Data processor with development support features

Claim 2

A data processor having first and second modes of operation for use in a data processing system comprising: means for operating a parallel communication bus; means for operating a serial communication bus, said serial communication bus is coupled to said data processor by means of a plurality of pins, each of said plurality of pins is either not used or is used only for development support functions while said data processor is in said first mode; the data processor comprising: means for sequentially executing, while in said first mode, a first plurality of instructions fetched from a memory by means of said parallel communication bus while in said first mode; means for sequentially executing, while in said second mode, a second plurality of instructions received by means of said serial communication bus while in said second mode, said means for executing a second plurality of instructions further comprising means for accessing said memory by means of said parallel communication bus while in said second mode; and mode switch means for switching between said first and second modes and for disabling said means for operating a serial communications bus while said data processor is in said first mode.

Claim 3

A data processor according to claim 1 wherein said means for sequentially executing said first plurality of instructions and said means for sequentially executing said second plurality of instructions comprise: a single micro-machine.

Claim 4

A data processor according to claim 1 further comprising: said mode switch means is responsive to an externally-provided signal to switch from said first mode of operation to said second mode of operation; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second mode of operation.

Claim 5

A data processor according to claim 1 further comprising: said mode switch means is responsive to at least one of said second plurality of instructions to switch from said second mode of operation to said first mode of operation; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second mode of operation.

Claim 6

A data processor according to claim 1 further comprising: said mode switch means is responsive to an error condition to switch from said first mode of operation to said second mode of operation; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second mode of operation.

Claim 7

A data processor according to claim 5 wherein said error condition comprises: two consecutive bus errors of said parallel communication bus.

Claim 8

A data processor according to claim 1 further comprising: said mode switch means is responsive to at least one of said first plurality of instructions to switch from said first mode of operation to said second mode of operation; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second mode of operation.

Claim 9

A data processor for executing each of a plurality of instructions, the data processor having a plurality of system resources and comprising: first means for executing said instructions; second means for utilizing the system resources in accordance with the execution by said first means of a first subset of said instructions; third means for providing access to at least one of the system resources in accordance with the execution by said first means of a second subset of said instructions; first communication means for providing instructions of said first subset to said first means, said first communication means is operative for communication in response to instructions of both said first and second subsets of instructions; second communication means distinct from said first communication means for providing instructions of said second subset to said first means, said second communication means is not operative for communication of instructions of said second subset in response to any instructions of said first subset of instructions; and fourth means coupled to said first means and to said second communication means for using said second communication means to indicate a status of said first means while said first means is executing instructions of said first subset.

Claim 10

A data processor for executing each of a plurality of instructions, the data processor having a plurality of system resources and comprising: first means for executing said instructions; second means for utilizing the system resources in accordance with the execution by said first means of a first subset of said instructions; third means for providing access to at least one of the system resources in accordance with the execution by said first means of a second subset of said instructions; first communication means for providing instructions of said first subset to said first means, said first communication means is operative for communication in response to instructions of both said first and second subsets of instructions; second communication means distinct from said first communication means for providing instructions of said second subset to said first means, said second communication means is not operative for communication of instructions of said second subset in response to any instructions of said first subset of instructions; and fourth means coupled to said first means and to said second communication means for using said second communication means to indicate a status of said first means while said first means is executing instructions of said first subset.

Claim 11

A data processing system according to claim 8 further comprising: mode switch means for switching between said first and second subsets of said instructions, said mode switch means being responsive to at least one of said instructions of said second subset to switch from said second subset to said first subset; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second subset of said instructions.

Claim 12

A data processing system according to claim 8 further comprising: mode switch means for switching between said first and second subsets of said instructions, said mode switch means being responsive to an externally-provided signal to switch from said first subset to said second subset; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second subset of said instructions.

Claim 13

A data processing system according to claim 8 further comprising: mode switch means for switching between said first and second subsets of said instructions, said mode switch means being responsive to at least one of said instructions of said first subset to switch from said first subset to said second subset; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second subset of said instructions.

Claim 14

A data processing system according to claim 8 further comprising: mode switch means for switching between said first and second subsets of said instructions, said mode switch means being responsive to an error condition to switch from said first subset to said second subset; and control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second subset of said instructions.

