Test & Measurement

Processor family gets software debug solution

22nd April 2015
Mick Elliott
0

Engineers designing microserver and other hyperscale workload systems based on the new Intel microarchitecture codenamed Broadwell-DE will be able to debug software and validate high-speed communications interconnects with ASSET InterTech’s SourcePoint and ScanWorks platforms. The first generation of the Intel Xeon Processor D family is based on the microarchitecture previously referred to as Broadwell-DE.

“The trajectory that cloud computing is following is unsustainable without breakthrough technology like the Broadwell microarchitecture and the Intel Xeon Processor D family, as well as other processor architectures that consume less power and require less space,” said Tim Caffee, vice president of design validation and test for ASSET InterTech. “Incorporating these high-speed and complex multicore processors into system designs is very challenging for engineers from both the software and hardware perspectives. Our SourcePoint and ScanWorks platforms have tools that accelerate debug and validation so new high-performance systems will get to market sooner.”

One of the new capabilities supported by the Intel Broadwell-DE microarchitecture is processor trace, a feature of the silicon that allows for the application of software debug trace techniques that can quickly isolate bugs in complex code environments. ASSET’s SourcePoint trace and debug tools give software engineers multiple views of executing code to rapidly reveal the root causes of bugs.

ASSET’s ScanWorks platform has advanced diagnostics tools that capture empirical performance data on the high-speed input/output (HSIO) serial buses of Intel’s Xeon, Core and Atom processors. ScanWorks validates system performance by plotting the operating margins on a bus along either the voltage or timing dimensions, or both. The data captured by ScanWorks can be mined by statistical methods such as system marginality validation (SMV) to project the likelihood of performance degradations. Slim operating margins can lead to faults and failures later, resulting in user dissatisfaction. In addition, the ScanWorks HSIO tools are supported by a comprehensive ecosystem of training, services, documentation and technical support.

 

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