How to use Symphony Studio?

[AlexTsai]

Hi All,

How to use Symphony Studio?

I want to open \Symphony-Studio\sample-projects\ASM-Tutorial

but, What do I do?

I also copy the project to workspace, but still can't open.

Before I was using the Motorola DSP Software Development Tools.

How do I create a simple ASM project, and then edit, debug (simulation or use DT-USB-ST) 

[IMXnewbie]

Hi Alex,

a nice tutorial how to use Symphony Studio can be found here:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/bitwok/videos/9/

Best regards

Christian

[AlexTsai]

Thank you for your offer.

But the video too advanced.

I will not even open example program, create new ASM project.

I try to create a new ASM project then build it.

But show this...

Error launching builder (make -k all )

(Exec error:Launching failed)

I can just simple to use asm56300 and srec?

How to set up the environment?

[rocco]

Hi Alex,

I had a lot of problems with Symphony Studio. Finally, tech-support advised that I use the OLD Suite56 tools, as the problems with Symphony Studio could not be fixed. Here is the message from Freescale tech-support:

"In reply to your message regarding Service Request SR 1-592924541: Unfortunately,we have not received any notification yet that Freescale has plan to give up 24 bits DSP family. But it is fact that the Symphony Studio tools was developed by third party, we have limited resource to fix bugs and provide support for the tools, that is why I suggest you use old tools suite56."

Later, I heard that Freescale has stopped supporting Symphony-Studio. In this thread about Symphony-Studio, take a look at message number 6:

https://community.freescale.com/thread/60249

I believe that the 24-bit DSP family is coming to an end, with support for the audio sector provided by iMX processors, where high-level languages can more easily be supported.

[AlexTsai]

Oh! This is really bad news.

Do you know how to work on the no parallel port notebook?

I found these..

http://www-user.tu-chemnitz.de/~heha/bastelecke/Rund%20um%20den%20PC/USB2LPT/index.html.en

http://www.beyondlogic.org/usb/usblptpd11.htm

But I don't know whether work fine?

[rocco]

Hi Alex,

We did not try those two devices, but we did try a lot of others. None of them worked. All of the ones we tried were designed to look like a USB printer to the host software, and not to look like a LPT: parallel port. Windows XP would not recognize any of them as an LPT: port, just as printers.

We ended up pulling one of our old late '90s vintage development systems out of storage, because it had a parallel port. Since Suite56 is so old, it has no problems running on the old computer. It already had an older Suite56 installed from our DSP56002 days.

However, since Suite56 does not support the newer DSPs, debugging is VERY difficult. It is also riddled with bugs. The assembler also does not support the newer DSPs.

I would recommend switching to a TI or Analog Devices DSP (and that's coming from a loyal Motorola customer of 30 years). The Freescale 24-bit DSPs will likely disappear soon. We are porting our new projects to Analog Devices, despite having 15 years worth DSP56xxx code.

[clangen]

Hi all,

the bad rumors for the future of the DSP563xx are not new, I've heard this for more than a decade now.

Even if the Symphony Studio is no longer supported by Freescale, it can be used like any Eclipse environment.

We use the Xverve Signalizer successfully with Symphony Studio, see:

http://www.signalyzer.com/products/signalyzer-series/core-modules/signalyzer/signalyzer-series/core-...

Unfortunately this is no longer produced but you can use Macraigors USB wiggler instead, see:

http://macraigor.com/usbWiggler.htm

Due to a lacking reset pin on the DSP56371 this device is not supported all other DSP563xx work fine.

Domaintec's USB 'emulators' are supported as well by Symphony Studio, see USB-EMU for instance:

http://domaintec.com/usbemu.html

Maybe another engineer and me will volunteer to produce something similar to the Xverve Signalizer based on the FTDI2232 and make it available next year. We will publish a documentation for this what I have finished in German only unfortunately.

If I can dind the time I make a translation of this tutorial how to get Symphony Studio working with the SoundBite board (based on DSP56371). If you manage this debugging other devices using Symphony Studio is easy.

You may switch to other DSP vendors if you or your company is able to spend enough money for the tools (mine is not).