Claim 15

A data processor comprising: execution means for sequentially executing a plurality of instructions, said execution means having a first mode in which instructions of a first subset are executed and a second mode in which instructions of a second subset are executed; communication means for providing said plurality of instructions to said execution means, said communication means operating in a master mode while providing instructions of said first subset and in a slave mode while providing instructions of said second subset, said communication means is coupled to a first plurality of pins and to a second plurality of pins, said communication means uses the first plurality of pins while providing instructions of the first subset and uses the second plurality of pins while providing instructions of the second subset, each of the second plurality of pins is either not used or is used only for development support functions while the communication means is providing instructions of the first subset; mode switch means for switching between said first mode and said second mode and for preventing said communication means from operating in said slave mode while said execution means is executing instructions of said first subset.

Claim 16

A data processor comprising: execution means for sequentially executing a plurality of instructions, said execution means having a first mode in which instructions of a first subset are executed and a second mode in which instructions of a second subset are executed; communication means for providing said plurality of instructions to said execution means, said communication means operating in a master mode while providing instructions of said first subset and in a slave mode while providing instructions of said second subset, said communication means is coupled to a first plurality of pins and to a second plurality of pins, said communication means uses the first plurality of pins while providing instructions of the first subset and uses the second plurality of pins while providing instructions of the second subset, each of the second plurality of pins is either not used or is used only for development support functions while the communication means is providing instructions of the first subset; mode switch means for switching between said first mode and said second mode and for preventing said communication means from operating in said slave mode while said execution means is executing instructions of said first subset.

Claim 17

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein said communication means further comprises: controller means for operating a parallel communication bus as a bus master; and a slave-only serial communication interface.

Claim 18

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein: said mode switch means is responsive to the execution of an instruction of said first subset to switch from said first subset to said second subset.

Claim 19

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein: said mode switch means is responsive to the execution of an instruction of said second subset to switch from said second subset to said first subset.

Claim 20

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein: said mode switch means is responsive to an externally-provided signal to switch from said first mode to said second mode.

Claim 21

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein: said mode switch means is responsive to an error condition to switch from said first mode to said second mode.

Claim 22

A data processor according to claim 18 wherein said error condition comprises: two consecutive errors of said communication means.

Claim 23

A data processor according to claim 13 further comprising: control means for disabling said mode switch means from switching to said second mode of operation.

Claim 24

A data processor according to claim 13 wherein said execution means further comprises: a plurality of registers, at least one of said registers being inaccessible by said execution means while in said first mode and being accessible by said execution means while in said second mode.

Claim 25

An integrated circuit data processor comprising: execution means for sequentially executing a plurality of instructions first communication means for operating a first communication bus as a bus master to provide a first subset of said plurality of instructions to said execution means; second communication means for operating a second communication bus as a bus slave to provide a second subset of said plurality of instructions to said execution means; and mode switch means for switching said execution means between said first and second subsets of said plurality of instructions and for enabling said second communication means only while said execution means is executing instructions of said second subset; wherein said second communication bus is coupled to said data processor by means of a plurality of pins, said plurality of pins are either not used or are used only for development support functions while said data processor is executing instructions of said second subset.

Claim 26

An integrated circuit data processor comprising: execution means for sequentially executing a plurality of instructions first communication means for operating a first communication bus as a bus master to provide a first subset of said plurality of instructions to said execution means; second communication means for operating a second communication bus as a bus slave to provide a second subset of said plurality of instructions to said execution means; and mode switch means for switching said execution means between said first and second subsets of said plurality of instructions and for enabling said second communication means only while said execution means is executing instructions of said second subset; wherein said second communication bus is coupled to said data processor by means of a plurality of pins, said plurality of pins are either not used or are used only for development support functions while said data processor is executing instructions of said second subset.

Claim 27

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 22 wherein: said first communication means is operative in response to the execution by said execution means of instructions of both said first and second subsets.

