JTAG emulator runs as USB peripheral

12 March 2003 Design Automation

Blackhawk's USB 2.0 JTAG Emulator is the interface between a GUI debugger, running on a PC and the target DSP. The advantage of using JTAG, scan-path-based emulation (IEEE 1149.1), is that it provides the developer with non-intrusive target architecture independent tools. All that is required of the target hardware is a 14-pin header connected to the scan path pins of the DSP chip.

An added benefit is that it is a USB peripheral that comes as a small-sized pod. This allows for a portable, compact design with easy installation and high compatibility (no need to worry about free slots, IRQs, I/O addresses, power cables, and non-standard parallel ports). Being target-independent means that when a new DSP device is released or changes, one need not worry about additional software.

DSP development today takes full advantage of integrated development environments (IDE) by using optimising compilers for high-level languages, graphical user interfaces (GUI), debuggers, and JTAG emulators. The developer edits, compiles and links executable code using tools resident on a Windows-based PC. Using a GUI debugger on the PC, such as Code Composer Studio, the executable code is downloaded from the PC to the target DSP hardware via the emulator. After downloading, the target DSP is controlled by the debugger running on the host PC and communicates with the DSP target via the emulator. This allows normal debugging functionality (running, stepping, breakpoints, and examination of memory and registers).

All of this is done without any additional embedded code changes or debug code. The only requirement for the target hardware is a 14-pin header that directly connects to the JTAG interface pins of the DSP chip. The emulator allows a PC's standard USB interface to communicate to the target DSP. There is no external power requirement or the need to add hardware inside the computer.

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