As with other popular in-circuit emulators from Hitex, we have maintained the same basic principle of a base unit providing emulator features such as dual-ported emulation memory, trace buffer, trigger hardware and more. The AX6811 base unit is available in three variant models, where the amount of features provided is the differentiating factor. Developers are therefore free to choose the best base unit to get the job done.

The chosen base unit does then not need to be modified when emulating different derivatives or even different types of controllers (e.g. M68HC05, M68HC08, M68HC11 or ST7) since the only modification required is a change of the external adaptation cable. The introduction of adaptation cables supports the growing number of new derivatives.

Unique Breakpoints
Development tools from Hitex make a distinction between breakpoints and triggers. Breakpoints are used to control program flow from the viewpoint of a software engineer and are therefore set in the program memory area (ROM or emulation memory). Breakpoints are usually set automatically during a high-level language test by HiTOP. For this purpose, breakpoints always stop emulation before the instruction at the selected address has been executed. Otherwise, the debugger may stop within a subroutine. This can cause confusion and does not allow the developer to step over the call, which is the intention. This is the reason why almost all debuggers use software breakpoints. This works well, only when the program resides in emulation memory, but as soon as the program displays errors when running from ROM, this method fails. No other method enables safe debugging, apart from that of using Hitex's unique hardware based unlimited breakpoints.

Powerful Triggering Means Professional Tracing
Four independent triggers control all bus events. Once a predefined signal combination is detected, the trigger can initiate several actions to be taken such as start or stop trace recording, freeze the trace buffer, start or stop a timer or simply break emulation.

Another method called "filtering" dramatically reduces the amount of gathered trace frames - the only frames stored are those that match a trigger condition. This, for example, allows tracing of only critical ports, variables or program sections. Using time stamps within each trace frame, it is possible to get time measurements for every sequence of selected events. Each trigger may also combine external signals of the application within bus events. Conversely, each occurrence of a trigger event will be signaled for controlling logic analyzers or an oscilloscope.

Complex error conditions can be tracked with special sequence logic that is used like a state machine. Triggers and combinations of them arm other triggers or enable actions specific for this state.

The high-end version of the AX6811 in-circuit emulator is equipped with a powerful Performance Analyzer. It is especially suited for finding code bottlenecks within an application and very useful for gaining information on untested program code. This feature is without doubt a valuable asset to increase the quality of software within a system.

The Ultimate User Interface
HiTOP is the universal user interface for all Hitex development tools. It provides complete HLL debugging and rapid access to all emulator resources. An extensive command language enables powerful test scripts and harnesses, as well as end-of-production-line testing to be made.
The in-circuit emulator is able to communicate with HiTOP in a variety of ways. The serial interface supports up to 115 kBaud. However, even greater speeds can be achieved with a special parallel interface. A USB connection is also possible.