Advanced JTAG-based On-Chip Debugging Unit Design for SoC

An on-chip debugging unit is proposed aiming performance enhancement of JTAG-based SoC systems. The proposed unit comprises a JTAG module and a core breaker. The IEEE 1149.1 standard has been modified and applied to the new JTAG module. The proposed unit eliminates redundant clock cycles included in the TAP command execution stage reducing overall debugging time. TAP execution commands are repeatedly issued to perform debugging of complicated SoC systems. Simulation on the proposed unit shows some $14\%$ performance enhancement and $50\%$ gate count reduction compared to the conventional ones.