February 25, 2014. ASSET InterTech and Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AppliedMicro) have collaborated on enabling ASSET's software debug tools for AppliedMicro's X-Gene Server on a Chip silicon solution, which is being rapidly deployed in enterprise systems in the cloud. ASSET, through its ScanWorks platform for embedded instruments, is a supplier of tools for embedded instrumentation.
X-Gene incorporates custom 64-bit ARMv8 processor cores to support a wide range of enterprise cloud applications such as web servers, data analytics, and media streaming. The scalable multicore X-Gene SoC is a fully integrated server-on-a-chip solution with enterprise-class ARM cores, memory, and input/output (I/O), including 10-Gb/s Ethernet, on the same chip, delivering industry-standard performance with a much lower cost of ownership.
“Without the right tools and significant visibility into concurrent code execution, debugging firmware for complex multicore SoCs is more than challenging,” said Larry Osborn, ASSET product manager for software debug and trace tools. “Because of the dependencies among multiple and concurrent firmware threads, isolating the root causes of bugs requires advanced debug and trace tools that will take into account all of the processing that's going on in the system.”
The ASSET SourcePoint hardware-assisted debugger, which came to ASSET with its recent acquisition of Arium, gives developers visibility into code execution from the point where the system is reset through the execution of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). SourcePoint also runs under the Linux operating system and can take advantage of its many capabilities.
To serve a wide range of development needs, two ASSET run-control probes support the SourcePoint ARM debugger. The LC-500S and LX-1000 access ARM code executing on X-Gene processors via the chip's JTAG port and apply many of the device’s internal resources to debug code. The LX-1000 Trace Port Analyzer includes the added capability over the LC-500S of storing collected trace data in two gigabytes of external storage.
“Developers of cloud applications based on the X-Gene are intent on bringing their systems to market as quickly as possible. Enterprise systems are rapidly moving to the cloud,” said Ed Gasiorowski, director of platform engineering at AppliedMicro. “With ASSET's tools joining the ecosystem, our users will have powerful debug and trace tools that complement the processing capabilities of X-Gene.”
The SourcePoint debugger for designs based on X-Gene processors is available now from ASSET InterTech and its distributors. Pricing for SourcePoint with an LC-500S run-control probe starts at $2,950.
ASSET InterTech, www.asset-intertech.com.
AppliedMicro, www.apm.com.