CMSIS Debug Support

This file describes the CMSIS Debug support available with CMSIS V1.30.

Version: 1.01 - 06. December 2010

Information in this file, the accompany manuals, and software is
Copyright © ARM Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Revision History

Contents

  1. About
  2. Cortex-M3 / Cortex-M4 ITM Debug Access
  3. Debug IN / OUT functions
  4. ITM Debug Support in µVision
  5. RTX Kernel awareness in µVision

 

About

CMSIS provides for Cortex-M3 / Cortex-M4 processor based microcontrollers debug support via the Instrumented Trace Macrocell (ITM). This document describes the available CMSIS Debug functions and the used methods.

 

Cortex-M3 / Cortex-M4 ITM Debug Access

The Cortex-M3 incorporates the Instrumented Trace Macrocell (ITM) that provides together with the Serial Viewer Output trace capabilities for the microcontroller system. The ITM has 32 communication channels which are able to transmit 32 / 16 / 8 bit values; two ITM communication channels are used by CMSIS to output the following information:

 

Debug IN / OUT functions

CMSIS provides following debug functions:

ITM_SendChar

ITM_SendChar is used to transmit a character over ITM channel 0 from the microcontroller system to the debug system.
Only a 8 bit value is transmitted. 

static __INLINE uint32_t ITM_SendChar (uint32_t ch)
{
  /* check if debugger connected and ITM channel enabled for tracing */
  if ((CoreDebug->DEMCR & CoreDebug_DEMCR_TRCENA)  &&
      (ITM->TCR & ITM_TCR_ITMENA)                  &&
      (ITM->TER & (1UL << 0))  ) 
  {
    while (ITM->PORT[0].u32 == 0);
    ITM->PORT[0].u8 = (uint8_t)ch;
  }  
  return (ch);
}

ITM_ReceiveChar

ITM communication channel is only capable for OUT direction. For IN direction a global variable is used. A simple mechanism detects if a character is received. The project to test need to be build with debug information.

The global variable ITM_RxBuffer is used to transmit a 8 bit value from debug system to microcontroller system. ITM_RxBuffer is 32 bit wide to ensure a proper handshake. 

extern volatile int32_t ITM_RxBuffer;                    /* variable to receive characters                             */

A dedicated bit pattern is used to determine if ITM_RxBuffer is empty or contains a valid value. 

#define                 ITM_RXBUFFER_EMPTY    0x5AA55AA5 /* value identifying ITM_RxBuffer is ready for next character */

ITM_ReceiveChar is used to receive a 8 bit value from the debug system. The function is nonblocking. It returns the received character or '-1' if no character was available. 

static __INLINE int32_t ITM_ReceiveChar (void) {
  int32_t ch = -1;                               /* no character available */

  if (ITM_RxBuffer != ITM_RXBUFFER_EMPTY) {
    ch = ITM_RxBuffer;
    ITM_RxBuffer = ITM_RXBUFFER_EMPTY;       /* ready for next character */
  }
  
  return (ch); 
}

ITM_CheckChar

ITM_CheckChar is used to check if a character is received. 

static __INLINE int32_t ITM_CheckChar (void) {

  if (ITM_RxBuffer == ITM_RXBUFFER_EMPTY) {
    return (0);                                 /* no character available */
  } else {
    return (1);                                 /*    character available */
  }
}

 

ITM Debug Support in µVision

µVision uses in a debug session the Debug (printf) Viewer window to display the debug data.

Direction: Microcontroller -> µVision:

Direction: µVision -> Microcontroller:

Note

 

RTX Kernel awareness in µVision

µVision / RTX are using a simple and efficient solution for RTX Kernel awareness via a CMSIS compliant interface. The µVision Debugger decodes the RTX events via the 32 / 16 / 8 bit ITM write access to ITM communication channel 31.

Following RTX events are traced:

Note