Emulator Pod Hardware

The emulator pod (DV244005) consists of a main board that is enclosed in the casing with a port for the two driver boards (for standard or high-speed communication with a target). On the emulator enclosure are push buttons, indicator lights (LEDs), and a logic probe connector interface.

Main Board

This component has an interface processor (dsPIC DSC), a USB 2.0 interface capable of USB speeds of 480 Mb/sec, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for general system control and increased communication throughput, a SRAM for holding the program code image for programming into the emulation device on-board Flash, the external trigger logic, user interface push buttons, and LED indicators.

The MPLAB® REAL ICE in-circuit emulator supports two types of interfaces for the target processor, consisting of the standard driver board and an optional high-speed driver board. These boards are inserted into the emulator pod via a card guide.

The durability or insertion life cycle of the card guide is 10,000 cycles.

Push Buttons

The push buttons have the following significance:

Push Button Related LED Description
Reset Status Push to Reset the device.
Function Status Halt: when running, push to put the emulator in
Break or Halt condition.

Indicator Lights (LEDs)

The indicator lights have the following significance:

Type Color Condition Description
Active Blue Lit Power has been applied or target has been connected.
Status Green Lit The emulator is operating normally – standby.
Red Lit An operation has failed.
Blinking USB communications error or driver not installed.
Orange Lit The emulator is busy.

Logic Probe/External Trigger Interface

Probes can be connected to the 14-pin header on the side of the unit for processing external signals that are used for triggering external equipment. This header contains eight Input/Output (I/O) connections that are user selectable as inputs or outputs with logic levels that are proportional to the target operating voltage.

The outputs can be used for triggering an external logic analyzer or oscilloscope to allow the developer to capture events of interest based on trigger criteria set within MPLAB X IDE. The external trigger is a pulse of approximately 1.5 ms. This value is not deterministic and the external tool should be triggered on a pulse edge.

The inputs are part of a trigger bus. Inputs can have a latency up to 700 ms and will vary in length depending on architecture emulated (8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit) and whether trace or streaming data is active.

Figure: Logic Probe Pinout on Emulator
Logic_Probe_Connector.jpg

Logic probes may be attached to this connector to provide the functionality described in the table below. The probes are color-coded and labeled for easy identification.

Table: Logic Probe Pinout Description

Pin I/O Name Function Color
1 O Vdd(1) Vdd Reference Red
2 O NC No Connection Gray
3 O NC No Connection Gray
4 I TCLK External synchronous clock Gray
5 I/O EXT7(2) External I/O bit 7 White
6 I/O EXT6 External I/O bit 6 White
7 I/O EXT5 External I/O bit 5 White
8 I/O EXT4 External I/O bit 4 White
9 I/O EXT3 External I/O bit 3 White
10 I/O EXT2 External I/O bit 2 White
11 I/O EXT1 External I/O bit 1 White
12 I/O EXT0(2) External I/O bit 0 White
13 Gnd GND System Ground Black
14 Gnd GND System Ground Black
Note 1: Do not connect Vdd to the target.
Note 2: EXT0 and EXT7 are temporarily used during the loopback test. Ensure that they are not connected together.

The electrical specifications for logic probes are listed in the table below.

Table: Logic Probe Electrical Specifications

Logic Inputs Vih = Vdd x 0.7 V (min)
Vil = Vdd x 0.3 V (max)
Logic Outputs Vdd = 5 V Vdd = 3 V Vdd = 2.3 V Vdd = 1.65 V
Voh = 3.8 V min Voh = 2.4 V min Voh = 1.9 V min Voh = 1.2 V min
Vol = 0.55 V max Vol = 0.55 V max Vol = 0.3 V max Vol = 0.45 V max
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