Multicore Debugging, Automatic NEON Vectorization Added To ARM Toolchain

To help strengthen development of complex multicore applications, IAR Systems added multicore debugging functionality and support for automatic NEON vectorization to its Embedded Workbench for ARM. The C-SPY Debugger for multicore debugging allows for the simultaneous debug of two or more identical cores, known as symmetric multicore processing (SMP), or two cores with different architectures, known as asymmetric multicore processing (AMP)—in one development environment. NEON, a single-instruction, multiple data (SIMD) architecture extension developed by ARM, is implemented as part of the ARM processor. However, it has its own execution pipelines and a register bank that’s distinct from the ARM register bank. With the possibility to automatically vectorize the code, faster application response time can achieved. It also improves battery lifetime and further lowers cost and power. In addition to C-SPY, Version 7.10 of the Embedded Workbench for ARM development toolchain includes the company’s C/C++ Compiler.

IAR SYSTEMS