ADSP-BF537 AD [Analog Devices], ADSP-BF537 Datasheet - Page 17

• Manufacturer Part Number: ADSP-BF537
• Description: Blackfin Embedded Processor
• Manufacturer: AD [Analog Devices]

programmer to use many of the processor core resources in a
single instruction. Coupled with many features more often seen
on microcontrollers, this instruction set is very efficient when
compiling C and C++ source code. In addition, the architecture
supports both user (algorithm/application code) and supervisor
(O/S kernel, device drivers, debuggers, ISRs) modes of opera-
tion, allowing multiple levels of access to core processor
resources.
The assembly language, which takes advantage of the proces-
sor’s unique architecture, offers the following advantages:
DEVELOPMENT TOOLS
The Blackfin is supported with a complete set of
CROSSCORE
including Analog Devices emulators and the VisualDSP++
development environment. The same emulator hardware that
supports other Analog Devices processors also fully emulates
the Blackfin.
The VisualDSP++ project management environment lets pro-
grammers develop and debug an application. This environment
includes an easy to use assembler that is based on an algebraic
syntax, an archiver (librarian/library builder), a linker, a loader,
a cycle-accurate instruction-level simulator, a C/C++ compiler,
and a C/C++ runtime library that includes DSP and mathemati-
cal functions. A key point for these tools is C/C++ code
efficiency. The compiler has been developed for efficient
translation of C/C++ code to Blackfin assembly. The Blackfin
processor has architectural features that improve the efficiency
of compiled C/C++ code.
The VisualDSP++ debugger has a number of important fea-
tures. Data visualization is enhanced by a plotting package that
offers a significant level of flexibility. This graphical representa-
tion of user data enables the programmer to quickly determine
the performance of an algorithm. As algorithms grow in com-
plexity, this capability can have increasing significance on the
†
‡
CROSSCORE is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc.
VisualDSP++ is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc.
• Seamlessly integrated DSP/MCU features are optimized for
• A multi-issue load/store modified-Harvard architecture,
• All registers, I/O, and memory are mapped into a unified
• Microcontroller features, such as arbitrary bit and bit-field
• Code density enhancements, which include intermixing of
both 8-bit and 16-bit operations.
which supports two 16-bit MAC or four 8-bit ALU + two
load/store + two pointer updates per cycle.
4G byte memory space, providing a simplified program-
ming model.
manipulation, insertion, and extraction; integer operations
on 8-, 16-, and 32-bit data-types; and separate user and
supervisor stack pointers.
16-bit and 32-bit instructions (no mode switching, no code
segregation). Frequently used instructions are encoded
in 16 bits.
®†
software and hardware development tools,
Rev. B | Page 17 of 68 | July 2006
®‡
designer’s development schedule, increasing productivity. Sta-
tistical profiling enables the programmer to nonintrusively poll
the processor as it is running the program. This feature, unique
to VisualDSP++, enables the software developer to passively
gather important code execution metrics without interrupting
the real-time characteristics of the program. Essentially, the
developer can identify bottlenecks in software quickly and effi-
ciently. By using the profiler, the programmer can focus on
those areas in the program that impact performance and take
corrective action.
Debugging both C/C++ and assembly programs with the
VisualDSP++ debugger, programmers can:
The VisualDSP++ IDE lets programmers define and manage
software development. Its dialog boxes and property pages let
programmers configure and manage all development tools,
including color syntax highlighting in the VisualDSP++ editor.
These capabilities permit programmers to:
The VisualDSP++ Kernel (VDK) incorporates scheduling and
resource management tailored specifically to address the mem-
ory and timing constraints of embedded, real-time
programming. These capabilities enable engineers to develop
code more effectively, eliminating the need to start from the
very beginning when developing new application code. The
VDK features include threads, critical and unscheduled regions,
semaphores, events, and device flags. The VDK also supports
priority-based, pre-emptive, cooperative, and time-sliced sched-
uling approaches. In addition, the VDK was designed to be
scalable. If the application does not use a specific feature, the
support code for that feature is excluded from the target system.
Because the VDK is a library, a developer can decide whether to
use it or not. The VDK is integrated into the VisualDSP++
development environment, but can also be used with standard
command line tools. When the VDK is used, the development
environment assists the developer with many error prone tasks
and assists in managing system resources, automating the gen-
eration of various VDK-based objects, and visualizing the
system state when debugging an application that uses the VDK.
ADSP-BF534/ADSP-BF536/ADSP-BF537
• View mixed C/C++ and assembly code (interleaved source
• Insert breakpoints.
• Set conditional breakpoints on registers, memory, and
• Trace instruction execution.
• Perform linear or statistical profiling of program execution.
• Fill, dump, and graphically plot the contents of memory.
• Perform source level debugging.
• Create custom debugger windows.
• Control how the development tools process inputs and
• Maintain a one-to-one correspondence with the tool’s
and object information).
stacks.
generate outputs.
command line switches.