Using Dcc For Memory Access; What Is Required; Target Dcc Handler; Target Dcc Abort Handler - Segger J-Link User Manual

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5.9

Using DCC for memory access

The ARM7/9 architecture requires cooperation of the CPU to access memory when the
CPU is running (not in debug mode). This means that memory can not normally be
accessed while the CPU is executing the application program. The normal way to read
or write memory is to halt the CPU (put it into debug mode) before accessing mem-
ory. Even if the CPU is restarted after the memory access, the real time behavior is
significantly affected; halting and restarting the CPU costs typically multiple millisec-
onds. For this reason, most debuggers do not even allow memory access if the CPU is
running.
Fortunately, there is one other option: DCC (Direct communication channel) can be
used to communicate with the CPU while it is executing the application program. All
that is required is that the application program calls a DCC handler from time to
time. This DCC handler typically requires less than 1 µs per call.
The DCC handler, as well as the optional DCC abort handler, is part of the J-Link soft-
ware package and can be found in the Samples\DCC\IAR directory of the package.
5.9.1

What is required?

• An application program on the host (typically a debugger) that uses DCC
• A target application program that regularly calls the DCC handler
• The supplied abort handler should be installed (optional)
An application program that uses DCC is JLink.exe.
5.9.2

Target DCC handler

The target DCC handler is a simple C-file taking care of the communication. The func-
tion DCC_Process() needs to be called regularly from the application program or
from an interrupt handler. If a RTOS is used, a good place to call the DCC handler is
from the timer tick interrupt. In general, the more often the DCC handler is called,
the faster memory can be accessed. On most devices, it is also possible to let the
DCC generate an interrupt which can be used to call the DCC handler.
5.9.3

Target DCC abort handler

An optional DCC abort handler (a simple assembly file) can be included in the appli-
cation. The DCC abort handler allows data aborts caused by memory reads/writes via
DCC to be handled gracefully. If the data abort has been caused by the DCC commu-
nication, it returns to the instruction right after the one causing the abort, allowing
the application program to continue to run. In addition to that, it allows the host to
detect if a data abort occurred.
In order to use the DCC abort handler, 3 things need to be done:
• Place a branch to DCC_Abort at address 0x10 ("vector" used for data aborts)
• Initialize the Abort-mode stack pointer to an area of at least 8 bytes of stack
memory required by the handler
• Add the DCC abort handler assembly file to the application
J-Link / J-Trace (UM08001)
CHAPTER 5
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