In a previous blog, I described how the ScanWorks Embedded Diagnostics (SED) utility runs Intel CScripts nearly as fast as legacy methods. This applies in particular using the Emulex Pilot4 BMC, with its on-chip JTAG Master.
In the Performance of Intel CScripts blog, timing measurements were displayed for 10,000 sequential I/O reads, using the SourcePoint debugger, Legacy tool, and SED. For completeness, the timing graph is repeated here:
The results are particularly interesting, given that SED runs nearly as fast as Legacy. Also, both Legacy and SourcePoint use external hardware emulators (hardware probes), and each have an on-board FPGA used to boost performance. Within this experiment, the Emulex Pilot4 is the on-board BMC used in the SED application. Because Emulex had the foresight to put a JTAG Master on-die, it can hold a sustained TCK frequency of close to 16MHz. This is far superior to other BMCs, which may only bit-bang the TAP at 1-2MHz via GPIO.
The Emulex Pilot4 also has an Embedded Trace Buffer (ETB), which makes it much easier to debug firmware with. Our SourcePoint debugger takes full advantage of ETB within ARM devices.
For more information on the use of Trace capabilities to accelerate debug challenges, check out our eBook at Trace Accelerates Debug Analysis. And more information on the SED application can be seen at the webpage at ScanWorks Embedded Diagnostics.
