PLS’ UDE software tool supports NXP S32G3 vehicle network processor
With the latest version UDE 2023 of the Universal Debug Engine, PLS Programmierbare Logik & Systeme extends their multicore debug and trace support to the new S32G3 vehicle network processor from NXP.
The NXP S32G3 extends the S32G family which is part of NXP’s S32 automotive platform. Designed for central vehicle compute applications in zonal-based, software-defined vehicles, the processor provides a higher-performance choice for gateways, domain control and safety processing.
To make the most of the potential of the S32G3, PLS’ UDE 2023 offers system developers comprehensive support for multicore debugging and tracing. Among other things, the new version of the Universal Debug Engine features a simple and intuitive usage that enables efficient debugging and runtime analysis of applications for the new NXP devices. The main Cortex-A53 processor cores and the Cortex-M7 cores are all visible and can be controlled within one common debugger user interface. There is no need to open separate debugger instances for the different core architectures.
For multicore debugging, UDE’s multicore run-control management provides controllable synchronization of cores of the S32G3 for run-mode debugging. Breakpoints or single steps work on all cores, on core groups, or on a single core, depending on the requirements of the particular debug task. All cores in such a run-control group can be started and stopped almost synchronously. This helps to keep a consistent state of the respective application during debugging. Multicore breakpoints also simplify the debugging of complex applications, especially in shared code. A multicore breakpoint is effective regardless of which core is currently executing the specific code.
For in-depth system-level analysis and non-invasive debugging of multi-core applications, UDE provides functions based on recorded trace information Arm CoreSight trace system. This enables investigation of typical issues of parallel execution or timing problems. Based on trace, UDE offers a number of analysis functions such as profiling, call graph analysis and also code coverage for proofing the quality of software tests. Besides the trace functions for the Cortex-A53 cores as well as the Cortex-M7 cores, UDE also provides support for tracing the transactions via the Network-on-Chip (NoC) used for the communication between the cores and the other components of the S32G3.
Simple and safe programming of OctalSPI flash for the S32G3 is enabled by the MemTool add-on, which is an integral part of the UDE. eMMC as well as OCOTP (On Chip One-Time Programming) are also supported.
