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EVM and DSK Development Boards

Texas Instruments and other 3rd party suppliers produce several evaluation products that cover hardware prototyping and software development for a wide range of the DSP models in the TMS320C5x and TMS320C6x product lines. All of the products listed below have the same Common Connector Daughterboard interface. All of Signalware daughterboards fit the Common Connector Daughterboard interface. Thus, the developer is able to choose a combination of DSP model and Signalware daughterboard that will provide a prototype for an embedded DSP based system system.

Use codes:

EV

use for prototypes and evaluation only

SA

use for standalone prototypes and OEM production

PC

use for PC based protypes and PC based OEM systems

* Recent distributions of the C6201 and C6701 EVM are missing some files necessary for operation of some of Signalware test software. The missing files are available in a zip file. Also repair kit for EEPROM error

For information on various combinations of TMS320C5x/C6x EVM and DSK products listed above with the Signalware daughterboards, see our Prototype Configuration Table.

Use of Emulators with EVM and DSK Boards

The boards in the table above designated USB, PCI bus or Parallel Port have on-board emulators that are operated by the host PC through the Debug Interface listed. The boards with USB or PCI bus Debug interfaces are substantially faster at debugging tasks than those with a parallel port interface. These boards can be operated with a TI XDS510 Emulator (or equivalent), but a separate emulator is not necessary. When debugging certain combinations of DSP and PC programs, the separate emulator may have some advantage. Generally, the separate emulator is less convenient and may be difficult to set up.

Stand-alone operation of EVM and DSK Boards

Many of the boards in the table can operate "stand alone", i.e. not in a PC chassis. The DSK models can only operate stand alone. To operate any of these boards in stand-alone mode with a daughterboard, a three voltage power supply (5, +12 and -12 volts) is necessary. The 5 volt supply included with the DSK can be used with an additional +/-12 volt supply.

When operating the EVM boards in stand-alone mode, a separate emulator is needed to load programs and operate the debugging features of the debug (JTAG) interface. The on-board emulator can only be operated through the PCI bus. Several of the EVM boards have no non-volatile memories on the board so that DSP programs can not be loaded without a separate emulator or separate boot flash memory.

Boot Flash Memory for Stand-alone EVM Operation

Signalware daughterboards have an option for boot flash memory. This memory can be used to load DSP programs on power-up. The boot flash is available in both 512 Kbyte and 1 Mbyte options.

At Signalware, we have successfully operated EVM boards in stand-alone mode without the use of a separate emulator. The technique used is to debug the program on the EVM, including the loading of the code from boot flash, while the board was plugged into the PCI bus. The on-board emulator is used to do this debugging by setting the switches to "boot from external memory space" mode, resetting the EVM on power-up or with the reset button, and starting Code Composer. For this purpose, Code Composer should have no start-up GEL file (remove the GEL file parameter from the icon or .bat file), and "load symbols" command (File menu) should be used in place of "load program" command. Prior to starting Code Composer, the board is operating just as if it were stand alone. When Code Composer is started, it will stop the DSP at that time, but it will not reset the DSP. In this way, the code that was loaded from the flash can be examined and stepped through. Beware that the full responsibility for initializing the EVM board, including the EMIF bus registers, in placed on the boot program in this mode. When the EVM board is operating out of boot flash correctly, the EVM board is removed from the PC and attached to another power supply. It will continue to operate exactly as it did in the PC before Code Composer is started.

See SIGNALWARE's Home Page or Customer Reply Form for further assistance.