May 30, 2012 -- CAST, Inc. now offers a debugging solution for 8051 IP cores that requires a single connection instead of the four needed for traditional JTAG debug.

The new Single-Wire On-chip Rapid Debugging (SWORD) interface for the R8051XC2 microcontroller core connects the 8051 to its debugging unit with just one IC debug port. The popular JTAG IEEE 1149.1 Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture requires four such connections for the same functionality. SWORD thus requires three less chip pads than JTAG, a significant savings for mobile and other challenging system applications.

"Our customers continue to find the 8051 to be the best choice for many applications, either as a controller for embedded systems or a sub-function processor within larger SOCs," said Nikos Zervas, Vice President of Marketing for CAST. "This new SWORD single-wire debug makes the 8051 core even more resource-efficient, saving three pins over JTAG yet still providing complete debugging capabilities."

The SWORD interface works with the Evatronix Application-Debugging Support Environment (EASE) that CAST offers for the 8051 cores. The software debugging package uses a special block in the 8051 core and a SWORD or JTAG connection to an external debug pod; designers run and debug their software applications using an included interface or the popular tools from Keil.

Availability

SWORD is available for the R8051XC2 8051 core, a configurable version with one of the fastest available execution speeds (12.1X the original). Other available cores compatible with the MCS51 instruction set include the space-opimized, tiny T8051 core, and the more capable R80251XC 80251 IP core.