Transaction-Based Communication-Centric Debug

Transaction-Based Online Debug for NoC-Based Multiprocessor SoCs

“…They observe master interconnects to enable transaction-based debug [3]. In a packet-based protocol in an NoC, we can immediately extract the elements master, slave, and type by observing the master interconnects.…”

“…The idea of transaction-based communication-centric debug is introduced in [3] to debug complex SoCs which interact through concurrent interconnects such as NoC. The transactions are observed using monitors [4] and the debug control unit can control the execution of the SoC (stopping, single stepping, etc).…”

Transaction-based debugging of system-on-chips with patterns

“…[2] proposes such method with emphasis on network-on-chip (NoC) communications and presents the complete NoC debug system in [6]. Also in [7] a probe structure suitable for NoC debug is proposed.…”

“…Recently the idea of communication centric debug [2] has been introduced to overcome the complexity of debug of communications in SoCs that are based on Network-onChips (NoCs).…”

In-band Cross-Trigger Event Transmission for Transaction-Based Debug

“…If the breakpoint is set after 'load', since the read transaction has already been completed at this moment, the chances to observe intermediate operations in core B and the interconnects will disappear. Transaction-based debug solutions (e.g., [9,16]) are able to link the trigger event with the actual transaction by generating it according to the signals on core A's communication interface. Unfortunately, as the cross-trigger event goes through a path different from the functional transactions, the trigger event may arrive core B earlier or later than the expected time (i.e., the time when the actual transaction arrives core B), which causes core B to stop at an unexpected state.…”