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 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. |
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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 | |