Function
An in-circuit emulator provides a window into the embedded system. The programmer uses the emulator to load programs into the embedded system, run them, step through them slowly, and view and change data used by the system's software.
An "emulator" gets its name because it emulates (imitates) the central processing unit of the embedded system's computer. Traditionally it had a plug that inserts into the socket where the CPU chip would normally be placed. Most modern systems use the target system's CPU directly, with special JTAG-based debug access. Emulating the processor, or direct JTAG access to it, lets the ICE do anything that the processor can do, but under the control of a software developer.
ICEs attach a terminal or PC to the embedded system. The terminal or PC provides an interactive user interface for the programmer to investigate and control the embedded system. For example, it is routine to have a source code level debugger with a graphical windowing interface that communicates through a JTAG adapter ("emulator") to an embedded target system which has no graphical user interface.
Notably, when their program fails, most embedded systems simply become inert lumps of nonfunctioning electronics. Embedded systems often lack basic functions to detect signs of software failure, such as an MMU to catch memory access errors. Without an ICE, the development of embedded systems can be extremely difficult, because there is usually no way to tell what went wrong. With an ICE, the programmer can usually test pieces of code, then isolate the fault to a particular section of code, and then inspect the failing code and rewrite it to solve the problem.
In usage, an ICE provides the programmer with execution breakpoints, memory display and monitoring, and input/output control. Beyond this, the ICE can be programmed to look for any range of matching criteria to pause at, in an attempt to identify the origin of the failure.
Some recent ICE developments (Microchip MPLAB REAL ICE) utilize resources provided on the manufactured version of the microcontroller for emulation and debugging features, instead of needing another special emulation-version (that is, bond-out) of the target microcontroller. Even though it is a cost-effective method, since the ICE unit only manages the emulation instead of actually emulating the target microcontroller, trade-offs have to be made in order to keep the prices low at manufacture time, yet provide enough emulation features for the (relatively few) emulation applications.
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