SIF debug technology

You can't afford to get it wrong when re-spins cost a million dollars and you might miss your market opportunity. So we support XAP processor cores with comprehensive development and debug tools that help you get your project right first time. Our SIF debug interface is an important part of this technology and all XAP processors include a SIF debug core with a simple four-wire interface, enabling powerful debugging facilities and high speed data capture.

SIF is a patented four-wire serial interface that allows non-invasive control, debugging and event logging in target hardware, such as ASIC or FPGA devices and the embedded systems in which they operate. SIF provides complete access to the memory map and processor registers without interfering with device operation or timing. SIF connects to the developer's computer using intelligent SIF pods thereby keeping the debug logic inside the chip as small as possible.

In addition to the debug logic core and the pod, the third component of SIF technology is the SIF driver software that is installed on a PC. The SIF driver presents the application interface that is used by xIDE for developing and debugging and it is also used by other applications such as SIF Explorer, which allows data to be written and read, to and from any address location in the device under test. This is a very powerful feature that, for example, allows designers to capture raw data from an on-chip ADC and stream it out into a file.

SIF technology is used at all stages in a project; first on a hardware emulator, then inside the chip for investigating and characterising first silicon, then as part of both chip and PCB production testing and finally for service and maintenance activity. SIF gives the required real-time performance to support all these activities, but it can also be adapted to run over a JTAG connection for production testing.

At Cambridge Consultants we have found SIF technology to be an invaluable tool that has increased engineering productivity, accelerated development programmes and helped us get chips to market on time and in budget. SIF technology including the software, a pod and its on-chip logic is provided with each XAP processor licence.