This release note covers the changes between v3.1r1 and v3.2r3 of the TASKING VX-toolset for TriCore and PCP.
With the core TC1.3.1 the address of the WatchDog timer is changed. This impacts also the MConfig for debugging. However this is not yet automated within Eclipse. Therefore, when the processor of the project is based on TC1.3.1 (e.g. TC1167, TC1797, TC1736), the WDT_BASE_ADDRESS in the project's MConfig file must be manually set to 0xF00005D0.
With resolving issue 160-37160 it was mandatory to depricate the keyword __align32. The compiler will ignore the keyword and will issue a warning that this keyword is depricated. In the future this keyword may be removed completely.
Before MIL Linking with older projects, the cstart.c code must be slighlty adjusted. The line "#pragma extern main" needs to be added. For this, please refer to 160-37134.
This section gives an overview of the most important new features and improvements in v3.2. See the sections with fixed issues for a complete list.
The new 'AUDO Future' derivatives TC1167, TC1197 and TC1736 are supported. For these devices simulator debug support is available. For the 'AUDO Future' derivative TC1736 evaluation board support is included. The new 'AUDO Max' derivative TC1782 is supported, including board support.
Besides these new derivatives, board debug support is included for the following boards: 'Phytec PhyCORE TC1796', 'Phytec PhyCORE TC1130' and 'Isle TriCore TC1775'.
All devices are based on the TriCore 1 V1.3.1 architecture, which adds an expanded instruction set as compared to the TriCore 1 V1.3 architecture. ELF files created for the new derivative will have the E_FLAGS field set to EF_TRICORE_V1_3_1, indicating the new architecture.
Prior to this release, when supporting a new derivative, the Compiler, Assembler and Control Program needed to be changed. With release v3.2r1, this is changed by the usage of the processors.xml file, which is read by Eclipse and the Control Program. In this file all information regarding derivatives is stored. For legacy purposes the knowledge of the tools with respect to all derivatives prior to v3.2r1 is kept in the tools too. Only when new cores are to be supported in future, the tools must then be adapted. The Control Program reads the processors.xml file and will invocate the Compiler and Assembler with the correct core and derivative options. The Compiler and Assembler do not read the processors.xml file and will always accept the derivative (if not a legacy derivative) and if specified the core (one of TC1.2, TC1.3, TC1.3.1). The default core is TC1.3.
MIL-Linking is a new preprocessing feature to enable global or application-wide optimization.
The frontend phase of the Compiler performs its optimizations on the MIL code. When all C modules and/or MIL modules of an application are given to the Compiler in a single invocation, the Compiler will link MIL code of the modules to a complete application automatically. Next, the frontend will run its optimizations again with application scope. After this, the MIL code is passed on to the backend, which will generate a single .src file for the whole application. Linking with the run-time library, floating-point library and C library is still necessary.
With the introduction of MIL-Linking in the Compiler, the need of MIL-Libraries existed. Therefore besides the normal libraries, also MIL-Libraries have been included. Their extension is .ma. The following libc MIL-Libraries exist: libc, libcs, libc_fpu and libcs_fpu; and the following profiling MIL_Libraries exist: libpb, libpc, libpct, libpd and libpt.
With previous releases flashing was always done to the 0xA range, being non-cacheable flash memory. It is now possible to flash into the 0x8 range as well, which is cacheable flash memory.
The Eclipse IDE has been upgraded to the global version Ganymede, with CDT 5.0.
With the increasing complexity and size of projects, computers are pushed to the limit of their processing power. Building such projects are taking up more and more time, even while processors get faster. With todays Multi Core PCs, it is possible to increase the runtime performance of tools. To make advantage of this performance capability, TASKING's new parallel build utility is being released. This tool - named amk - is executed from within Eclipse. The mktc command line build tool still exists, but the amk differs by using parallelism which utilizes the multiple cores found on modern host hardware, hardening for path names with embedded white space; it has an (internal) interface to provide progress information for updating a progress bar; and it does not use an external command shell (/bin/sh, cmd.exe) but executes commands directly.
In v3.2r1 a new stand-alone debugger program is introduced, additionally to debugger that is integrated in the Eclipse environment. This stand-alone script debugger is not a complete debugger; facilities such as a register or a memory window are not available. Instead, its primary purpose is to run scripts created by the user for testing purposes.
More information can be found in the TASKING Script Debugger User Guide.
The list of open issues for v3.2r3 can be found on the internet.
The list of open issues for v3.2r2 can be found on the internet.
The list of open issues for v3.2r1 can be found on the internet.
For a quick start, just start the 'TASKING VX-toolset for TriCore and PCP' from the start menu. This will start the Eclipse based development environment. You will be asked to select a workspace. In case you used Eclipse before it is recommended to select a new workspace. After clicking OK, you will see the 'Welcome' view. On this view you will see icons that link to specific information. You can, for example, select the 'Samples' icon and import the TriCore project examples and/or the PCP project examples.
Another icon on the Welcome page, the 'First Steps' icon, links to the 'TriCore Getting Started' and the 'PCP Getting Started' documents. This is a good starting point for exploring the capabilities of the environment and the tools.
When using the product without a valid license, the tools will run in trial mode. This means you can use the toolset 15 days with full functionality. When running in trial mode, each tool will report the number of days left. When using a license that does not cover the full toolset, the tools that are not covered by the license will run in trial mode.
When after installing the license file the tools that are covered by the license still report that they are running in trial mode, this means that there is a license error. If you want to force the termination of the trial mode to get the FLEXlm error message you can set the environment variable FORCE_NO_TRIAL to "yes".
All TASKING products include the industry standard FLEXlm license management software. In order to be able to run this toolset, you will need a license key, although you can use the full functionality during the 15 day trial period as described above. You can only obtain a license key if you have purchased this product.
To obtain a license key, you can start the License Administrator from the program group of your installed
TASKING toolset. In case you still need to install the toolset, you can start the License Administrator by
setting a check mark at the end of the setup/installation process. The wizard of the License Administrator
will guide you through the steps to obtain your license key.
Once you have received your license key from Altium, you can install it on your system by running the License
Administrator again. Alternatively you can simply save the license key as the file 'license.dat' in the
C:\FLEXLM folder on your PCs hard disk.
More information is available on http://www.tasking.com/support/flexlm. On this page you also find assistance to setup a floating network license, or for installation on Linux or Sun systems.
Altium's TASKING VX-toolset for TriCore and PCP is available as Standard, Professional and Premium Edition. At installation time all tools are installed, no matter what bundle you purchased or want to evaluate. However, each tool is protected with its own unique key. After your purchase you will release a license key - specific for the bundle - to unlock the appropriate tools. Any tools from a more extensive bundle than what you purchased, will continue to run as full trial version for maximum 15 days (depending on how many days you already used).