Austrian hardware tools vendor Ronetix says its Ethernet-based JTAG emulator and flash programmer now supports a family of PowerPC-based SoCs (system-on-chip processors) that target automotive applications. The PEEDI (“powerful embedded Ethernet interface”) debugger supports Freescale's MPC5500 family, including “all Nexus-enabled CPUs,” Ronetix says.

Ronetix shipped PEEDI last summer, with initial support for ARM7 and ARM9 processors. The MPC5500-series SoCs appear to be the first PowerPC processors supported by PEEDI.

The PEEDI debugger supports gdb (GNU debugger) software natively, with OSes that include Linux, eCos, and uClinux. It also supports Insight, a graphical front-end to gdb.

Additionally, Ronetix added flash programming capabilities to the PEEDI in August. Since it works over Ethernet, the PEEDI can program flash devices much faster than traditional JTAG debuggers, Ronetix claims — up to 1MB/sec.

The PEEDI supports over 800 flash devices, the company says. And, has an SD/MMC card that can store up to 15 images, selectable via a front-panel control.

The PEEDI, front and back
Additional touted PEEDI features include:

• Supports up to four cores
• 5 kHz to 33MHz JTAG clock, using 35cm standard cable
• Target Voltage 1.2V to 5V
• Telnet command line interface
• Download speeds up to 1MB/sec, with 16KB packet sizes
• Small robust aluminum case
• DCC over TCP support

Availability

The PEEDI is available now with support for Freescale's MPC5533, MPC5534, MPC5553, MPC5554, MPC5565, MPC5566 and MPC5567, as well as for a host of ARM7/9 and XScale processors.

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