Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Metrowerks Europe | Subject: CodeWarrior for StarCore DSP
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 30 August 2002
Development tools have designs on
StarCore DSPs
Software designers can now debug a hardware prototype assembly incorporating the Motorola StarCore MSC8102 DSP.
Software designers can now debug a hardware prototype assembly incorporating the Motorola StarCore MSC8102 DSP The capability is available in Version 2.0 of Metrowerks' CodeWarrior development tools for StarCore DSP, which begins shipping mid-September
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Mar 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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This version provided quad-core debugging capabilities through simulation.
With Version 2.0, designers can actually debug all four cores of the MSC8102 silicon.
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With its quad-core debugging capability, Metrowerks' CodeWarrior development tools for StarCore DSP allows designers to speed development of advanced networking infrastructure applications for the telecommunications and networking markets, including 2.5G and 3G wireless basestations and packet telephony systems.
A quad-core DSP with shared memory, the MSC8102 DSP represents significantly increased processing power over previous designs.
Without tools that enable the designer to understand and control what is happening within the MSC8102 quad-core environment, it would be impossible for developers to harness that processing power.
Using the CodeWarrior integrated development environment (IDE) for StarCore DSP, developers can view the quad-core system of the MSC8102, write code, compile, and simultaneously debug all four cores.
"Designers require a toolset that allows them to control the complex interactions between all four cores of the powerful MSC8102 - something single core debuggers are not designed to do", said John Smolucha, vice president of marketing.
"Our CodeWarrior tools for StarCore DSP are designed to make this process manageable and shorten development cycles so designers can get their products to market as quickly as possible".
The CodeWarrior debugger is tightly integrated with each of the four cores and provides designers an unprecedented level of control.
For example, designers can load, run, or stop a single core at will, or all cores simultaneously.
The tight integration between the debugger and the quad-core architecture enables the developer to know which core is accessing shared resources.
Shared access information is vital to understanding and optimising the performance of high-capacity telecommunications applications.
The toolset also includes a new compiler that processes the tightest and fastest code in the industry.
Other features include optimised code debugging, which allows designers to debug optimised code with ease, and data visualisation, which allows designers to graphically visualise the data.
According to a March 2002 report published by research firm Gartner Dataquest, Metrowerks' CodeWarrior compiler and debugger are ranked number one in usage among commercially available software development tools products.
Metrowerks has also launched a new online course on its CodeWarriorU.com site that covers the StarCore architecture.
The course, called "StarCore revealed", describes the capabilities of Motorola's StarCore DSP and demonstrates how programmers can make use of specific processor features, such as interrupts, internal timers, and the DSP itself.
Sample programs are also provided, giving the student the opportunity to experiment with working code.
The course is open for enrolment until 6th September 2002, and lasts 13 weeks.
Integrating four 300MHz SC140 extended cores and 11.5Mbit of on-chip memory, the MSC8102 delivers up to 4800MMACS (million multiply accumulates per second) of DSP performance, making it the highest performance DSP announced to date.
The raw processing power of this highly integrated system-on-a-chip device enables developers to create next generation networking products that offer tremendous channel densities, while maintaining system flexibility, scalability, and upgradeability.
As with the other components of the Smart Networks Platform, the ease of programmability of the MSC8102 DSP, along with the CodeWarrior tools, allows Motorola's customers to bring these products to market quickly, providing more time in market and minimising development costs.
CodeWarrior development tools for StarCore DSP, Version 2.0, is expected to be available in mid-September direct from Metrowerks and authorised distributors.
The suggested retail price for the product is US $4995.00 per licence.
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