Logic analyzer for software

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said step of displaying comprises
• displaying a list of identifiers of said plurality of contexts along a first axis of said display,
• displaying an indication of time progression along a second axis of said display;
• and
• for a plurality of said identifiers, for a time period along said time progression, displaying one of a plurality of graphical patterns, each of said plurality of graphical patterns corresponding to a different task state of a task.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said step of displaying comprises
• displaying a list of identifiers of said plurality of contexts along a first axis of said display,
• displaying an indication of time progression along a second axis of said display;
• and
• for a plurality of said identifiers, for a time period along said time progression, displaying an icon representing an action undertaken among said plurality of contexts.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said step of logging comprises storing an event identifier, a time stamp and an array of parameters in a predetermined order in a buffer, and
• wherein said step of logging further comprises storing event data related to the rollover of a hardware timer counter in said buffer and said step of storing a time stamp comprises storing the data count of said hardware timer counter at the time of one of said plurality of events.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said steps of logging and uploading overlap, and said uploading is performed periodically.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said step of logging comprises
• repeatedly overwriting a buffer of data and afterwards terminating said logging and
• said step of uploading comprises
• uploading the data in said buffer only after said logging is terminated.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein before said step of running is performed, the following steps are performed by the user:
• modifying the source code of one of said plurality of tasks to log event data;
• and
• compiling said modified source code to produce one of said plurality of tasks.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein before said step of logging is performed, the following step is performed:
• modifying the memory-resident image of one of said plurality of tasks to log event data.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said event data comprises multi-level representations of multi-level events;
• and wherein said step of reconstructing and storing comprises
• generating single-level representations of said events from said multi-level representations, and associating each of said single-level representations with a context, said context being the context in which occurred the event represented by said each single-level representation.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said event data is a time-ordered stream of representations of said events;
• and wherein the information necessary to reconstruct one of said events is contained in at least two representations.

A method for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said method comprising the steps of:

• coupling said target computer to a host program with a communications link;
• running a plurality of tasks on said target computer, producing a plurality of contexts;
• logging event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• uploading said event data from said target computer memory to said host program;
• reconstructing a status of said tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host program;
• and
• displaying said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of said tasks on a single display,
• wherein said step of logging comprises
• logging event data related to state transitions among said plurality of contexts for a time period,
• wherein said event data is a time-ordered stream of representations of said events;
• wherein each of said plurality of contexts has a status word;
• wherein said host program maintains a corresponding status word for the status word of said each context;
• and
• wherein said step of reconstructing and storing comprises modifying said corresponding status word for each event which causes a task state transition in a context, and inserting a representation of said modified corresponding status word into said stream.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said step of displaying comprises
• displaying a list of identifiers of said plurality of contexts along a first axis of said display,
• displaying an indication of time progression along a second axis of said display;
• and
• for a plurality of said identifiers, for a time period along said time progression, displaying a graphical pattern corresponding to execution in one of said plurality of contexts.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said step of displaying comprises
• displaying a list of identifiers of said plurality of contexts along a first axis of said display,
• displaying an indication of time progression along a second axis of said display;
• and
• for a plurality of said identifiers, for a time period along said time progression, displaying one of a plurality of graphical patterns, each of said plurality of graphical patterns corresponding to a different task state of a task.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said step of displaying comprises
• displaying a list of identifiers of said plurality of contexts along a first axis of said display,
• displaying an indication of time progression along a second axis of said display;
• and
• for a plurality of said identifiers, for a time period along said time progression, displaying an icon representing an action undertaken among said plurality of contexts.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said step of logging comprises storing an event identifier, a time stamp and an array of parameters in a predetermined order in a buffer, and
• wherein said step of logging further comprises storing event data related to the rollover of a hardware timer counter in said buffer and said step of storing a time stamp comprises storing the data count of said hardware timer counter at the time of one of said plurality of events.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said steps of logging and uploading overlap, and said uploading is performed periodically.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said step of logging comprises
• repeatedly overwriting a buffer of data and afterwards terminating said logging and
• said step of uploading comprises
• loading the data in said buffer only after said logging is terminated.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein before said step of running is performed, the following steps are performed by the user:
• modifying the source code of one of said plurality of tasks to log event data;
• and
• compiling said modified source code to produce one of said plurality of tasks.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein before said step of logging is performed, the following step is performed:
• modifying the memory-resident image of one of said plurality of tasks to log event data.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said event data comprises multi-level representations of multi-level events;
• and
• wherein said step of reconstructing and storing comprises
• generating single-level representations of said events from said multi-level representations, and associating each of said single-level representations with a context, said context being the context in which occurred the event represented by said each single-level representation.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said event data is a time-ordered stream of representations of said events;
• and
• wherein the information necessary to reconstruct one of said events is contained in at least two representations.

An apparatus for monitoring the execution of a plurality of tasks in the memory of a target computer, said apparatus comprising:

• a target computer having memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said target computer to run a plurality of tasks, producing a plurality of contexts, and log event data representing a plurality of events in said plurality of contexts;
• a communications link;
• a display;
• and
• a host computer, coupled to said target computer by means of said communications link, coupled to said display and having a memory, in which is located a computer program to cause said host computer to upload said event data from said target computer memory, reconstruct a status of said plurality of tasks from said event data, and storing reconstructed data in said host computer, and display said status from said reconstructed data for a period of time for a plurality of tasks by means of graphics on said display,
• wherein said event data is a time-ordered stream of representations of said events;
• wherein each of said plurality of contexts has a status word;
• wherein said host program maintains a corresponding status word for the status word of said each context;
• and
• wherein said step of reconstructing and storing comprises modifying said corresponding status word for each event which causes a task state transition in a context, and inserting a representation of said modified corresponding status word into said stream.