Handshake Solutions HT80C51 and HT80C51MX Cores Tool Suite

One of division of MIPS Technologies, First Silicon Solutions announced a complete tool suite supporting Handshake Solutions' HT80C51 and HT80C51MX (Memory eXtension) cores. The tool suite, based on First Silicon Solutions's unique On-chip Instrumentation (OCI) debug core technology is able to recognize and respond to the handshake-based system of requests and acknowledgements used when the processor interacts with the various devices in the system. This makes First Silicon Solutions's System Navigator probe and debug software perfect for low power designs and devices involving contactless smart cards and wireless radio ID.

Ad Peeters, Handshake Solutions, said:

First Silicon Solutions's debug solutions make development with the HT80C51 and HT80C51MX core fast and easy. They allow designers the ability to deliver more sophisticated designs, for memory hungry, lower power 8-bit applications in areas such as eGovernment and payment cards…

Handshake Solutions' HT80C51 and HT80C51MX cores are unique because of their ability to operate without a global clock signal (or clockless design). This means these IP cores deliver robust, low-power and low-noise operations for use in contactless smart card designs with wide operating ranges such as those found in busy transport environments. They are also ideal for applications where power consumption and electromagnetic interference can create problems. The MX (Memory eXtension) architecture extends the memory addressing capabilities of the familiar 80C51 core beyond the original 64 Kbytes limit, up to a maximum 8 Mbytes of program and 8 Mbytes of data memory.

First Silicon Solutions's System Navigator probe is designed to support the additional low power and clockless modes of the HT80C51 and HT80C51MX cores. It also includes features to support the Memory eXtension architecture of the Handshake core. The System Navigator probe hardware is contained in a compact chassis that connects to the target system using a compact connector with only 4 pins into the core processor. It includes host software with a display interface for complete visibility into the core operation. An optional Keil uVision3 software debugger interface is also available for debugging compatibility with the Keil software tool chain.

The tool suite is centered on an First Silicon Solutions OCI debug block in the Handshake Solutions 80C51 IP core. With a single target connection provided by First Silicon Solutions's System Navigator JTAG probe, the First Silicon Solutions debug software communicates with the OCI block enabling fast debugging of real-time code. This single target connection utilizing one piece of hardware saves time and costs for the user and implements a reliable single point of connection to the target system.

Rick Leatherman, First Silicon Solutions, said:

First Silicon Solutions's OCI coupled with our System Navigator probe and software will save developers of Handshake Solutions' 80C51-based applications time and money. It provides an out-of-the-box toolchain for complete visibility into their designs and allows them to quickly develop and debug their designs for faster time-to-market…

Our collaborative efforts place First Silicon Solutions in a growing list of Handshake Solutions partners providing complementary products for Handshake Technology-based products…

First Silicon Solutions's fully configurable system provides complete run-control of the target microcontroller, a user configurable number of hardware breakpoints, access to internal registers and internal and external memory spaces, and the ability to program and debug code in flash memory. Hardware triggers can be set on combinations of address, data, and bus cycles and real-time trace display of executed instructions is also included in the system features. The trace features allow the system designer to quickly see the instruction and source code history up to a breakpoint or hardware or software error.

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