Ivan Povazan

Debug proxy server for DSP platforms

The aim of this paper is to prove the generic nature of a framework used for deployment, debugging and control of DSP applications. The central part of the framework is a debug proxy server with a target independent debug interface. We present an expansion of the proxy server to support debugging applications on a server-based virtual platform by using the same debug interface.

An approach to model driven development and automatic source code generation of GUI controls

Generating source code from a model, using a model-driven development techniques (MDD), rapidly increases application reliability and substantially accelerates time-to-market, thereby reducing application development costs. The generated source code does not have its functional implementation, so besides MDD, it is necessary to create some additional tools that will fulfill this gap. This paper describes a design of a system for automatic model development and automatic source code generation that transforms specification into the product implementation. Specification contains data necessary for the implementation of GUI controls. Controls are integrated as a part of an Eclipse based IDE. To reduce the amount of source code that needs to be generated, reflection API Java feature is used. Reflection API is also used for developing JUnit Java tests, that verify the reliability of generated source code. Using the proposed algorithm 1960 GUI controls and 3920 JUnit tests are generated. Based on this approach it is estimated that time-to-market is reduced four and a half months and quality of source code is increased significantly, lowering the total cost of developing and maintaining application.

Measuring the quality characteristics of assembly code on embedded platforms

The paper describes the implementation of programming tool for measuring quality characteristics of assembly code. The aim of this paper is to prove the usability of these metrics for assessing the quality of assembly code generated by C Compiler for DSP architecture in order to improve the Compiler. The analysis of test results showed that the compiler generates good quality assembly code.

Communication interface libraries as an extension to the debugging framework for DSP applications

In this paper we present an approach for creating communication interface libraries using remote procedure call technique within client-server based debugger. Presented approach tries to prove the simplicity of porting the libraries to different programming or scripting languages, which greatly improves portability and extensibility of the framework, and facilitates the user experience. By using remote procedure call technique and an interface compiler, we have successfully created libraries for two different programming languages C++ and Python.

Automatic source code generation of peripheral hardware modules firmware

In this paper is represented a continuous work on the automated source code generation described in [1]. This paper will attempt to explain the automatic source code generation of hardware peripheral modules firmware. Peripheral hardware modules are registers whose values configure the execution of the firmware. Access to the values of the registers can be performed through the grafical user interface which is integral part of the Eclipse based IDE, and programmatically, using assembly instructions.

A Retargetable C Compiler for Embedded Systems

With the expansion of the market of available embedded platforms the variety of target architectures is rapidly increasing. Therefore the need for retarget able software development tools has never been greater. The C compiler, probably the most significant development tool for embedded systems, is required to be quickly and easily adaptable for new architectures. This paper describes one such generic C compiler which has been adapted for Crystal 32-bit and MIPS 32-bit as two different target platforms. The aim of this paper is to prove that the compiler has modifiable infrastructure and can be easily adapted to support new architectures, as well as to improve the compiler in terms of extending this capability. The compiler has been tested for correctness for both architectures. For Crystal 32-bit platform quality testing has also been performed and all test results showed remarkable results. On the other hand, for MIPS 32-bit architecture, for which full compiler support is still an ongoing process, correctness tests were performed with exceptions of C language aspects which are not commonly used in embedded system applications. The analyses of these tests showed convincing results for embedded domain and promising results for reaching full MIPS 32-bit support.

An eclipse plugin for preserving and reloading debug session, in domain of DSP application development

This paper presents the implementation of an Eclipse plug-in for preserving and reloading debug session, in the domain of DSP application development. The plug-in has the ability to save the state of the currently active debug session and the ability to restore it if requested. This is done by saving the state of the integrated development environment, as well as the state of the target platform on which debugging has been performed, and reloading the saved states in to a new session. Additionally, the plug-in offers the possibility to return the saved debug session specific number of debug steps back from time the state was saved, which enhances debugging experience and reduces debugging time. For the development and implementation of the plugin, PyComm library, OSGi framework, java and python programming languages were used. Validation of described implementation has been performed on existing multicore DSP applications.

Data flow CAD tool for firniware development and power consumption estimation in multi-core hearing aids

This paper depicts highlights of data flow CAD (Computer-aided design) tool used for firmware development at the highest level of abstraction, with the ability of source code profiling and power consumption estimation for heterogeneous multi-core hearing aids.

A Profiling Tool for Heterogeneous Multi-core Systems

Profiling is a process of collecting relevant data about the execution of an application. This is done in order to reveal code bottlenecks, measure the performance, and give detailed information about source code function contents and call graphs of the examined application. In this paper we present one such profiling tool designed for multi-core systems, which collects information about the multi-core activity and machine code statistics. The tool is implemented as part of the framework for development, deployment, debugging and control of DSP applications, and includes a profiling view which improves user experience and understanding of the profiling reports. Profiling reports can be used for improving the quality of the written code as well as to ease the process of debugging.

Unit test case generator and automated regression testing in terms of firmware development

Regression testing represents a crucial part in the source code development. To avoid laborious and tedious task of writing test cases it could be convenient to develop a test case generator. This paper presents development of such solution using the Eclipse IDE. Beside that, paper describes automatisation of regression testing using the Hudson build server. Generated test suite contains 5282 unit tests that validate libraries functionality, which are integral part of the firmware SDK.