Assembly Code from the Zynq 'C' Code

Introduction

For those who made the first steps in microprocessor's programming using assembly language, still today is nice to see what is assembly code generated from the 'C' code. On the other hand, sometimes it's necessary to write a specific very high speed routine using assembly language. 

The SDK tool in the Vivado (Xilinx) development suite, has a command line that execute a utility that generates the assembly code from the written 'C' code. 

Use of the Xilinx Microprocessor Debugger (XMD) Engine

The XMD is a tool that facilitates debugging programs and verifying systems using the Dual ARM Cortex-A9 (as well as the MicroBlaze and Power PC).

The SDK provides what is called an XMD console, where it is posible to type an XMD command using a Tool Command Language (Tcl) kind of language. 

The XMD console can be open in two different ways: 

1. When the Debug perspective is activated, the XMD console is automatically open. 
2. In the C/C++ perspective, do Xilinx Tool -> XMD Console.

An screenshot of the XMD console (in the Debug perspective)  is shows below. 

The XMD console is an standard Tcl console, where it is possible to run any available Tcl commands. The command should be typed following the XMD% prompt. 

Note: there is a more complete (and newer) tool that replaces XMD in some aspects: the Xilinx System Debugger Command-line Interface (XSDB). SDK also provides an XSDB console (this will be explained in a short future). However, there are some commands that are exclusively executed in the XMD console, such as the command we will see next. 

So, getting back to the point of this post, to be able to see the assembly language (and even the machine code) generated from the 'C' code, the XMD command line to type the following: 

arm-xilinx-eabi-objdump -S <complete_path_of_my_project_name>.elf

Here is the complete XMD command typed in the XMD console, no executed yet (note the doble back slash symbol):

The result of this XMD command it shows below, along with titles explaining each part of the file: 

If you browse the resultant file, you will see that is a huge file. But, it's easy to follow if you have some experience in assembly language. 

So, I hope you like this post, moreover, I hope it's somehow useful ! ...

Intel - Altera .... concern? happiness??

Much has been said about this great commercial operation: Intel acquires Altera. 

For those who work with FPGAs and even more, for those who likes Altera FPGAs, this news rise a big concern. And if we add that while I was at Intel I saw Intel acquiring and selling whole groups of IC designers as fries potates... my concern escalated to unknown levels. 

I found an interesting article about this topic. It explains very clear, as always when is written by Kevin Morris, concerns and assumptions about the future of this union. 

I leave here the link to the article: 

Altera’s Long Game 

Hope you enjoy it !