Description

This application note introduces an ARM hardware-based debugging tool, Serial Wire Output (SWO) Trace. The discussion starts with background information on what happens at a hardware level, to explain what the many capabilities are. Then, it focuses on how the tools are implemented in the TI Code Composer Studio (CCS) integrated development environment (IDE), compared to other IDEs.

In CCS, the SWO Trace tools are presented in the form of three main use cases: Statistical Function Profiling, Data Variable Tracing, and Interrupt Profiling. A fourth, Custom Core Trace, lets the user customize what triggers are set and what events are recorded by the hardware.

This application note explains how to use SWO Trace in CCS (called Hardware Trace Analyzer), demonstrate with a simple Out of Box example, and explain further configuration and customization. By using this application note as a guide, users should be able to implement the Hardware Trace Analyzer debugging tools in CCS to view the large projects in smaller parts to fully understand what is happening.