Debug protocols comparison and choice

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
July 7, 2024
3 replies
7542 views

Hi,

when it comes to programming and debugging, what is the difference between the 4 types (see screenshot below)?

Which one is best and how do you decide which one to use?

Please don't just say they all work the same pick one... :) I am asking for the pros and cons of each and how to choose one with a precise logic.

- Serial Wire

- JTAG 4 pins

- JTAG 5 pins

- Trace Asynchronous Sw

Thank you :)

STM32L4 series

waclawek.jan

Super User

If you need to ask, you want to go for Serial Wire (SWD), as the 99% of users do, and as is the cheap and out-of-the-box option on boards like Nucleo with software like CubeIDE.

To use JTAG of either form, you'd need some very good reason (e.g. you already have JTAG equipment you want to use, you want to perform boundary check - if you don't know what it is, you most probably don't need it), as it does not provide anything substantial beyond what SWD provides.

Trace is an extra feature, you'd need some appropriate (read: definitivaly not simple and not cheap) hardware and software, and a target with many pins (so that it does have the trace pins which are usually only on many-pins packages).

JW

KnarfB

Super User

Application note AN4989 "STM32 microcontroller debug toolbox" has many details.

Trace Asynchronous Sw is SWO tracing which is built-in in ST-LINK for cores that support it (M4 and better) and does not require additional tools and is quite useful. What @Jan Waclawek means, is synchronous tracing:

Screenshot 2024-07-08 135537.png