100% Open Source Development

on ARM Cortex M
Mike Anderson
Chief Scientist

The PTR Group, Inc.

http://ThePTRGroup.com
mike@theptrgroup.com
Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Who is The PTR Group?
The PTR Group was founded in 2000
We are involved in multiple areas of work:
Robotics (NASA Space arm)
Flight software (over 35 satellites on orbit)
Offensive and defensive cyber operations

Embedded software ports to RTOS/Linux/bare

metal
IoT systems architecture and deployment

OIOT-SD-0416-2 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Who am I?
Over 39 years in the embedded space

Instructor for Linux/Android internals

Mentor for FRC #116 FIRST Robotics Team
Frequent speaker at:
Embedded Linux Conference
Embedded Systems Conference
CIA Emerging Technology Conference

OIOT-SD-0416-3 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

 Intro to the ARM Cortex-M series and why it
plays in the IoT
Why the focus on open-source solutions?
What is required in a complete solution?
Different compilers to do the trick
IDEs
Debugging solutions
Summary
OIOT-SD-0416-4 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Why the Focus on the ARM Cortex-M?
performance
Cortex-A application processors
Cortex-R real-time processors
Cortex-M energy-efficient microcontrollers
The Cortex-M series encompasses processors from the M0/M0+ to
the M7
32-bit platforms
Reduces the hassles and memory restrictions of 8- and 16-bit platforms
Over 175 ARM licensees producing silicon
Lots of options to choose from in a multitude of sizes and form factors
Large support from RTOS and open-source communities for operating
systems and ecosystem
VxWorks©, ThreadX©, mC/OS©, FreeRTOS, and more

OIOT-SD-0416-5 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

The Cortex-M Family

Source: arm.com

OIOT-SD-0416-6 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

How does the Cortex-M Support IoT?
The Cortex-M series enables a broad selection of
embedded devices that need low power consumption
Wearables, activity trackers, smart metering, audio
headphones, sensor applications, etc.
Availability of DSP in higher end M4 and M7 cores
expands capability
Low-cost infotainment, body electronics, audio
processing, etc.

Wireless solutions that include IEEE 804.15.4, Bluetooth

Smart, Wi-Fi, etc.

OIOT-SD-0416-7 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Example Closed-Source Development
There are a number of well-respected,
closed-source development environments
that support the Cortex-M
Keil, IAR, Crossworks for ARM,
ARM DS-5 (non-community version),
Green Hills MULTI and many more
Most of these try to be a complete solution
for code development and debugging Source: keil.com

IDE, Integrated source control, debugger/JTAG interface

Most use a yearly subscription model
Each seat is several thousand $$$ and must be renewed yearly
to keep tools from shutting down
All support Windows, some support OS/X, few support Linux
OIOT-SD-0416-8 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Why Focus on Open-Source?
Innovation coming from individuals and small groups that are creating
new applications that will transform our lives
E.g., 3D printing, drones/robotics, new sensor platforms
The makers typically operate on shoestring budgets
Their projects are typically labors of love first, potential products
second
Makers want to be able to share their ideas with others without
licensing restrictions or large financial barriers
Open-source hardware availability
Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, and many more
Even large corporations are transitioning to open-source
Linux, Android, Tizen, etc.

OIOT-SD-0416-9 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

What is Needed for a Complete Solution?
System development requires many phases
Which ones apply depends on your development
methodology
Agile, Spiral, Waterfall, ad hoc, etc.
Tools to support all phases of the development
cycle
In general, we need a way to design, edit,
compile, debug, deploy and maintain the code
Source control systems, code profiling, JTAGs and
more are all involved
OIOT-SD-0416-10 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Getting Started
Well, that depends on how far you want to take
the open-source approach
Novena open-source laptop platform
Open-source hardware, NDA-free data
sheets, documentation for the PCBs and
more
Quad-core ARM iMX-6 with Ubuntu or Debian
Linux
Source: croudsupply.com

However, most of us will use traditional

commercial hardware
x86-based development hardware
OIOT-SD-0416-11 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Operating System Choices
At this point, Linux is running on over a billion
devices
They call them Android phones ;-)
However, Android and iOS are not known as
development platforms
This leaves Linux, Windows, OS/X and the BSD
variants
Some development environments can support any of these

and OS/X due to time constraints

OIOT-SD-0416-12 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Starting at the Design
Tools that support modeling
and software architecture are
still scarce
UML tools are available, but they
are not as far along as their
commercial counterparts Source: argouml.tigris.org

ArgoUML
Java based, cross-platform
including BSD
StarUML
Linux, Windows, OS/X Source: staruml.io

OIOT-SD-0416-13 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Source Code Control
The two primary players in the open-source community are svn and
git
Clients for all of the major O/S platforms
svn and git have fundamentally different approaches
svn uses a centralized repository that users check in and out code
git uses a distributed concept where each user has a private copy of
the repository and does their development locally with local
branches
Periodically synchronize with the global repository
Designed for distributed development by geographically disparate
developers
Has worked well for Linux, Android and other large open-source
projects

