JPH09293000A - In-circuit emulator device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To analyze a program substantially interrupting program even by a CPU which does not have a private 'interruption instruction word' by providing a monitor check program memory and a mapping memory for managing the execution situation of main CPU in a target computer device. SOLUTION: The various program processing situations, which the main CPU in a target computer device processes, are managed by the mapping memory 4 provided in an in/circuit emulator device for analyzing the operation situation of a device using CPU which does not have the private 'interruption instruction word'. A mapping memory switch 16 for switching a high speed bus line provided for the bus line of main CPU in the prove part of the in-circuit emulator device is operated and the program instruction of the target computer device during execution is instantaneously switched to a monitor program which is previously recorded in the in-circuit emulator so as to execute it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Field of Industrial Application] A microprocessor development support device (hereinafter referred to as "in-circuit emulator device") for analyzing whether or not a device for operating a computer device or its program is operating normally. Is generally used to analyze the contents / execution state of the device and its program. However, a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as "main CPU") of a computer device may include a CPU that does not have a dedicated interrupt instruction word used for an in-circuit emulator device. Computer device ("Computer device" of the present invention refers to a computer device that operates alone or in combination with other devices, a computer device mainly having a CPU for controlling various devices, and programs thereof. And an in-circuit emulator device for analyzing a device / program (hereinafter referred to as “target computer device”). In the present invention, the main CPU used in the target computer device does not have a dedicated interrupt command word for operating the in-circuit emulator device.
In some cases, for some reason, it is desired to interrupt the program being executed and monitor the execution status of the program. It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-circuit emulator device that causes the in-circuit emulator device to operate in a manner substantially equivalent to an "interrupt instruction word" in the above-mentioned state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the analysis of a program of a computer device, provisional data is given to the program so that the program is tried, and the program is analyzed while confirming whether the initial target data or result can be obtained. Was there. Furthermore, in recent years, an in-circuit emulator device has been widely used for analyzing the program. Further, with the recent remarkable development of IC (integrated circuit) technology and the reduction in price, many devices using a dedicated CPU for controlling various devices have appeared on the market. However, among the CPUs used in these devices, there are many CPUs that do not have a dedicated command word used for an in-circuit emulator device that analyzes the operating status of the device. Therefore, it is difficult to monitor the execution status of the program, and in reality, it is not used as a general purpose except for being used only for a specific device.

[0003]

In order to solve the above problems, in a CPU that does not have a suspend instruction word dedicated to the above-mentioned in-circuit emulator device, the program execution process is suspended for some reason. Even if it becomes necessary to monitor the processing status of the program executed up to, the execution of the program cannot be interrupted because there is no such instruction word,
Therefore, since the analysis by interrupting the program by the in-circuit emulator device of the device using the CPU cannot be performed, the CPU cannot be used for controlling other devices and is used only for a dedicated device. It was good. According to the present invention, a mapping memory switch for electrically switching the bus line of the CPU at a high speed is provided in the CPU probe unit that connects the target computer device and the in-circuit emulator device, and the bus line is instantaneously changed from the target computer device side. By switching to the bus line on the in-circuit emulator device side, switching the running program of the target computer device being executed to the monitor check program provided in the in-circuit emulator device, and executing the program created on the in-circuit emulator device side Even if the CPU does not have the "interruption instruction word", the program can be analyzed by substantially interrupting the program, and the problem is solved.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a RA for program storage and data storage connected to a target computer device.
Various memory elements such as M and ROM, a main CPU of the target computer device that does not have an "interrupt instruction word" dedicated to the in-circuit emulator device, and a mapping memory provided in the probe part of the in-circuit emulator device.
It is characterized by having a switch, a monitor check program memory in which a monitor check program for switching and executing a program of the target computer device is recorded, and a mapping memory for managing the execution status of the main CPU of the target computer device.

[0005]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned means, the main CPU of the target computer apparatus processes in order to analyze the operation status of the apparatus using the CPU not having the above-mentioned dedicated "interrupt instruction word". Various program processing states are managed by a mapping memory provided in the in-circuit emulator device. Usually, in a computer, the command word is recorded in the ROM memory element and the data is recorded in the RAM memory element. Therefore, the main CPU senses this and the main CPU reads the ROM memory element which is the command word written in the program. At a moment, a switch (mapping memory / mapping memory / mapping memory, etc.) provided on the bus line of the main CPU of the probe unit of the in-circuit emulator device is switched.
The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problem by activating a switch) and instantaneously switching and executing a program command of the target computer device being executed to a monitor check program recorded in advance in the in-circuit emulator device.

