Support Tools for Microprocessor Applications
Hoo-Min D. Toong · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · 2015
The accelerating rate of advance of VLSI technology is challenging our ability to apply it or even evaluate it. There exist a host of problems that center around the application of this technology and how, when and where we use it. Methodologies for its evaluation and application must be developed. This report attempts to outline the problems inherent in microprocessor software development and possibilities for future directions in the design and execution of support tools. A serious gap is growing between the hard-ware technology and the software tools available for its application. Soft-ware productivity is a key problem in this area of technology. The current situation of microprocessor development tools is first reviewed, their deficiencies highlighted, and then a specific plan for their evolution is out-lined. This approach is explained from a functional viewpoint of desirable characteristics for development systems (Section I) and then from an imple-