Debugging system and method

摘要

A method and processor for debugging a target processor. The method comprises: executing code on the target processor to generate trace information for debugging; and during execution of that code, periodically incrementing a value of a counter on the target processor. The execution of the code includes executing a plurality of timestamp instructions on the target processor each to associate a respective timestamp with the trace information. The execution of each timestamp instruction comprises generating the respective timestamp by reading the value of the counter into a software accessible storage location and subsequently resetting the counter.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method of debugging a target processor, the method comprising:
executing a series of debug instructions on an execution unit of the target processor to generate trace information for debugging, wherein the series of debug instructions includes a plurality of timestamp instructions; and during execution of said series of debug instructions on the execution unit, periodically incrementing a value of a counter on the target processor; wherein said step of executing said series of debug instructions on the execution unit comprises: executing the plurality of timestamp instructions on the execution unit each to associate a respective timestamp with said trace information, wherein the step of executing each timestamp instruction comprises: fetching the time stamp instruction from a memory holding the series of debug instructions, wherein the time stamp instruction includes opcode; generating the respective time stamp by reading the value of the counter into a software accessible storage location designated by the opcode; and subsequently resetting the counter as a consequence of the opcode read from the time stamp instruction.