OIOT-SD-0416-14 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Compilation
Open-source tools that support compilation, assembly/disassembly,
linking and language front ends boil down to two primary options
LLVM/Clang
GCC/MinGW
LLVM is not an acronym
Started as a University of Illinois research project
Available for all major O/S platforms
UIUC BSD-style license
Native C/C++/Objective-C compiler
Support for C++11 Source: llvm.org
Compiles 3x faster than GCC in some benchmarks
Integrated Clang Static Analyzer
LLDB debugger
An up-and-coming toolchain with a growing following

OIOT-SD-0416-15 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

GCC
The GNU Compiler Collection is not one toolchain, but a
collection of different language frontends and a code
generator backend
C/C++11, Objective-C, Ada, Fortran, Java and Go
Frequently tied with binutils and glibC
Supports debugging, code profiling, code coverage Source: gcc.gnu.org

Originally written as the compiler for the GNU operating system

Runs on all major O/S platforms and supports code generation
for nearly all major CPU architectures
Code is licensed under GPL
Exceptions allow the development of commercial applications with GCC
Arguably, the most popular compiler toolchain on the planet

OIOT-SD-0416-16 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Editors/IDEs
IDEs/Editors are a religious topic
Many developers prefer simple
editors like vi or Emacs and
command-line building via Makefiles
Younger developers consider us dinosaurs Source: typesofeverything.com

For those who want pretty GUIs, there

are a number of options
On Windows, some commercial environments integrate
closed-source MS Visual Studio with GCC
Atmel Studio is one example

OIOT-SD-0416-17 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Major Open-Source IDEs
Eclipse CDT (EPL)
http://www.eclipse.org
Runs on all major platforms
Integration with ARM GCC/Clang
via plug-ins
Code::Blocks (GPLv3)
http://www.codeblocks.org
Runs on all major platforms
Supports 7 different compilers
including GCC/Clang
Arduino IDE (GPL)
http://arduino.cc Source: codeblocks.org

Runs on all major platforms

Directly supports GCC, Clang is possible

OIOT-SD-0416-18 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Major Open-Source IDEs #2
KDevelop (GPL)
http://www.kdevelop.org
Linux, OS/X and new Windows
support
Requires QT widgets
Support for GCC/Clang
NetBeans (Dual CDDL/GPL)
http://www.netbeans.org
Support for all major platforms
Support for GCC/Clang
Ultimate++ (BSD License) Source: kdevelopment.org

http://www.ultimatepp.org
Windows and Linux
Support for GCC/Clang
OIOT-SD-0416-19 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Major Open-Source IDEs #3
CooCox (BSD)
http://www.coocox.org
Windows only
Well-developed ecosystem with
many support tools
Started by Embest Info. Tech, Co.
Shenzhen, China
Supports GCC
CodeLite (GPL)
http://www.codelite.org
Supports all major platforms Source: segger.com

Support for GCC/Clang

OIOT-SD-0416-20 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

The Reality for IDEs
In reality, all of the IDEs basically look alike
Nothing really new since 1997
Which one you pick is a matter of personal
preference
Some are more resource hungry and require more
screen real estate
IDEs in Java are more portable but tend to be
slower than ones written in C/C++
Still, all of the major O/S variants are supported with
almost any of them

OIOT-SD-0416-21 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Example: Eclipse CDT and GCC
Integrated with Eclipse
4.4 (Luna) CDT release Source: gnuarmeclipse.livius.net

Support for GCC 4.9 ARM compiler

Integration with both SEGGER J-Link and
OpenOCD JTAG interfaces among others
Templates for several ARM Cortex-M
variants including STMicro STM32F(01234)x
and Freescale KLxx
OIOT-SD-0416-22 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.
Configure Eclipse for ARM and GCC
First download and
extract the Eclipse Mars.2
CDT release
http://www.eclipse.org/
downloads/
Download and extract
the latest GCC ARM toolchain
https://launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded
Start Eclipse and open Help->Install New Software
and add the ARM Eclipse plug-in site

OIOT-SD-0416-23 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Select Plug-Ins

OIOT-SD-0416-24 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Create a Project

OIOT-SD-0416-25 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Set Toolchain Path and Build

OIOT-SD-0416-26 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Debugger Options
Now that we have a binary, how do
we debug it?
The Eclipse debugging plug-in
supports several different debugger
options
OpenOCD
SEGGER J-Link
Abatron BDI-2000
Macraigor USB2Daemon

Some JTAG debuggers are open-source

hardware
BusPirate, etc.
But, commercial, OpenOCD-compatible
USB debuggers can be had for < $100

OIOT-SD-0416-27 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.

Summary
The ARM Cortex-M series processors will likely see a lot of
use in the IoT
SWaP considerations and wireless connectivity options
There are several open-source development tools

Since they are open-source, try several to find the one you like
most
Either GCC or Clang/LLVM can generate the code
ARM works with the open-source community to optimize the
compilers to make them comparable to commercial offerings
Your search engine is your friend
Many have blazed the trails ahead of you, so follow their lead

OIOT-SD-0416-28 Copyright 2007-2016, The PTR Group, Inc.