Non-intrusive trace & debug NoC architecture with accurate timestamping for GALS SoCs

This work proposes a exible and modular solution for nonintrusive tracing and debugging of software on embedded SoC platforms. It utilizes a separate, dedicated Network-on- Chip (NoC) interconnect with a hierarchical unidirectional ring topology to connect a multitude of monitoring devices. The devices are controlled via a debugger attached to the NoC. They use the network to receive control information and send back observations, which the debugger uses to construct a trace. The system utilizes a very accurate and efficient differential timestamping approach. It allows working with multi-synchronous SoCs, identifying concurrencies and other temporal properties in the SoC and coping with partial power downs and clock gatings. The proposed solution requires a low amount of hardware resources and at the same time provides unmatched capabilities.