[0006]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing, in simplified form, an embodiment of the present invention, in which portions of FIG. 2 that are closely related to the present invention are extracted. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main functions of each device when a computer device and a host computer device are connected to a conventional in-circuit emulator device. FIG. 3 is an external view of the in-circuit emulator device when the host computer device is connected. Reference numeral 41 is the in-circuit emulator device main body, 42 is the target computer device (the target computer device for testing), and 12 and 13.
FIG. 3 is an external view (not to scale) of the host computer device and the display device connected to the in-circuit emulator device. Further, 1 is a CPU and 2 is a probe unit of the in-circuit emulator device. The parts common to each figure are given the same reference numerals,
Further, the numbered parts in the figure are parts that are deeply related to the description of the present invention.

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. FIG. 3 is a diagram in which a host computer device is connected to a general in-circuit emulator device. In the figure, the target computer device 42 is debugged by the in-circuit emulator device 41 as described above, but in the case of FIG.
Or think of it as a computer device controller built in a device. Actually, it is the same even if it is considered as a general computer device. Here, the CPU 1 of the probe unit 2 is loaded into the test target computer device 42 and operated. The operation signal of the CPU 1 is the CPU of the probe unit 2.
It is extracted from the part connected to 1. The extracted CP
The operation signal of U1 is input into the in-circuit emulator device body 41 via the interface of the probe unit 2 and the signal cable 3. The input signal is temporarily stored in the trace storage memory 9 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 through each unit in the in-circuit emulator device. The operation signal of the CPU 1 stored in the trace storage memory 9 is decompiled in the in-circuit emulator device according to an instruction from the host computer device 12 and displayed on the display device 13 for confirmation / debugging by the designer. To be done. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main functions of FIG. 2, and the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals. Blocks without reference numerals are omitted because they are not directly related to the present invention.

Generally, the program of the CPU generally installed in the device (target computer device) is R
The ROM memory element 25 is stored in the OM memory element 25 and is operated as a control program dedicated to the device.
It is not easy to recreate it with the programs stored in. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the program before storing it in the ROM memory element 25 and to store the program error in the ROM memory element 25 only after it has been corrected in advance to be in a complete form. However, among the various CPUs (1) used in this computer device 42, there is a device using a CPU that does not have an "interrupt instruction word" for an in-circuit emulator device. Unless the execution status is analyzed to confirm whether or not the expected operation is surely performed in the initial stage, the device becomes unreliable. Therefore, in the present invention, a CPU that does not have a dedicated "interrupt instruction word" for an in-circuit emulator device is used.
Also in the above, it is possible to analyze the execution status of the program by performing an operation as if the "interruption command word" exists.

In FIG. 1, a general computer device fetches (reads out) a series of programs such as instructions and / or data from an external storage device 28 (eg, floppy disk device) by the CPU 1. Once stored in the internal memory. In this case, the compatible code such as the machine language instruction which is the execution instruction word is the ROM memory element 2
5, and fetches what kind of processing is to be performed on the ROM memory element 25 and an instruction. CPU
The processing result obtained by finishing the processing by the fetched instruction is temporarily recorded in the RAM memory element 26, and the processing by the next instruction address is started. When these series of instruction processing are completed, certain data (signal) is output according to the instruction of the program, or the processing result is output to the printer, or the display device 2 through the terminal device 24.
No. 3 is displayed, and the processing ends. On the other hand, the mapping memory 4 of the in-circuit emulator device is the ROM / RAM memory element 25 fetched by the CPU 1.
The processing status such as the address that was fetched at / 26 is constantly monitored.

As described above, the series of processes processed by the CPU 1 is managed by the mapping memory 4 in accordance with an instruction from the emulation main CPU 10, and the CPU 1 preliminarily operates.
Main ROM / RAM of an in-circuit emulator device that stores a program to monitor the processing status of
According to the instruction of the program of the memory device 14/15, the processing status of the CPU 1 is traced one by one.
Is stored in the trace result storage memory 9 via. The trace controller 8 is a trace result storage memory 9
Is a memory element of a management function (MMU: a memory element that controls address conversion such as conversion between a physical memory address of a memory to be recorded and an address on software). Now, in the case of the CPU 1 that does not have an interruption command word for the in-circuit emulator device, the operator inputs the terminal device 12 of the host computer device that is connected to the in-circuit emulator device with the processing status that has been executed halfway.
When it is desired to display and monitor, the processing of the CPU 1 cannot be temporarily interrupted because it has no interrupt command word. Therefore, by executing the program to the end and converting the signal recorded in the trace result storage memory 9 into the characters and symbols that can be discriminated by the operator, and then reading it (scrutinizing and debugging). You can judge the problem, but if the program is not finished, you will not have the opportunity to judge it, and if the CPU goes into a runaway state on the way, not the interruption instruction, but the CPU first.
It is the first decision to understand the cause of the runaway, and the next problem is where the cause is in the program. Therefore, the original purpose of the in-circuit emulator device cannot be fulfilled.

