Difference between revisions of "MTB specifics"
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|MTB_BASE |
|MTB_BASE |
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− | |32-bit register that specifies the base address of the MTB buffer |
+ | |32-bit read-only register that specifies the base address of the MTB buffer |
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|MTB_POINTER |
|MTB_POINTER |
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− | |32-bit register that specifies the offset (rel. to BASE) where the next trace packet will be stored by the HW |
+ | |32-bit R/W register that specifies the offset (rel. to BASE) where the next trace packet will be stored by the HW |
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|MTB_MASTER.MASK |
|MTB_MASTER.MASK |
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− | |5-bit bitfield that specifies the wrap-around point for |
+ | |5-bit R/W bitfield that specifies the wrap-around point for MTB buffer. |
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− | While the MTB_BASE register is read-only for J-Link, the MTB_POINTER and MTB_MASTER.MASK can be written by J-Link. This allows the MTB RAM usage to be configured. |
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== MTB_MASTER.MASK bit field == |
== MTB_MASTER.MASK bit field == |
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+ | Specifies the wrap-around for the MTB buffer to be used. C-like logic for this field is as follows: |
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− | Specifies the wrap-around point for the auto-inc logic of the MTB, on packet store. MASK specifies the MSB that exists in the buffer. A MASK Value of 7 means that bits 0-7 exist in the buffer, which means a max. value (buffer size) of 0xFF + 1 = 0x100. If the increment causes POINTER[MASK:MASK] to change from 1 to 0, POINTER[MASK:0] will be changed to 0, while leaving the rest of POINTER untouched(!). The MASK value is stored as MASK - 4 because the MTB buffer size has to be a multiple of 16 bytes anyhow. |
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+ | Bit = (POINTER >> MASK) & 1; |
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+ | v = POINTER + 8; |
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+ | BitAfter = (POINTER >> MASK) & 1; |
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+ | if (Bit == BitAfter) { |
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+ | POINTER = v; |
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+ | } else { |
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+ | v = (1 << MASK) - 1; // Wrap-around |
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+ | POINTER = ~v; |
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+ | } |
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+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | point for the auto-inc logic of the MTB, on packet store. MASK specifies the MSB that exists in the buffer. A MASK Value of 7 means that bits 0-7 exist in the buffer, which means a max. value (buffer size) of 0xFF + 1 = 0x100. If the increment causes POINTER[MASK:MASK] to change from 1 to 0, POINTER[MASK:0] will be changed to 0, while leaving the rest of POINTER untouched(!). The MASK value is stored as MASK - 4 because the MTB buffer size has to be a multiple of 16 bytes anyhow. |
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Example calculation: |
Example calculation: |
Revision as of 11:17, 24 April 2019
Contents
The ARM Micro Trace Buffer (MTB) is an on-chip trace buffer that allows to do post-mortem instruction trace via a regular J-Link with no need of a specific J-Trace unit. The MTB will use a specific amount of the on-chip RAM to store trace data while the core executes instructions. MTB is mainly used on smaller MCUs like Cortex-M0+/M23/M33 based ones.
Limitations
MTB is a very limited version of trace that has the following limitations:
- Instruction trace support only
- No streaming trace possible
- A portion of the target RAM may not be used by the application if MTB is used
RAM usage
Most MTBs have a trace buffer between 2 KB and 8 KB. By default, J-Link uses 512 bytes for MTB, starting at the MTB_BASE addr.
Configuration options provided by J-Link
An MTB consists of the following registers / bit fields that allow configuration of the MTB and the amount of RAM it uses:
Register / Bit field | Description |
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MTB_BASE | 32-bit read-only register that specifies the base address of the MTB buffer |
MTB_POINTER | 32-bit R/W register that specifies the offset (rel. to BASE) where the next trace packet will be stored by the HW |
MTB_MASTER.MASK | 5-bit R/W bitfield that specifies the wrap-around point for MTB buffer. |
MTB_MASTER.MASK bit field
Specifies the wrap-around for the MTB buffer to be used. C-like logic for this field is as follows:
Bit = (POINTER >> MASK) & 1; v = POINTER + 8; BitAfter = (POINTER >> MASK) & 1; if (Bit == BitAfter) { POINTER = v; } else { v = (1 << MASK) - 1; // Wrap-around POINTER = ~v; }
point for the auto-inc logic of the MTB, on packet store. MASK specifies the MSB that exists in the buffer. A MASK Value of 7 means that bits 0-7 exist in the buffer, which means a max. value (buffer size) of 0xFF + 1 = 0x100. If the increment causes POINTER[MASK:MASK] to change from 1 to 0, POINTER[MASK:0] will be changed to 0, while leaving the rest of POINTER untouched(!). The MASK value is stored as MASK - 4 because the MTB buffer size has to be a multiple of 16 bytes anyhow.
Example calculation:
- 1 KB of RAM shall be used
- 1 KB = 0x400 (MSB == bit 9, counting starts at bit 0)
- MASK = 9 (Stored in register as: 9 - 4 = 5)
- Buffer usage: 0x0 - 0x3FF
Default J-Link config
- J-Link reads out MTB_BASE to determine the base addr. of the MTB buffer
- J-Link writes the POINTER register to find out the MTB buffer size
- J-Link sets the POINTER register to 0 to start using the MTB buffer at MTB_BASE
- J-Link sets the MTB_MASTER.MASK to 4 to provide a 512 byte wrap-around (setting the RAM usage to 512 bytes, starting at MTB_BASE)
Command strings for MTB configuration
The following J-Link command strings are available for MTB configuration:
Command string | Min. J-Link software version | Description |
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CORESIGHT_SetMTBBaseAddr | V5.10m | Specifies where to find the MTB in the debug address space. Only needed in case the ROM table of the device is defect and does not allow auto-discovery of the MTB component |
CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufBaseAddr | V6.20g | Specifies the base address of the MTB buffer (RAM that may be used by MTB). This is only needed for devices where the MTB_BASE register returns an incorrect address. (E.g. on the NXP KL26Z series devices) |
CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufUseAddr | V6.33i | Specifies where the MTB shall start using the RAM. This address may be greater than MTB_BASE but must be within the bound of MTB_BASE + MaxBufSize - 16 |
CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufUsageSize | V6.33i | Specifies max. RAM usage for MTB. This must not exceed the max. usage size indicated by MTB_POINTER |
Notes:
- For more information about how to use J-Link command strings, please refer to Using J-Link Command Strings
- All command strings from above may only be passed after a connection to the target has been established successfully
Example configurations
In the following, some example configurations for different MTB configurations are given. The examples assume that:
- J-Link can auto-discover the MTB component in the debug address space
- J-Link can detect the base address of the MTB buffer via MTB_BASE register
- J-Link can detect the max. RAM usage of MTB via the MTB_POINTER register
Target RAM = 0x20000000-0x20005FFF (24 KB)
MTB_BASE = 0x20004000
MTB max. RAM usage = 0x2000
Default
MTB RAM usage: 0x20004000 - 0x200041FF (512 bytes)
Change RAM usage
Command string | Value |
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CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufUsageSize | 0x400 |
MTB RAM usage: 0x20004000 - 0x200043FF (1 KB)
Change RAM usage and start address
Command string | Value |
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CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufUseAddr | 0x20005C00 |
CORESIGHT_SetMTBBufUsageSize | 0x400 |
MTB RAM usage: 0x20005C00 - 0x20005FFF (1 KB)