Microcontroller with improved debug capability for internal memory
US5862148A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 11, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jan 19, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 11, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/3656
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A microcontroller integrates an internal memory accessible by the cores included thereon. Logic within the microcontroller compares memory addresses generated by the cores to values in a configuration register specifying a memory address range in which the internal memory resides. The logic generates a chip select signal to the internal memory if the memory address generated resides within the specified address range to enable accesses by the cores to the internal memory. The integrated circuit may be configured in a debug mode wherein the chip select signal is inhibited to the internal memory, however the chip select signal is provided external to the integrated circuit on a pin. The chip select signal may then be used to select an external memory which serves to overlay the internal memory address range. Thus the debug mode allows instruction code and data to reside in the external memory rather than the internal memory while in the debug mode. This facilitates debugging of the code since the contents of the external memory may be examined, for example by an in-circuit emulator, in a less intrusive manner than the contents of the internal memory may be examined. The debug mode ma…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.