ARM Community: DS-5 Pro is out! - ARM Community

This blog is intended for the thousands of users of the RealView Development Suite (RVDS) and the ARM Compiler in the world. DS-5 Professional Edition (DS-5 Pro) is out, it supersedes RVDS, it comes with a new version of the ARM Compiler, and it brings loads of useful new features. In this blog I will cover what is in DS-5 Pro and how it compares with RVDS.

In addition, existing DS-5 users can also take advantage of the addition of the ARM Compiler to the DS-5 package. The ARM Compiler brings great performance and code size optimizations for the latest ARM processors, extensive compatibility with the GNU Compiler, as well as the sometimes vital worldwide technical support and maintenance.

A bit of history…
RVDS has been the reference toolchain for the ARM Architecture for the last six years, bringing together in an integrated design environment the tools that software developers need to create new ARM processor-based products. These include an IDE and project manager, compilation tools, debugger, and simulation models.

RVDS has enjoyed for years a prominent position in the market, and hundreds of products in the market have been designed with it. However, in the last few years we have seen new trends in the market that encouraged us to take a revolutionary step:

• Eclipse has become the industry-standard framework for software development. It is well known by new graduates, and it enables interaction between different tools. For example, ARM and DSP tools can be integrated into a single Eclipse framework
• Linux and Android are the fastest-growing platforms in embedded systems. ARM’s reference toolchain needs features and a business model that satisfy Linux and Android developers
• The complexity and speed of new processors such as Cortex-A15, drive new approaches to software development. For example, instrumentation trace and software sampling have replaced instruction trace as the main tools for debug and performance analysis on complex platforms

DS-5 is ARM’s response to these trends and challenges. In early 2010 DS-5 Application Edition was launched as the professional toolset of choice for Linux and Android user-space application development. In late 2010, DS-5 Linux Edition followed, extending this functionality to cover end-to-end development of Linux systems.

DS-5 Professional Edition is the highest-end DS-5 package, targeting embedded development in general and taking the baton from RVDS as ARM’s reference software development toolchain

What is DS-5 Pro?
DS-5 Pro is a general-purpose software development toolchain. It includes the following components:

• ARM Compiler: the best compiler for the ARM Architecture for the last 20 years, generating efficient code for the latest ARM processors and delivering the best combination of code size and performance
• Eclipse IDE: source code editor and project manager, including syntax-coloring and editor support for ARM and Thumb assembler code
• DS-5 Debugger: a powerful, but intuitive software debugger, supporting JTAG stop-mode debug for system bring-up, boot code, kernel and RTOS development, as well as agent-based run-mode debug for Linux and Android native applications
• Streamline: a sample-based performance analyzer with a great graphical user interface that enables you to quickly and easily find hotspots in your application and bottlenecks in your system

All the graphical user interfaces of DS-5 are integrated in Eclipse, providing a consistent design environment.

Differences between RVDS v4.1 and DS-5 Pro
DS-5 Pro and RVDS are similar in the sense that they both provide an integrated set of tools covering the full spectrum of ARM processor technologies. However, they have two important differences:

• DS-5 is fully based on Eclipse, whereas RVDS has non-Eclipse components such as the RealView Debugger (RVD). DS-5 Debugger not only makes use of the extension capabilities in Eclipse for creating custom debug and trace plug-ins, but also delivers an easier to use, modern user interface with support for SMP systems and the latest ARM processors
• For performance analysis DS-5 shifts the focus from instruction trace, which is only appropriate for relatively slow deeply embedded systems and microcontrollers, to sample-based profiling, which provides a system-level view suitable for any target, including those running complex operating systems. In any case, DS-5 Debugger maintains basic trace-based profiling capabilities in its instruction trace view

What happens next?
ARM’s investment is heavily focused on DS-5, which does and will continue to support the latest ARM technologies. RVDS continues to be on sale, but we encourage customers to migrate to DS-5 for new projects, especially if they are based on new ARM processors.

For further details on DS-5, see www.arm.com/ds5, where you can download a 30-day evaluation license.

Javier Orensanz, Director of Product Management, SDD, ARM, After graduating as a telecoms engineer Javier worked as a firmware and hardware developer for Siemens and Nortel Networks. Since 2002 Javier has held several technical and commercial roles in ARM. Today he is responsible for the DS-5 toolchain and its components, as well as the ARM Fast Models and Versatile Express product families.