Hardware-Software Approaches to In-Circuit Emulation for Embedded Processors

In-circuit emulators have become part of the permanent structure of microprocessor cores to support on-chip test and debug activities in highly integrated environments such as SoCs. However, ICE design styles and operation principles are quite diverse. This article presents a taxonomy based on the notions of foreground and background operations and hardwaresoftware implementation alternatives to organize existing in-circuit emulation approaches.