request destination pod is in the waiting state for execution (connection step, S305),
If the debugging process is being executed, the process proceeds to (priority determining step, S302).

(2) The CPU identifies the PC-IP of the host that has transmitted the connection request and the PC-IP of the host using the connection request destination pod stored in the CCM, and executes the host. The priority order is determined (priority determination step, S302).

As a result of the determination, if the priority of the host that has transmitted the connection request is higher (use right transfer step, S
On the other hand, if the priority of the already connected host is higher, the process proceeds to (determination step, S303).

(3) The SWC refers to the information in the CCM to detect another pod in the execution waiting state (determination step, S303).

As a result of the detection, when the pod of the execution waiting pod is detected (connection step, S305), when it is not detected (pod execution determination step,
The process returns to S301) and waits until an available pod appears.

(4) The host using the connection request destination pod is notified that an execution request has been received from another host, and the right to use the pod is transferred to the host that issued the connection request (use Right transfer step, S304), and then proceed to (connection step, S305).

Here, if the occupation of the host already connected to the pod is immediately terminated, the right to use the pod is immediately transferred to the host which has issued the connection request. The SWC waits for the registered execution waiting time, after which the SWC forcibly stops the execution and transfers the usage right to the host that issued the connection request.
It is desirable to transfer the work contents and memory contents at the time of forced termination to the local memory of the host, so that the disconnected host can trace the data based on the data stored in the local memory. You can check the contents, set / release events and breaks, rewrite the contents of the memory, etc. Also, by reloading the changed contents to the emulation memory etc. in the pod the next time you get the usage right, Emulation work can be performed again.

(5) The controller determines the pod to be used by referring to the use priority order among the available pods, stores the PC-IP to which the use right has been given in the CCM, and sets the host via the controller. And a pod (connection step, S305).

(Application Example 1) According to the emulation system and the control method thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4A, X hosts and Y pods are controlled by Z controllers. An emulation system for connection can be constructed. In this case, the use priority of X hosts and the POD-IP numbers of Y pods are registered, and I types (I <Y) are stored in Y pods. If the pod exists, the CCM stores information on the number of pods by type together with the number of connected controllers.

When performing a debugging operation, it is assumed that each of the X hosts issues a connection request to which type of pod they want to connect. At this time, x of the X hosts simultaneously request connection. When the is transmitted, the following processing is executed.

(1) If the number of pods to which connection is requested is Y or less and the number of pods of the same type is less than or equal to the number i of the type, and Z or less controllers can be used, the host, Establish a connection between the controller and the pod.

(2) If Z <x, as soon as any of the Z controllers is released, the right to use is issued to the standby hosts in order of priority. Is done.

In the first application example, basically, the user does not need to decide which controller to use, and the SWC allocates an available controller and pod to the host that has requested execution. When a plurality of controllers are used, the SWCs in each controller communicate with each other to search for a controller whose usage right has been released.

(Application Example 2) According to the emulation system and the control method thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4B, one host can connect to a plurality of pods. An emulation system can also be constructed, in which case the CCM stores the connection information between the host 45 and the pod 48a, and the connection information between the host 45 and the pod 48b, and uses two blocks in the EPM to store the information of the pod 48a. The POD-IP and firmware, and the POD-IP and firmware of the pod 48b are stored.

At this time, two windows of the debugger can be set up on the host 45, and while the window of the pod 1 is active, the pod 1 is activated.
Is controlled, and while the window of the pod 2 is being activated, the pod 2 is controlled.

According to this application example 2, if there is a process for communicating between both MCUs of the pod 48a and the pod 48b, when the pod 48a sets the transmission flag, the SWC transfers control to the pod 48b and waits for reception. State. Then, when the pod 48b sets the reception end flag, the reverse processing is performed this time.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the present invention encompasses various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the present invention must be limited only by the matters specifying the invention according to the claims that are reasonable from this disclosure.

[0046]

As described above, according to the emulation system and the control method thereof of the present invention, the right to use can be transferred to another host by using the time when the controller is not used. An efficient debugging environment can be realized with controller resources.

Further, according to the emulation system and the control method thereof of the present invention, it is possible to automatically select an unused controller or pod and execute a debugging process, so that the number of hardware is small. However, the debugging process can be effectively performed using the available hardware.

Further, according to the emulation system and the control method of the present invention, when performing the operation verification of the pod, the operation verification can be performed without reconnecting the malfunctioning pod and the normal operation pod. Also, when two or more targets having different operations are connected and their operation is verified, the trouble of the connection can be omitted, so that the maintenance and inspection become easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an emulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an initial setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an application example of the emulation system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional debugging system.

[Explanation of symbols]

10a, 10b, 40a, 40b, 40X, 45, 50
Hosts 11a, 11b, 41a, 41b, 46a, 46b Hubs 12, 42a, 42b, 42Z, 47, 51 Controllers 12a, 51a CPU 12b Switching Controller 12c Controller Control Memory 12d Pot Memory 13, 14, 43a, 43b, 43Y, 48a, 48
b, 52 pod 13a, 14a Pod control memory 15, 44, 49, 53 Target 51b Main memory 52a Emulation memory

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An emulation system for debugging a target by controlling a pod connected to the target by using an emulation controller, wherein the emulation controller stores information on identification numbers of pods in use and available. A controller control memory for storing, and a switching controller for switching a pod used for a debugging process with reference to information in the controller control memory, wherein the pod stores information on a use state and an identification number. An emulation system comprising: 2. The emulation system according to claim 1, wherein said pod control memory stores information on its own process execution priority in an available pod. 3. The controller control memory according to claim 1, wherein the controller control memory stores an identification number of a host computer using the emulation controller and information on its own process execution priority among a plurality of host computers. 3. The emulation system according to 2. 4. The emulation controller according to claim 1,
4. The emulation system according to claim 1, further comprising a pod memory for storing firmware and an identification number corresponding to the pod. 5. The pod according to claim 1, wherein said emulation controller and said pod are connected via an electronic network.
An emulation system as described in. 6. A method for controlling an emulation system for performing debugging of a target by controlling a pod connected to the target using an emulation controller, wherein a step of specifying a pod to be used for debugging is performed. A method for controlling an emulation system, comprising: a step of checking a state; and a step of connecting an emulation controller and a pod with reference to the use state. 7. The method of controlling an emulation system according to claim 6, wherein the emulation controller and the pod are connected by referring to the processing execution priority of the pod together with the use status. 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining a processing execution priority of a host computer using the emulation controller, and connecting the host computer and the emulation controller with reference to the processing execution priority of the host computer. The control method of the emulation system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein