**** BEGIN LOGGING AT Sat Apr 09 23:59:57 2005
Apr 10 04:36:48 <JMunakra> hi there
Apr 10 04:38:16 <JMunakra> are you working on openjtag? I've seen there are no sources available.
Apr 10 04:38:39 <JMunakra> oh, wait, there are some :)
Apr 10 04:39:50 <JMunakra> I'm working on a free JTAG software too, and just discovered your stuff.
Apr 10 15:52:48 <JMunakra> re
Apr 10 15:58:05 <ka6sox> hi
Apr 10 15:58:37 <ka6sox> what area are you working on?
Apr 10 16:08:17 <ka6sox> Hi jacques! long time no talk to!
Apr 10 16:10:17 <jacques> yeah, I'm finally home
Apr 10 16:12:41 <JMunakra> Hey, sorry, no time right now. I'll be back in an hour, hope we can talk then.
Apr 10 16:12:51 <ka6sox> me too!
Apr 10 17:29:21 <ka6sox> jacques, everybody all moved?
Apr 10 17:50:54 <JMunakra> ka6sox....
Apr 10 17:51:00 <ka6sox> hi there.
Apr 10 17:52:00 <JMunakra> So what I'm working on is a generic JTAG library that lets you move the TAP state machine and shift bits in and out, with a cable driver plugin interface.
Apr 10 17:52:30 <ka6sox> cable from serial/usb/parallel?
Apr 10 17:52:38 <JMunakra> Plus, there's a gdb stub interface, and debugger stub code for ARM7TDMI and MIPS.
Apr 10 17:53:10 <JMunakra> Right now, there are drivers for parallel and serial cables.
Apr 10 17:53:27 <ka6sox> cool...we are looking at Xscale as this is adjunct to the NSLU2-Linux project.
Apr 10 17:53:52 <JMunakra> But it's not a big deal making drivers, they don't have so much to do. Most ist abstracted in the JTAG base lib.
Apr 10 17:54:25 <ka6sox> is there a group doing this or just you?
Apr 10 17:54:48 <JMunakra> This is from a project called MITOUJTAG. Ever heard of it?
Apr 10 17:55:10 <ka6sox> no...do you have a url?
Apr 10 17:56:14 <JMunakra> Point is, the guy who started it, published a very early version under GPL, then abandoned it for commercial licenses and closed source. I've just picked up on the code, bringing it in shape for a release.
Apr 10 17:57:05 <ka6sox> ah...no money in GPL for him....just couldnt' see the model
Apr 10 17:58:10 <JMunakra> I needn't care about the money, Got some free time to work on it, and open source needs it. Do you do consulting based on it or plan to?
Apr 10 17:59:55 <ka6sox> I am a hardware guy who uses the BDI2000 unit and can't afford one for home.
Apr 10 18:00:26 <ka6sox> I would like to recreate something similar(but not maybe as feature rich) for use with gdb
Apr 10 18:00:35 <ka6sox> (a pod hardware device)
Apr 10 18:01:11 <ka6sox> and make it affordable for OpenSource embedded developers to be able to get boards going.
Apr 10 18:01:41 <JMunakra> Actually, that's just what I was planning to do
Apr 10 18:02:25 <JMunakra> So what kind of JTAG converter/cable do you envision?
Apr 10 18:03:07 <ka6sox> I was looking at using Xilinx S3 board but now I'm thinking about using a S3e board instead because it will have interfaces and memory 
Apr 10 18:03:28 <JMunakra> Don't you think that's rather expensive?
Apr 10 18:03:40 <ka6sox> $149
Apr 10 18:03:45 <ka6sox> (US)
Apr 10 18:04:09 <ka6sox> a BDI2000 is over $2000/arch
Apr 10 18:04:47 <JMunakra> What functionality do you have in your current code?
Apr 10 18:05:10 <ka6sox> basic programming is all I've been working on.
Apr 10 18:05:25 <JMunakra> Data uploading?
Apr 10 18:05:28 <ka6sox> (been a little distracted with work stuffs)
Apr 10 18:05:29 <ka6sox> yeah
Apr 10 18:05:47 <JMunakra> directly to Flash/RAM? Or via the processor?
Apr 10 18:06:04 <JMunakra> Extest/Intest, that is?
