TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 states that one characteristic of embedded systems is the cross-platform development methodology. The primary components in the development environment are the host system, the target embedded system, and potentially many connectivity solutions available between the host and the target embedded system, as shown in Figure 2.1.
The essential development tools offered by the host system are the cross compiler, linker, and source-level debugger. The target embedded system might offer a dynamic loader, a link loader, a monitor, and a debug agent. A set of connections might be available between the host and the target system. These connections are used for downloading program images from the host system to the target system. These connections can also be used for transmitting debugger information between the host debugger and the target debug agent.
Programs including the system software, the real-time operating system (RTOS), the kernel, and the application code must be developed first, compiled into object code, and linked together into an executable image. Programmers writing applications that execute in the same environment as used for development, called native development, do not need to be concerned with how an executable image is loaded into memory and how execution control is transferred to the application. Embedded developers doing cross-platform development, however, are required to understand the target system fully, how to store the program image on the target embedded system, how and where to load the program image during runtime, and...
