Macraigor Systems Extends On-Chip Debug Support to Intel’s Atom Processor

Complete Solution for kernel debugging and low-level driver development

BOSTON, MA–February 2, 2009–Macraigor Systems has expanded their proprietary On-Chip Debug Technology (OCDemon) to support the newest x86 processor, the Intel Atom. Built with the world's smallest transistors, the Intel Atom processor was designed for low-power mobile internet devices and simple, low-cost PC's.

Because JTAG debug solutions do not require an operating system on the device, it is ideal for firmware debugging as well as bootcode. Through the JTAG interface, the target hardware is connected to the debugger on the host system. This allows in-depth access of IA-specific features for execution trace support and system-on-a-chip and chipset peripheral register content.

OCDemon offers an optimized interface to these on-chip resources via a choice of communication channels. A host debugger communicates with a Macraigor Systems’ device and then to the target processor. Since there is no need for any resident code, this debug method is available for hardware initialization and debug as well as kernel, driver and application software debug.

OCDemon has continued to be an Intel recommended JTAG debug solution for hardware manufactures that need to debug applications on host development platforms or remote TCP/IP sites. Macraigor is offering a free port of the popular GNU toolkit (gcc, gas and gdb) for the Atom processor on their website, www.macraigor.com as well as full support for Eclipse Ganymede.

The Macraigor Eclipse Ganymede/Galileo + GNU Tools Suite is an implementation and packaging of the Eclipse Ganymede/Galileo platform, CDT (C/C++ Development Tooling) 5.0.x, and DSDP (Device Software Development Platform) 1.0 plug-ins, and a program called OcdRemote that provides an interface between Eclipse, the GDB debugger and a Macraigor On-Chip Debug device.

“Macraigor Systems has a long standing relationship with Intel providing JTAG debug interface support. The fact that Macraigor is named as a preferred vendor speaks to that relationship and to OCDemon’s ability to meet the demanding quality and performance requirements for debugging Atom applications,” said managing partner James MacGregor.

Pricing & Availability

Macraigor’s JTAG interface devices are immediately available for use with the Intel Atom based designs as well as other Intel family devices including the XScale family of processors. OCDemon for the Intel Atom is available immediately starting at $250 USD. The port of the GNU Tools Suite and Eclipse Ganymede/Galileo platform is being offered at no charge and can be downloaded at www.macraigor.com.

About Macraigor Systems

Macraigor Systems, LLC is a leading supplier of JTAG connection devices for on-chip debugging. Their reputation in the embedded industry has been built on the OCDemon product technology which provides a low-cost, full-featured connection from a PC to the on-chip debug facilities of 32 and 64-bit processors, providing host support for Windows and Linux and systems.

Macraigor Systems also provides Flash Programming software that allows in-circuit programming of target Flash EEPROM memory devices via a JTAG connection. The Flash Programmer works with a wide variety of the most popular Flash devices currently on the market. For more information about Macraigor Systems’ products, please visit www.macraigor.com.