Segger adds visualisation and analysis tool
Monitoring embedded system applications for how they use dynamic storage is possible using SystemView, Segger’s real time recording, visualisation and analysis tool. Usage information is presented intuitively, making it obvious when memory has been allocated but not freed, said the company.
In many cases, memory can be allocated for the lifetime of the application without an issue but peak load of the heap increases over time, typically due to leaking memory. SystemView’s heap monitor makes it is easy to see such changes and where allocations are made, providing clues as to where the leak might be. SystemView can monitor multiple heaps simultaneously.
“Dynamic storage is becoming more widely used in embedded systems,” said the company’s founder, Rolf Segger. “Engineers used to try and avoid it because of the difficulty in monitoring usage. . . . With SystemView, monitoring and managing dynamic storage has changed from being something to avoid, to being something manageable,” he said.
For applications using the C or C++ heap, multiple custom heaps, or memory pool objects offered by an RTOS, SystemView can trace how these are used over time. Each block of memory is tagged and this tag is maintained in the SystemView application.
SystemView can be tested by downloading the license-free software. It is free of charge and does not require registration. It can be used for educational and non-commercial purposes, as well as evaluated on all platforms without code size, feature, or time limitations, Segger confirmed.
Segger Microcontroller has three decades of experience in embedded systems, producing RTOS and software libraries, J-Link and J-Trace debug and trace probes, a line of in-system programmers and software development tools.
Segger’s emPower OS provides an RTOS plus a complete spectrum of software libraries including communication, security, data compression and storage and user interface software.
The company was founded by Rolf Segger in 1992. The privately held company has a US office in the Boston area and branch operations in Silicon Valley, Shanghai and the UK, together with distributors on most continents, making its full product range available worldwide.
