Tracing on NXP iMX RT1050 (iMX RT1050 Trace Reference Board)

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This article describes how to get started with trace on the NXP iMX RT1050 MCU. This article assumes that there is already a basic knowledge about trace in general (what is trace, what different implementations of trace are there, etc.). If this is not the case, we recommend to read Trace chapter in the J-Link User Manual (UM08001). The NXP iMX RT1050MCU implements tracing via pins, so a J-Trace can be used for tracing.

Minimum requirements

In order to use trace on the NXP iMX RT1050 MCU devices, the following minimum requirements have to be met:

  • J-Link software version V6.40b or later
  • Ozone V2.60m or later (if streaming trace and / or the sample project from below shall be used)
  • J-Trace PRO for Cortex-M HW version V1.0 or later

To rebuild the project our IDE Embedded Studio can be used. The recommended version to rebuild the projects is V6.30. But the examples are all prebuild and work out-of-the box with Ozone, so rebuilding is not necessary.

Sample project

Streaming trace

The following sample projects are designed to be used with J-Trace PRO and Ozone to demonstrate streaming trace. The projects have been tested with the minimum requirements mentioned above and a SEGGER iMX RT1050 Trace Reference Board which can be purchased on the SEGGER Website. The sample projects come with a pre-configured project file for Ozone that runs out-of-the box. In order to rebuild the sample projects, SEGGER Embedded Studio can be used.

The following example project is generic without any PLL init and can be used with any iMX RT 1050 device: NXP_iMXRT105x_TRB_Trace_Tutorial_Project.zip

Note: The example is shipped with a compiled .JLinkScriptfile, should you need the original source, please get in touch with SEGGER directly via our support system: https://www.segger.com/ticket/.

To create your own .JLinkScriptfile you can use the following guide as reference: How_to_configure_JLinkScript_files_to_enable_tracing

ETB trace

This target device does not have an ETB for tracing. Even though some reference manuals of the device might claim differently.

Tested Hardware

SEGGER iMX RT1050 Trace Reference Board

Reference trace signal quality

The following pictures show oscilloscope measurements of trace signals output by the "Tested Hardware" using the example project. All measurements have been performed using a Agilent InfiniiVision DSO7034B 350 MHz 2GSa/s oscilloscope and 1156A 1.5 GHz Active Probes. If your trace signals look similar on your trace hardware, chances are good that tracing will work out-of-the-box using the example project. More information about correct trace timing can be found at the following website.

Trace clock signal quality

The trace clock signal quality shows multiple trace clock cycles on the tested hardware as reference.

Trace clock signal quality

Rise time

The rise time of a signal shows the time needed for a signal to rise from logical 0 to logical 1. For this the values at 10% and 90% of the expected voltage level get used as markers. The following picture shows such a measurement for the trace clock signal.

TCLK rise time

Setup time

The setup time shows the relative setup time between a trace data signal and trace clock. The measurement markers are set at 50% of the expected voltage level respectively. The following picture shows such a measurement for the trace data signal 0 relative to the trace clock signal.

TD0 setup time