Chapter-42 Laboratory Tools
Chapter-42 Laboratory Tools
Chapter-42 Laboratory Tools
LABORATORY TOOLS:
Hardware diagnostic laboratory tools:
1.Volt-Ohm meter: Useful for checking the power supply voltage at source and voltage
levels at chips power input pins,
connections, and
2. LED test: Useful for testing port outputs and when using port conditions 1 or 0 for
debugging a particular set of conditions.
It shows how much time the cpu spends on each function in the task or ISR
It detects the leak due to system call or another ported module.
It tracks the change in any program variable.
It finds the RTOS scheduler behaviour during task switching and note the time for various
It helps in code testing bby dynamic memory allocation analysis, controlled flow view t
networking stacks
Vx sim
using this tool, each transaction on each of these on computer monitor (screen) observed. Also
shows states on the horizontal axis instead of time in its state mode of display. Displays the
logic states of a particular line as a function of 0and 1on another line. Catches intermittent
bugs. Does not help on a program halt due to a bug. Does not show processor register and
memory contents, if the processor uses caches then a bus examination alone may not help.
Cannot modify the memory contents and input parameters and study their effects [simulator
needed as that helps in studying these effects]
One mode: to show time on x-axis, and logic states of the clock signal, bus signals
2.
6. Use of Bit rate meter: A measuring device that finds numbers of 1s and 0in the
preselected time spans. Measures throughput. It can estimate bits 1s and 0s in a test
message and then use bit rate meter to find whether that matches with the message.
7. In-Circuit Emulator:
Development processes using ICE:
Target debugging: Circuit for emulating target system remains independent of a particular
targeted system and processor.
A circuit for emulating target system remains independent of a particular targeted system and
processor .Emulator or ICE provides great flexibility and ease for developing various
applications on a single system in place of testing that multiple targeted systems.
An Emulator:
1.Emulates MCU inputs from sensors
2.Emulates
interfaces/systems
MCU IOsand socket to connect externally MCU
controlled
outputs
for
the
peripheral
3.Emulates target
An ICE:
1.Means In-Circuit Emulator
2.Interface COM port of a computer
3.Emulates target MCU IOs
4.ICE socket connects MCU externally
5.Uses
computerdeveloped object files and hex files for the MCU
6.Uses debugger at the computer developed files for the MCU
application.
Monitor:
1. A ROM resident program at the target board or ROM emulator connected to ICE.
2. Monitors the device applications, runs for different
hardware architecture, used for debugging
Target Monitor:
1.Computer (PC) interface commands
2. Command interpreter
3. Application codes
down loaded from PC
4. Data
8. Monitor controls
command from debugger) the execution of application at full speed, as well as by single
stepping during debug phase.
Target Commands:
1.Download into monitor
2.Define Execution start address
3.Define Single step
execute
4.Define Full speed execute
5.Set breakpoints
6.Reset
breakpoints
7.Send selected codes/ IOs info for computer display
Use of System Monitor Codes for Use of System Monitor Codes for Debugging:
1. Downloaded codes in ICE may run a 'Power On Self Test' (POST) program on
bootstrapping.
debugger gdb, -a downloadable freeware -may also provide the debug monitor codes for the
system.