Normally, when an attempt is made to interrupt the CPU of a computer device, the interruption is one of the instructions. Therefore, when the instruction is fetched, the "suspend (STOP)" instruction is sent to the CPU and the CPU continues. Suspend the execution inside. However, there are some CPUs that do not accept these commands. The present invention becomes important in the case of such a CPU. That is, in the present invention, the CPU is trying to check the execution of the program stored in the trace storage memory for some reason or the CPU
Suppose there is a case where you want to interrupt the instruction (process) being executed by 1 midway. Now, when the CPU 1 fetches each memory element of the ROM / RAM memory elements 25/26 on the computer side, that is, the ROM memory element 25, it is an instruction, and when the RAM memory element 26 is fetched, data is fetched. Since it is general to fetch each, and the ROM or RAM is managed by the mapping memory 4 of the in-circuit emulator device, execution can be interrupted only when the CPU 1 fetches an instruction. Becomes That is, the emulation main CPU 1 that the CPU 1 has just fetched the ROM memory element 25 from the mapping memory 4
When sending a signal to 0, the emulation main CPU 10
Is the main CPU 1 of the in-circuit emulator device according to an instruction from the terminal device 12 of the in-circuit emulator device or according to a pre-programmed procedure.
0 sends the switching signal of the mapping memory switch 16 to the mapping memory switch 16 via the signal line 17, and the RAM of the switch 16a which has been connected so far.
The bus line 22 connected to the / ROM memory element 25/26 side is switched to the bus line 18 connected to the monitor check program 7 of the switch 16b. CP switched to 16b by switch 16
The bus line of U1 is a command corresponding to an interrupt command stored in advance in the monitor check program 7 via the bus line 18, a processing command step by step, and further, a jump address or a sub address. By executing a program such as jumping to a program, the CPU1
The processing system of (1) shifts to the in-circuit emulator device side, and it becomes possible to instruct execution of an interrupt instruction and any other instruction.

[0012]

As described above, by implementing the present invention, even in a computer device using a CPU that does not have an "interruption command word" dedicated to an in-circuit emulator device, the program being executed is substantially interrupted. It is possible to analyze the program. Therefore, a CP dedicated to control assembled as a control device for a specific device
Even in U, it is possible to use another CPU for other devices, which is a program whose operation status is difficult to monitor. In that case, another CPU is used to control various relatively inexpensive devices. However, since the device / program execution status of the device can be monitored, an inexpensive, safe and reliable control device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a part of the functions of FIG. 2 in a simplified manner in order to explain the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing main functions in a state where a computer device and an in-circuit emulator device are combined.

FIG. 3 is an external view when a host computer device is connected to the in-circuit emulator device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Central processing unit (CPU) of computer 2. Probe part of in-circuit in-circuit emulator device for connecting computer device and in-circuit emulator device 3. Connection cable for connecting probe part of in-circuit emulator device to main body 4. ROM, RAM memory element 1 of computer device
Memory element 5 for managing 3, 14; ROM, RAM memory element 1 for computer device
A memory element (emulation memory element) for storing instructions and data of the CPU instead of 3, 14; a monitor check program for processing the CPU1 program as an in-circuit emulator device; and a trace result storage memory for storing the processing status of the CPU1. A trace controller 9 for managing, a trace result storage memory 10 for storing the processing status of the CPU 1, a central processing unit (CPU) 12, 13 for managing each function in the in-circuit emulator device, and a host computer device connected to the in-circuit emulator device. Terminal device, display device 14, 15 and CPU of in-circuit emulator device
For storing ROM, RAM memory device 16, mapping memory switch 17, mapping memory switch switching signal lines 23, 24, computer side terminal device, display device 25, 26, computer device program, data Memory device 28, external storage device 29 connected to computer device, peripheral device 41 such as printer device connected to computer device, in-circuit emulator device 42, computer device for debugging program execution status

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A central processing unit (CPU) which does not have an execution interrupt command dedicated to an in-circuit emulator device.
In an in-circuit emulator device for analyzing a program execution status of a computer device using a computer device, a mapping memory for controlling and monitoring the execution condition of the CPU of the computer device under analysis and a bus line connecting the CPU to each memory element are connected to the computer device. To the in-circuit emulator device or a mapping memory switch for switching to the in-circuit emulator device, and a processing program such as a substantially interrupt command or a one-step execution command or a command such as a jump to a designated address in the in-circuit emulator device are stored. A monitor check program memory for receiving a signal from the mapping memory according to a control signal from a CPU incorporated in the in-circuit emulator device, and connecting the bus line of the CPU of the computer device to the computer device. Switch from the memory element side to the monitor check program side of the in-circuit emulator device, and execute a practical execution interruption instruction, a one-step execution instruction, or a jump execution instruction to a specified address, which is stored in advance in the monitor check program memory. An in-circuit emulator device that analyzes the execution status of a program in a computer device, which is characterized by shifting to a processing program. 2. The in-circuit emulator device according to claim 1, wherein a mapping memory switch for switching the bus line of the CPU is provided in the probe section of the in-circuit emulator device.