Apparatus and method for identification of a primary code start sync point following a return to primary code execution

摘要

When a PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal is generated in a target processor during a test procedure after the return from an interrupt service routine, a sync marker is generated in a program counter trace stream. The sync marker includes a plurality of packets, the packets identifying that the sync marker is has been generated as a result of the PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal. The program code start point sync marker identifies the absolute program counter address at the time of the generation of the PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal and relates the PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal sync marker to a timing trace stream. The PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal is generated after the instructions are removed from the pipeline flattener and the first program (primary) code instruction is removed from the pipeline flattener. The PROGRAM CODE START POINT signal sync marker alerts the host processor to the initiation and context of the program code execution.