UltraSoC has announced that its UltraDebug system now incorporates USB 2.0 support, allowing the high speed chip interface to be used simultaneously for system communication and for analytics applications such as debugging.

UltraDebug is delivered as silicon IP for integration into the customer’s chip design. It provides a holistic, configurable analytics solution compatible with IP and processor blocks from any vendor – and is particularly powerful when used in heterogenous systems that include IP from multiple sources. The new USB connectivity capability is backed with advanced security features such as challenge/response capability, cryptographic protection and the ability to completely disable the debug facility.

System developers have traditionally relied on debug-specific interfaces such as JTAG – to “look in” to a chip and analyze its behavior. UltraDebug allows this to be done via an external interface – in this case USB – that is already an intrinsic part of the device’s design. The approach brings many benefits: it is not necessary to provide dedicated I/O pins on the device for debugging; data transfer can be accomplished much more quickly and perhaps most importantly, the interface remains accessible even once the chip has been assembled into an end product and shipped to the customer. This allows system designers to analyze problems and fine-tune the performance of a product such as a smartphone or a hard disk drive throughout its useful lifetime. The company anticipates that future developments will support other standard interfaces such as Ethernet or PCIe.

UltraSoC will be demonstrating UltraDebug with USB 2.0 connectivity at the upcoming 52nd Design Automation Conference (DAC), (Booth #3501, Moscone Center, San Francisco, June 7 – 11, 2015). At the same event, they will deliver a paper on “Design for Analytics”, within the Designer/IP track of the conference.