UltraSoC adds CoreSight and Ceva debug support
UltraSoC is extending its debug support for a variety of processor cores through compatibility with ARM’s well-established CoreSight debug system as well as support for Ceva’s digital signal processor (DSP) cores.
The support for CoreSight takes the form of a bridge to map the signal-based approach used by ARM to UltraSoC’s message-oriented debug system that can be used to access multiple, heterogeneous cores on an SoC.
UltraSoC CEO Rupert Baines said: “Modern SoCs are massively sophisticated, and are just too complex for architects to fully understand or predict using traditional debug techniques. The world has moved away from a signal-based approach to message-based architectures: the success of network-on-chip (NoC) companies such as Sonics, Arteris and NetSpeed is testimony to this. But customers have made substantial investments – both in terms of dollars and in intellectual property – in the older signal-based technologies. We bridge that gap, with a vendor-neutral approach that helps developers who employ IP from several different suppliers, or who need more than simple CPU monitoring to debug and optimize their designs.”
UltraSoC is demonstrating a system that incorporates ARM and Ceva cores at ARM Techcon this week (11-12 November) and at SemIsrael Expo in Israel next week (17 November). The demo platform consists of a dual-core ARM- and CEVA-based system in an FPGA, running side-by-side, with the UltraSoC IP, effectively allowing the two processors to be debugged and fine-tuned within a single environment.
Will Strauss, president of analyst firm Forward Concepts, claimed: “A large part of the value of UltraSoC’s platform is its vendor neutrality and ability to support SoCs featuring processor cores from multiple sources. The addition of Ceva DSP cores to the existing group, which includes other major IP vendors such as ARM, means that developers will have access to a very powerful system-wide debugging solution.”
Baines added: “Ceva support is a ‘must-have’: with over six billion chips shipped featuring its cores, CEVA technology is at the hub of many of today’s audio, vision and communications devices.”