Claim 28

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 22 further comprising a plurality of pins for interconnection of the data processor with external devices and wherein: said first communication means utilizes a first subset of said plurality of pins; said second communication means utilizes a second subset of said plurality of pins, said second subset of said plurality of pins being inaccessible to said execution means for providing said second subset of said plurality of instructions to said execution means while executing instructions of said first subset.

Claim 29

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 24 wherein: said execution means further comprises an instruction pipe; and at least one of said second subset of said plurality of pins is used while said execution means is executing instructions of said first subset to provide an output indicating an activity of said instruction pipe.

Claim 30

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 25 wherein: a first one of said second subset of said plurality of pins is used while said execution means is executing instructions of said first subset to provide an output indicating an advancement of said instruction pipe; and a second one of said second subset of said plurality of pins is used while said execution means is executing instructions of said first subset to provide an output indicating that a current operation of said first communication means is an instruction fetch operation.

Claim 31

An integrated circuit data processor comprising: a central processing unit, the central processing unit further comprising: program counter means for storing an address; execution means for executing a first plurality of instructions while in a first operating mode, for executing a second plurality of instructions while in a second operating mode, for producing instruction prefetch requests, for determining a sequence of instruction execution and for storing addresses in the program counter means in accordance with the sequence; and bus controller means for coupling the central processing unit to a parallel communication bus and for operating the parallel communication bus as a bus master, in response to one of the instruction prefetch requests from the execution means, to obtain one of said first plurality of instructions from a location in a memory specified by the address stored in the program counter means; and a plurality of resources under control of the central processing unit for performing a predetermined plurality of functions while in the first operating mode, the predetermined plurality of functions comprises substantially all of the functions which the data processor is capable of performing; wherein the improvement comprises: a serial communication bus means coupled to the execution means for providing one of said second plurality of instructions to the execution means under control of an external serial bus master, the serial communication bus is not operative for serial communication while in the first operating mode; the execution means ceases to produce the instruction prefetch requests while in the second operating mode, ceases to determine the sequence of instruction execution while in the second operating mode and ceases to store addresses in the program counter means in accordance with the sequence while in the second operating mode; and the plurality of resources performs each of said predetermined plurality of functions while in the second operating mode.

Claim 32

An integrated circuit data processor comprising: a central processing unit, the central processing unit further comprising: program counter means for storing an address; execution means for executing a first plurality of instructions while in a first operating mode, for executing a second plurality of instructions while in a second operating mode, for producing instruction prefetch requests, for determining a sequence of instruction execution and for storing addresses in the program counter means in accordance with the sequence; and bus controller means for coupling the central processing unit to a parallel communication bus and for operating the parallel communication bus as a bus master, in response to one of the instruction prefetch requests from the execution means, to obtain one of said first plurality of instructions from a location in a memory specified by the address stored in the program counter means; and a plurality of resources under control of the central processing unit for performing a predetermined plurality of functions while in the first operating mode, the predetermined plurality of functions comprises substantially all of the functions which the data processor is capable of performing; wherein the improvement comprises: a serial communication bus means coupled to the execution means for providing one of said second plurality of instructions to the execution means under control of an external serial bus master, the serial communication bus is not operative for serial communication while in the first operating mode; the execution means ceases to produce the instruction prefetch requests while in the second operating mode, ceases to determine the sequence of instruction execution while in the second operating mode and ceases to store addresses in the program counter means in accordance with the sequence while in the second operating mode; and the plurality of resources performs each of said predetermined plurality of functions while in the second operating mode.

Claim 33

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 27 wherein: the serial communication bus means is operative while in the first mode of operation to provide an output indicating a current activity of the central processing unit.

Claim 34

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 27 wherein: the central processing unit further comprises: instruction pipe means under control of the execution means for storing instructions obtained by the bus controller means while in the first mode of operation and instructions provided by the serial communication bus means while in the second mode of operation; and the serial communication bus means is operative in while in the first mode of operation to provide an output indicating an activity of the instruction pipe means.

Claim 35

An integrated circuit data processor according to claim 29 wherein: the serial communication bus means is operative while in the first mode of operation to provide a first output indicating an advancement of the instruction pipe means and to provide a second output to indicate that a current operation of the parallel communication bus is an instruction prefetch.