Embedded System Debug Plug-in for Eclipse

The Embedded system debug Plug-ins for Eclipse allow developers to use Eclipse as their integrated development environment (IDE) when debugging an embedded system based on different microcontrollers.
Until recently, embedded developers were forced to use different IDEs when debugging a system based on different microcontrollers because hardware debugger manufacturers support only a limited set of microcontrollers.
Embedded system debug plug-ins for Eclipse hardware debugger manufacturers offer a solution. Developers may use the Eclipse user interface while the debug plug-in controls the debugger software, which in turn controls the hardware debugger.
The plugin is released under the Eclipse Public License.
More details
To debug an embedded system, the debugger software must have access to the debug interface of the microcontroller to retrieve internal information.

Different microcontrollers use different physical debug interfaces (also called on chip debug interfaces,e.g. JTAG, Nexus, BDM). To access the on chip debug interface, a specific protocol and tight timing with distinct voltage levels on the lines to the microcontroller must be used.

A PC is not capable of controlling the on-chip debug interface directly. A sophisticated level converter between PC and microcontroller is necessary, a so-called hardware debugger. The hardware debugger is controlled by software — usually the integrated development environment (IDE).
Hardware debugger manufacturers support only limited sets of microcontroller families. Because the hardware debugger is controlled by a debugger software, different microcontrollers require different debugger software which causes additional learning effort for the developer.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu