Asset InterTech buys Arium to add software debug/trace to embedded instrumentation
Asset InterTech, supplier of tools for embedded instrumentation, has acquired Arium, provider of software debug tools for systems based on Intel and ARM processors. Arium’s debug tools will be integrated into ASSET’s ScanWorks platform for debug, validation and test, making it the most powerful and comprehensive non-intrusive toolset for chip and circuit board designers, manufacturing test engineers and troubleshooting, the two companies said.
In the context of complex embedded designs, users are encountering multiple processors, more firmware and high-speed buses, and visibility [without embedded instrumentation] is becoming more and more difficult, Asset says; the Arium addition brings software debug and trace to its offering. Alluding to Intel’s Silicon View technology, Asset notes that it has been built on three core sections; Platform debug, electrical validation and manufacturing test. Arium has addressed the former, while Asset has catered for the second and third elements; the combined product set will form a complete toolchain.
“Arium has a long history – 35 years in fact – of developing innovative JTAG-based debug and trace tools for that layer of software between the operating system and the underlying hardware,” said Glenn Woppman, president and CEO of Asset InterTech. “Of course, faster software debug on prototypes of circuit board designs is crucial for moving designs into manufacturing sooner and accelerating new product introductions, but there is more to this beyond the tools themselves. By combining the expertise of our two organisations we are going to be able to help engineers solve a broader spectrum of problems with the kinds of non-intrusive methodologies that are best suited to today’s technology; methodologies that work from the inside out, not from the outside in.”
Arium’s software debug and trace capabilities complement the ScanWorks platform’s ability to access, manage and control test and measurement instruments embedded in chips. The expanding number of processing cores as well as the integration of more and more resources into system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices is causing explosive growth in the volume of software that is required to interface hardware with operating system software and applications. Arium’s hardware-assisted debug tools give developers the ability to troubleshoot code quickly while the company’s trace tools help designers rapidly analyse the software transactions and interactions among cores, threads and code modules. Arium’s advanced debug and trace capabilities complement ScanWorks HSIO, a toolset that lets designers debug and validate the chip-to-chip buses on circuit boards. By combining these various debug, trace and validation capabilities, designers will be able to bring up a prototype design faster so it can be moved into volume manufacturing sooner.
“We are very excited about joining forces with ASSET because we’re convinced that embedded instrumentation is the technology of the future and it is well on its way to becoming a necessity for designers,” said Larry Traylor, president of Arium. “Our tools have been deployed in design for the last 35 years and much has changed during this time. High-speed buses above 5 gigabits per second are now the norm while SoC architectures and new chip packaging technologies make it practically impossible to see what’s going on in systems. The time has come to bring together our strengths in software debug and trace with the excellent hardware validation and test tools in ScanWorks. Our users tell us that the software present today is expanding exponentially. That’s where our tools play a huge role. But users also say that visibility into the interaction of hardware and software is sorely missing and this is slowing down new product development. Separately, our tools play distinct roles addressing these issues, but together they provide a level of visibility not found anywhere else. Together, ASSET and Arium will be able to shorten development cycles so our users can begin generating revenue sooner.”
Asset; www.asset-intertech.com
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