A common example of this process would see the LDRA Testbed analysis performed
on a workstation and the execution of the application on a specialised chip, which controls specific
hardware. However, it is not uncommon to find the opposite process, for example analysis on a PC
and execution on a mainframe. In this case the instrumented code can interact with sophisticated
databases and other systems.
Benefits of Host/Target Testing
- Ability to carry out analysis on host computer and execution on a target
processor or mainframe
- Instrumented code executes in its intended environment
- Analysis work is off-loaded onto a powerful host
LDRA Host/Target Testing Availability
The LDRA tool suite may be utilised for Host/Target testing in commercially
available, or custom built environments. The target platforms
page of the LDRA website provides a non-exhaustive target platform list
and gives a flavour of the breadth of coverage.
Requirements for Host/Target Testing
The basic requirement for host/target testing is a means of communication
from the target back to the host. Normally, LDRA Testbed instrumentation is configured to write
to the host file system at run time, as it is the most convenient mass storage device. In the
case of a separate target microprocessor, a device may not be available due to packaging or
environmental constraints. If this is so, an alternative must be found.
Sometimes a target system will have a spare communication link available
to the host. It can be used for downloading target images produced by cross compilers. This
offers the most elegant storage solution, employing the communication link to stream data
generated by the instrumented target image back to the host at run time.
A communications driver must be installed on the host to receive the
data and arrange storage in a convenient file. By using this technique, the execution
history generated by the instrumented target image can be channelled back to the host,
and stored for Dynamic Coverage Analysis after run time.
Network connections, such as ethernet, can be used as an
alternative to a standard communication link. Also, if no other link exists
then it may be possible to arrange for storage of the execution history by
using a RAM area of memory on the target. This solution requires that an
unused area exists, and it is sufficiently large enough to accommodate the
generated data. If this appears possible then the buffer can be up-loaded
to the host after run-time in preparation for Dynamic Coverage Analysis. This
solution is becoming more viable as large RAMs on dedicated microprocessors
become more common with the availability of larger RAM chips. Presently, the
host/target communication link solution remains the most flexible.
LDRA Testbed in Various Host/Target Environments
iSYSTEM LDRA CPU Support
iSYSTEM AG manufactures a range of development tools used for emulation
and test of embedded applications. iSYSTEM is independent of any of the semiconductor,
compiler and real time processor system manufacturers. This independence
has resulted in a high number of supported microcontrollers, (>1000 8-/16-/32-Bit from
more than 40 manufacturer architectures) similarly for compilers (>150) and thirdly, the
open basis of their products bodes well for future architectures.
iSYSTEM and the LDRA tool suite is fully integrated with different manufacturers, CPU and
target interfaces. The matrix provided at the top of the page provides details on the current
integrations between the LDRA tool suite and the iSYSTEM product range.
The target platforms page of the LDRA website
provides a non-exhaustive target platform list and gives a flavour of the breadth of coverage.
For more information on iSYSTEM please visit www.isystem.com.
The Host/Target Instrumentation Process
The instrumentation process employed within LDRA Testbed is highly
flexible and can be easily tailored to cope with a wide variety of different host/target
environments. LDRA Testbed automatically inserts instrumentation probes into a copy of
the source code. These probes write to an execution history channel. The source code
of the probes is supplied, and may be configured for the unique features of a
particular target.
Host/Target Environments
LDRA Testbed has been successfully used in host/target
environments with many different types of communication links including serial
and parallel I/O lines, in-circuit emulators, ethernet, DMA channels, software
simulators, local disk transfer, dual booting file systems, telephony and many
more. The high degree of flexibility that this demonstrates means that LDRA
Testbed is particularly suited to real-time testing.
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