ARM Extends Its Flagship DS-5 Development Studio for RTOS Development

Product family accelerates deployment of ARM-based products ranging from the Internet of Things to 64-bit servers.

October 29, 2013 -- ARM® announces the availability of ARM DS-5 Development Studio version 5.16, which adds support for debug and optimization of embedded software based on real-time operating systems (RTOS). The new features in DS-5 Development Studio make it the only tool suite in the market supporting code generation, debug and performance analysis for any ARM Cortex® processor, including the latest ARM Cortex-A50 series, running bare metal, RTOS or Linux-based software stacks. The new DS-5 Streamline performance analyzer for microcontrollers (MCU) puts functionality previously only available for application processors running Linux or Android™ systems in the hands of RTOS users. Using standard trace technology available in nearly all Cortex-M3 and Cortex-M4 processor-based microcontrollers, the tool collects RTOS task activity, hardware performance counters, software events and samples of the program counter. Results are then presented as a set of reports that enable developers to quickly understand the relationships and dependencies between their software and the underlying hardware.

For instance, Streamline makes it easy to analyze which peripherals generate interrupts and which conditions cause spikes in exception handling time. Additionally, its software profiling capability highlights areas of the code that dominate processor cycles, known as hotspots.

The DS-5 Debugger has been extended to include operating system awareness beyond Linux and Android, covering a range of popular RTOS that include Keil RTX, FreeRTOS, Freescale® MQX™, Micrium uC/OS-III and Express Logic ThreadX. Developed in collaboration with our RTOS partners, DS-5 built-in OS awareness simplifies and accelerates the software development cycle by providing great visibility into tasks and kernel structures. The DS-5 Debugger can be used for RTOS development on virtual platforms based around ARM Fast Models, and on hardware when connected to the ARM DSTREAM™ debug and trace unit or the ARM® Keil® ULINKpro™ family.”  

WHERE: ARM will be demonstrating DS-5 Development Studio at TechCon on October 30th and 31st at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, booth #300.

WHEN: DS-5 Debugger and DS-5 Streamline, including Streamline for MCU beta, are components of DS-5 Professional Edition version 5.16. A free, fully featured 30-day evaluation is available for download from http://ds.arm.com.

Until December 31st customers purchasing DS-5 Professional Edition are entitled to 50% discount on the new ULINKpro D debug unit. Learn more.

WHO: ARM designs the technology that is at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies.  

ARM website: http://www.arm.com

PARTNER QUOTES

“The heterogeneous processing architecture of the Freescale® Vybrid™ controller solutions has been especially designed to simplify the development of applications that require both rich OS capabilities and real-time response,” said Michael Norman, Software and Tools Technical Marketing Manager, Microcontroller business, Freescale Semiconductor. “We are delighted to know that our customers have the best of both worlds in the ARM DS-5 Development Studio, making it easy to develop Linux systems on the Cortex-A5 and Freescale MQX RTOS on the Cortex-M4.”

“The integration of the Micrium uC/Probe - Graphical Live WatchTM interface in ARM DS-5 enables our common customers to efficiently develop any Cortex-M-based products much faster than ever before”, said Jean Labrosse, President and CEO, Micrium. “We estimate that this joint solution can cut down as much as 20% of debugging time as a result of uC/Probe’s deep visibility into a running systems.”

“We are very happy to collaborate with ARM to bring to market built-in support for our ThreadX RTOS in DS-5”, said William E. Lamie, President/CEO of Express Logic. “The result is easier and faster software development for ThreadX-based applications on ARM processors, using DS-5.” ENDS