Tracelink Development interface (USB, Ethernet) featuring External Trace

The Tracelink communicates to the processor through a ribbon cable connection from the Tracelink to the debug header of the target board. By simply flipping open the plastic case of the Tracelink, the ribbon cable can be changed to match the desired NXP processor. Ribbon cables for the supported MCU families are conveniently included. Kinetis debug support includes both the JTAG and SWD protocols as well as external trace capture.

The Tracelink connects to a host Windows PC via USB or Ethernet. Standard run control operations such as control of processor execution (run, step, breakpoint), and read/write of registers and memory are fully supported. This also includes flash programming support for both internal and external FLASH memory devices.

The main feature of the Tracelink is the ability to capture real-time trace information from the target processor. This is invaluable for debugging applications where traditional step/breakpoint methods are simply impractical. In many applications, it is not possible to halt the target processor without causing the overall system to fail. Software bugs that are difficult to reproduce and occur infrequently are usually extremely time-consuming to debug using traditional methods. The Tracelink removes these limitations, allowing the developer to spend more time finding and fixing bugs, which ultimately shortens development cycles and time to market.

The Tracelink’s affordable trace capability, speed, and reliability make it ideal for development that requires external trace. Trace data capture is supported by recent versions of NXP's CodeWarrior.

Learn more about trace capture with CodeWarrior.