CODESCAPE ADVANCED DEBUGGER

CODESCAPE® is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Imagination Technologies' META and ENSIGMA product families. Its many unique and advanced debugging features help streamline the product development cycle.

In a single integrated platform, CODESCAPE provides a comprehensive set of tools for hardware bring-up, chip design, debugging, and code development.

CODESCAPE enables development on proprietary software simulators, VHDL, FPGA , third party emulators such as Quickturn, and final silicon.

Also supported are assisted firmware and driver development, scripted regression testing, performance analysis, graphical data visualization, and project management.

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• Multi-core and multi-threaded debugging
• Multiple operating system support
• Firmware development
• Application development
• Target hardware interface
• Silicon bring-up

• Fast and efficient application development
• Unique application data display options
• Simplifies system development by simultaneously connecting to multiple processors and cores
• Remote connection to target hardware enables global, multi-location collaboration

Multi-core and multi-threaded debugging

Multiple configurations of Imagination's embedded GP and DSP cores can be debugged simultaneously in real-time using CODESCAPE. Each core or thread has its own clearly identified regions and program files and can be single-stepped or breakpointed. You can simultaneously connect to, and debug, a META ATP, META MTX and ENSIGMA UCC core on shared or separate silicon.

On a multi-threaded META core, each hardware thread is handled separately, allowing you to individually run and stop threads, switch between them, and study their interaction without halting the processor.

Operating system support

• Linux - both kernel code and multi-threaded Linux applications can be debugged. No additional system hardware is required as printk debug, consoles and even bitmapped displays can be virtualized via the high-speed debug port.


• MeOS - Imagination Technologies' own multithreading operating system can be debugged giving full per-thread, task-aware program status.


• Nucleus - debugging is assisted by scripts that enable task properties and system call history to be displayed by CODESCAPE.

Silicon Bring-Up

CODESCAPE's debugging features are always available, allowing you to start testing with just a processor, clock, power, and JTAG.

CODESCAPE uses the JTAG interface to gain control of the target processor when it resets, allowing ROMless boot. A wide range of start-up options let you specify how the processor boots, or you can just access your target's memory and peripherals for initialization and testing.

The target can be accessed using a script or by downloading application code directly to system memory from CODESCAPE. All test programs and scripts used on emulators or FPGA can be used to exercise final silicon.

Firmware Development

CODESCAPE makes developing firmware easy by dispensing with the need for slow EPROM emulators and providing debugging features that would otherwise be unavailable. You can initialize the target processor's memory and download, run, and start debugging firmware in seconds. Also, you can program flash memory from CODESCAPE and then single step and breakpoint the boot ROM.

Application Development

The IDE provides source-level debugging, a C++ class browser, stack analysis, peripheral and memory map configuration options, an enhanced Scintilla-based source/edit region, and many unique features essential to embedded systems development.

Fully configurable breakpoints allow trigger actions such as logging, running a script or starting the builtin profiler.

Intermediate build stages and the ability to import and work with existing make files provide a flexible project management system - invaluable for the development of complex embedded applications.

The modular design of the debugger allows you to order the tools you want - from low cost, single-core, singlethreaded, basic debugger to multi-core debugger with advanced performance analysis tools. The optional floating license allows you to add new modules and new users as your development team grows.

CODESCAPE can be fully automated, either externally from a scripting language, using the DA-script COM object, or internally using any scripting language.

Target Hardware Interface

Imagination's intelligent debug adapters provide a choice of target access methods:

• DA-usb is a low-cost USB slave device that connects to a host PC's USB port and to the target by JTAG. It can connect to multiple cores on a single target access port, allowing connection to several cores in one debug session.


• DA-net connects to a host PC via ethernet and to the target via JTAG.

Both debug adapters provide complete, low-level, debug capabilities and high-speed communication channels between the host PC and the target, and both can be driven by CODESCAPE or DA-script.