User manual

MPLAB

REAL ICE

™

IN-CIRCUIT

EMULATOR USER’S GUIDE

Chapter 2. Operation

2.1 INTRODUCTION

A simplified description of how the MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator system works

is provided here. It is intended to provide enough information so a target board can be

designed that is compatible with the emulator for both emulation and programming

operations. The basic theory of in-circuit emulation and programming is described so

that problems, if encountered, are quickly resolved.

• MPLAB REAL ICE In-Circuit Emulator vs. MPLAB ICE 2000/4000 Emulators

• MPLAB REAL ICE In-Circuit Emulator vs. MPLAB ICD 2 Debugger

• System Configurations

• Communication Connections

• Debug Mode

• Requirements For Debug Mode

• Program Mode

• Resources Used by the MPLAB REAL ICE In-Circuit Emulator

2.2 MPLAB REAL ICE IN-CIRCUIT EMULATOR VS. MPLAB ICE 2000/4000

EMULATORS

The MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator system is a next generation In-Circuit

Emulator (ICE) system. It differs from classical in-circuit emulator systems (e.g.,

MPLAB ICE 2000/4000) in a single, but important way: the production device and

emulation device are the same. This means that the actual device/emulated device

differences are all but eliminated. For example, speed bottlenecks caused by bringing

internal busses off-chip and using external memories on classical emulator systems

are eliminated by using the actual device for emulation.

Another significant benefit is that there is no time lag from when the device is released

to when an emulator module to support the device can be released. If a header board

is required, it can be developed to coincide with the device release, or lag it by a small

amount, which is a great improvement over the longer processor module development

times.

2.3 MPLAB REAL ICE IN-CIRCUIT EMULATOR VS. MPLAB ICD 2 DEBUGGER

The MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator system is similar to the MPLAB ICD 2

in-circuit debugger system, but surpasses it in speed and functionality. Even with

standard communication, the MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator is faster than the

MPLAB ICD 2. With the high-speed communication option, it is much faster. Also, in

addition to basic debug functions, the MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator

incorporates “emulation” functions, such as trace.