Texas Instruments TMS320 User Manual page 24

DSP/BIOS Components
1.2.3 DSP/BIOS Analysis Tools
1-8
The DSP/BIOS analysis tools complement the Code Composer Studio
environment by enabling real-time program analysis of a DSP/BIOS
application. You can visually monitor a DSP application as it runs with
minimal impact on the application's real-time performance. The DSP/BIOS
analysis tools are found in the CCSv4 Tools menu, as shown here.
See the DSP/BIOS online help and Chapter 3, Instrumentation for details
about individual analysis tools.
Unlike traditional debugging, which is external to the executing program,
program analysis requires the target program contain real-time instrumentation
services. By using DSP/BIOS APIs and objects, developers automatically
instrument the target for capturing and uploading real-time information to the
host through the Code Composer Studio DSP/BIOS analysis tools.
Several broad real-time program analysis capabilities are provided:
❏ Program tracing. Displaying events written to target logs, reflecting
dynamic control flow during program execution
❏ Performance monitoring. Tracking summary statistics that reflect use
of target resources, such as processor load and timing
❏ File streaming. Binding target-resident I/O objects to host files
When used in tandem with other debugging capabilities of Code Composer
Studio, the DSP/BIOS real-time analysis tools provide critical views into
target program behavior during program execution—where traditional
debugging techniques that stop the target offer little insight. Even after the
debugger halts the program, information already captured by the host with
the DSP/BIOS analysis tools can provide insight into the sequence of events
that led up to the current point of execution
Later in the software development cycle, when regular debugging techniques
become ineffective for attacking problems arising from time-dependent
interactions, the DSP/BIOS analysis tools have an expanded role as the
software counterpart of the hardware logic analyzer.