NXP has released a new LinkServer software. It includes an interesting feature. The LinkServer test runner has been extended with a Semihosting console. This is not only very useful for on-target testing. With the Semihosting console, I have a bidirectional communication channel with the target. And I do not need any hardware pins or to run a debug session. All what I need is the CMSIS-DAP connection with the NXP LinkServer runner to have a command line shell:
If working with different tool chains, SDKs, and vendors, then one must use different environments.
With VS Code, this can end up in counter-intuitive situation. When I start a new Visual Studio Code instance, it will open a new window. But if there is already an instance running, it actually will re-using that environment. This can cause lots of subtle problems, including failed builds.
So how to start a new Visual Studio Code Window, with a new instance?
Continue readingThe release 24.9.75 of LinkServer software and tools includes interesting feature: the ability to use the debug probe for automated on-target testing. It includes a ‘runner’ which can program, launch and run the application on the target through a debug probe. While the target is running, it uses semihosting or UART for communication. This makes it a perfect tool for automated testing, especially in a CI/CD environment. One such environment is running automated tests with CMake and CTest in VS Code.
NXP has released a new version of the LinkServer software. This is a utility for debugging and using scripting for a wide range of devices and debugging probes. It includes support for the MCU-Link, LPC-Link2, on-board and CMSIS-DAP based debug probes with the ‘LinkFlash’:
With the new release, it includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for flash programming. It also includes erasing, verifying, recovery, and saving the memory to a file.
Continue readingIn an earlier article I explained how to generate GNU coverage information, for an embedded application written in C.
In this article, I show the steps and configuration needed to use GNU gcov targeting an embedded application with C++.
The GNU Coverage (gcov) is a source code analysis tool, and is a standard utility in the GNU gcc suite. It works great in a hosted environment (e.g. Linux or Windows), where you have plenty of resources and a file system. But the gcov tools is relevant and usable for restricted embedded systems too. I have used it for years with the help of debug probes and file I/O semihosting. But semihosting does not come for free, depends on a library with support for constructors and destructors, plus relies on file I/O.
Fortunately, there is a way to use gcov without debugger, semihosting, file I/O and special system initialization: using a freestanding environment:
This article explains how to collect coverage information using a data stream for example over UART or USB-CDC. Key benefits are less code side, no need for a debugger or on-target file system, improved performance, better automation and flexible data collection.
Continue readingIn case you are looking for an unusual business card, company badge or event badge holder, then this article is for you: A DIY RFID badge and business card with bling-bling addressable RGB LEDs to impress your customer, clients, friends at work or at a conference, packed with electronics. Plus it includes 10 original tools from Victorinox, the manufacturer of the Swiss Army Knife.
The NXP i.MX RT685 is an interesting device: an ARM Cortex M33 with a Cadence Xtensa audio DSP. To explore the features of the device, I’m using the NXP EVK board:
I have used it so far with the on-board MCU-Link debug probe and LinkServer. This article describes how I have added pyOCD as debug interface for the RT685, as well how to patch and use custom DFP (Device Family Pack) files with pyOCD and Eclipse.
Continue readingEurope is currently facing an ‘Energy Crisis,’ and ‘Sustainability’ is a popular topic among companies. However, embedded engineers go beyond talking—they take action and make tangible changes in the world. With the increasing use of electronic devices, minimizing their energy and power consumption is crucial. Optimizing systems for deep low power or deep low energy is a challenging task. Nonetheless, as I will demonstrate in this article, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by a factor of 100 or more. This article provides a brief overview of the foundational concepts and then applies them step-by-step to an ARM Cortex microcontroller.
The Rust programming language is making its way into the embedded world, and getting more and more popular and not only at the Lucerne University. With Rust, the probe-rs is one of the popular debug choices, as it nicely comes with cargo. On the hardware side, the NXP MCU-Link is $15 debug probe hardware I use for many targets. Why not using the MCU-Link with probe-rs and Rust?
MCU on Eclipse 