Feature: Embedded design
Future-proofing the GCC compiler for automotive-grade microcontrollers
By Manfred Kreutzer, ABIX Technology, and Marcel Beemster, Solid Sands D
evelopment tools service provider ABIX Technology was asked to upgrade and improve the GCC compiler for the Belgian microelectronic solutions
company Melexis. Melexis’s family of 16- bit RISC-type microcontrollers is widely used in automotive applications, from tyre-pressure sensors to BLCD motor controllers. Tis family’s microcontrollers’ instruction sets, register files and co- processors are customised for the applications, and Melexis readily uses the GCC complier for the tasks (GCC stands for GNU Compiler Collection, an optimising compiler produced by the GNU Project, supporting various operating systems, hardware architectures
and programming languages, including C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java and Ada). Te GCC compiler allows efficient use of the register file, where smaller registers can be combined into broader ones. It also optimises the size of the target code for smaller memory footprints and lowers power consumption, making it very suitable to Melexis’s needs. In 2020, GCC version 10 was released,
which meant Melexis had to upgrade its complier suite too, hence it contacted ABIX. Tere were three major challenges for the upgrade: first, the upgraded compiler must be robust, trustworthy and high- performing; second, it must include the latest features available in the compiler framework – in this case the GCC register allocator; and, third, more performance
should be “squeezed out” of the latest technologies. To achieve these goals, a suitable test
suite was needed. ABIX engineers already use Solid Sands’s SuperTest for proprietary compiler development and testing, which covers the lion’s share of the language and functionality tests. In addition, selected tests from the GCC Torture test suite were used, as well as for this project specifically, a customised regression test suite.
The test scenario Te compiler, including utilities, libraries and auxiliary inventory, can be used with Windows and Linux hosts. It targets Melexis’s three microprocessor family series - MLX16-e8, MLX16-ex and MLX16-fx – and tests for different sizes of code, execution
www.electronicsworld.co.uk February 2022 19
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