Apr 10 18:06:22 <ka6sox> I"ve been playing with the flash algorithms for StrataFlash
Apr 10 18:06:50 <ka6sox> (making the Processor lines wiggle)
Apr 10 18:07:17 <ka6sox> but I havent' uploaded that as I could brick a device if I get it wrong
Apr 10 18:07:30 <ka6sox> (my code is written in VHDL)
Apr 10 18:07:54 <JMunakra> Why do you use VHDL?
Apr 10 18:09:27 <ka6sox> because that is what the Xilinx S3 board is programmed in.
Apr 10 18:10:00 <JMunakra> WebKit does support Verilog, doesn't it?
Apr 10 18:10:13 <ka6sox> yes
Apr 10 18:10:32 <ka6sox> but the preferred language is VHDL for Xilinx parts.
Apr 10 18:10:41 <JMunakra> I see
Apr 10 18:10:45 <ka6sox> (according to the manufacturer.
Apr 10 18:10:58 <ka6sox> I think that Verilog is somewhat easier to program in.
Apr 10 18:11:29 <JMunakra> So what functionality do you envision for your device? In addition to programming a flash?
Apr 10 18:14:41 <ka6sox> memory mapping 
Apr 10 18:14:46 <ka6sox> breakpoints
Apr 10 18:14:59 <ka6sox> gdb support
Apr 10 18:15:21 <JMunakra> sounds good
Apr 10 18:15:32 <ka6sox> boundry Scanning 
Apr 10 18:15:38 <JMunakra> what do you mean with memory mapping?
Apr 10 18:16:11 <ka6sox> when a processor fails I want to be able to see the state of memory and download chunks of it for analysis.
Apr 10 18:16:24 <ka6sox> (process that is)
Apr 10 18:16:31 <JMunakra> oh, memory dumping
Apr 10 18:16:37 <ka6sox> mostly for kernel/driver debug)
Apr 10 18:17:22 <JMunakra> where are you from?
Apr 10 18:17:30 <ka6sox> Californai
Apr 10 18:17:34 <ka6sox> ia
Apr 10 18:17:54 * JMunakra is from Hamburg, Germany
Apr 10 18:18:06 <ka6sox> cool.
Apr 10 18:18:13 <JMunakra> and who do you work for?
Apr 10 18:18:21 <ka6sox> myself.
Apr 10 18:18:37 <JMunakra> student?
Apr 10 18:18:53 <ka6sox> oh no...that was 25yrs ago...
Apr 10 18:18:57 <JMunakra> :)
Apr 10 18:19:06 <JMunakra> What's your product?
Apr 10 18:19:21 <ka6sox> my "day" job is actually in Analog Hi Power RF.
Apr 10 18:19:41 <JMunakra> hm, nice
Apr 10 18:20:28 <ka6sox> 100watts to 105kilowatts
Apr 10 18:21:42 <ka6sox> I dabble in Supervisory,Control and Data Aquisition stuff too (well actually a lot more than dabble)
Apr 10 18:21:46 <ka6sox> what do you do there?
Apr 10 18:28:01 <JMunakra> Embedded Software
Apr 10 18:28:55 <JMunakra> So, I'm going to publish my code shortly, so you can have a look at it, and see whether it'd help you
Apr 10 18:29:43 <JMunakra> The good thing about it is the modularity, people can easily add a module (for processor/cable/whatever) and need not care about the other parts
Apr 10 18:30:30 <JMunakra> So if I write an Xscale debugger, I don't need to care about the cable/interface, I can just shift bits in and out the TAP controller. That's quite nice.
Apr 10 18:31:02 <JMunakra> OTOH, if I build a new, super fast cable, all the existing debuggers/software will be able to use it instantly
Apr 10 18:31:07 <ka6sox> as long as you have the bsdl file you are good to go.
Apr 10 18:32:34 <JMunakra> How many people are actively developing on your project?
Apr 10 18:38:20 <ka6sox> 2 or 3
Apr 10 18:39:28 <ka6sox> its actually 2:41am here and I realized I have a client meeting in a little more than 5hrs...so I had better get some sleep.
Apr 10 18:39:41 <ka6sox> but I hang here most of the time.
Apr 10 18:39:57 <ka6sox> and would like to continue this discussion.
Apr 10 18:40:18 <JMunakra> sure
Apr 10 18:40:32 <JMunakra> I'll be here
Apr 10 18:41:17 <ka6sox> all right..cya soon.
Apr 10 18:41:29 <JMunakra> bye
**** ENDING LOGGING AT Sun Apr 10 23:59:57 2005