Complete Software Development Environment for Siemens Tricore 32-Bit Processor.

DEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1998--A new, integrated toolset for the Siemens' TriCore processor and its derivatives is now available from TASKING, Inc. The TASKING toolset is the first comprehensive programming package for this architecture.

The toolset consists of the Nucleus PLUS real-time kernel, ANSI C and C++ compilers, macro assembler, linker/locator and CrossView Pro debugger. All elements are integrated into TASKING's Embedded Development Environment (EDE),. EDE provides an open and easy to use Windows based project environment to create, edit, compile and debug TriCore applications.

"The TASKING TriCore toolset is the result of the ongoing relations between our two companies, which includes the C166 microcontroller and toolset," said Dieter Stengl, Director of Tools & Application Support at Siemens Semiconductor Group in Munich, Germany. "We worked with TASKING from the beginning of Tricore's design in order to determine hardware and software requirements simultaneously with the idea of facilitating use and eliminating delays by the developer community."

"The rapid prototyping capability of the TASKING software tools allowed us to immediately inspect the effect of proposed instruction set changes", said Laura Horn, TASKING Director of Product Marketing Worldwide. "This toolset is representative of the marriage between RISC and DSP, areas in which we have extensive experience, and our compilers offer new options that substantially improve code generation and include full DSP support at the C level,"

These benefits include additional data types for fractional numbers and the automatic generation of the multiply-accumulate operations, which are the basic building blocks of signal processing. The C++ compiler is a true embedded implementation supporting TriCore specific language extensions. The C++ package also includes a set of DSP classes for fixed point data types.

TASKING has developed two important open standards to facilitate interfacing and access to CrossView Pro by kernel and emulator manufacturers, Kernel Debug Interface (KDI) and Generic Debug Instrument Interface (GDI). These new open specifications are intended to ease integration with a customer's existing tool and development platform and to encourage immediate use of TriCore and the toolset.

The connection between CrossView Pro and the execution environment (e.g. simulator, ROM monitor, emulator) has been defined in GDI. CrossView Pro/TriCore is connected to the Siemens TriCore simulator engine (TSIM.DLL) using GDI.

Nucleus PLUS is a full featured, royalty free, source code provided, scalable real time kernel designed specifically for embedded systems applications. Embedded I/O components, such as TCP/IP and CAN, are optional. Kernel aware debugging, available in CrossView Pro, is provided through the Kernel Support Module (KSM) DLL as defined in the KDI. Using the kernel aware features of CrossView Pro/Nucleus PLUS, developers can display and modify kernel resources, specify task-aware breakpoints and trace kernel activity.

A beta version of the tools is available now for evaluation purposes with production release scheduled for January 1999. Pricing for the TriCore compiler package starts at $2,990 The complete TriCore toolset runs on Windows 95/NT and Sun Solaris.

TASKING is a developer and supplier of integrated software development tools for the embedded systems market and supports a wide range of CISC, RISC, microcontroller and DSP semiconductor technologies. Headquartered in Dedham, Mass., with an office in San Jose, CA, TASKING has offices worldwide, located in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan and UK.