On the long term I see the future of DSP declimbing in general since as you say ARM based media processors are going to take over this field. Anyway, debugging isn't easier here, we have similar discussions in the i.MX forum how to integrate the gnu tool chain into eclipse here and what debug interfaces to use etc. Designing the hardware is more complex for a media processor (that uses external memory buses) than for a small DSP that is as easy as for a microcontroller. The software design process is more complex here as well. In other words if you experience problems debugging a DSP563xx it won't be easier to use an i.MX media processor.

If Symphony Studio is no longer supported that doesn't necessarily mean that the DSP563xx series will be discontinued soon. This may happen if Freescale can no longer make money with them what depends on the use of the DSP563xx in the industry. As long as they can sell these chips they will produce them. If they discontinue this line the core will probably survive elsewere, maybe as VHDL core. Computer architectures hardly die...

Best regards

Christian

[rocco]

Hi Christian,

Thanks for your insights. I'm glad you have Symphony-Studio working.

We could not get it working. It would crash when we tried to start the debugger. Tech-support tried to help, but threw up their hands after a few months. They dropped support for Symphony- Studio altogether while our service-request was still open.

We looked into the Domaintec and Mcgraigor systems, but they were thousands of dollars more than we could justify. The TI and AD development systems were cheaper.

We did buy an Xverve Signalyzer, and were able to use it with our ARM projects after Symphony-Studio crashed and burned. It was a nice product.

There are clear signs that the DSP56xxx family is at the road's end:

1) Freescale now supports NO tools for the DSP56xxx family. Symphony-Studio has been dropped and Suite56 has not been updated since 2003. I was told that there are no plans to update it, despite the fact that features of the latest DSPs are not supported.

2) When Freescale's CEO outline his road-map to profitability, he touted the iMX and automotive products, as well as others. But no mention was made of DSPs.

3) No new DSPs have been announced since the DSP56724 & 25.

Add to that the fact that system builders no longer need a separate DSP for audio (audio is included in every audio/video SoC). The market for a strictly-audio DSP has evaporated.

And your right, the 563xx architecture will probably survive as a core, but our volumes in our niche market will never justify rolling our own SoC. So we need to migrate, or die.

[IMXnewbie · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

as promised, I attach a small tutorial how to debug the DSP563xx using Symphony Studio and the Symmphony SoundBite board. Please have a try, any comments are welcome.

Have fun,

Christian

[AlexTsai]

Hi Christian,

Thank you for your offer. The document is useful for me.

We use the motorola dsp from dsp56362, dsp56367, to the present dsp56724.

We have developed several products using a dsp56724.

ads56300, asm56300 these tools have been able to meet us.

But we also hope to develop in the absence of parallel port.

So we want to learn symphony studio and USB-JTAG tools.

dsp5672x is a good dsp with dual core, dual-core is what we need. focus is cheaper.

ADI SHARC is also a good DSP, no pipeline, but it is expensive and there is no dual core.

then...

Has recommend 74373? we can only run 60Hz current sdram. (LCRR_DATA_LOW=4)

Faster speed will result in data lose. (LCRR_DATA_LOW=2)

[clangen]

Hi Alex,

we use both the DSP56374 and DSP56371. We started using the DSP56725 but experienced problems running some demonstration codes. A colleague of mine has put some documentation together ho to address those issues, maybe I can translate them as well.

Debugging the dual core DSP5672x is not that trivial, if you have a workflow for this it could be interesting for the community as well.

Next week I hope to find the time to translate our dual core 'documentation'.

Another question:

What do you mention with:

'Has recommend 74373?'? I don't know 74373.

Both the DSP56720 and DSP56724 provide an external memory bus. Anyway if you need to access external RAM by a DSP algorithm, this is very inefficient since you cannot take benefit from the extended Harvard architecture anymore and you have to access slow SDRAM. You may reconfigure a part of the internal RAM as cache but this doesn't help too much.

Best regards

Christian

[AlexTsai]

We also experienced problems on development dsp56724. (sdram、spdif...etc. configure)

But eventually resolved. Dual-core is run fine more than a year.

But still look forward to your document.
May have not encountered problems for us.

Our products are used in DJ player, so need a lot of memory (8M*16bit).

DSP56724 memory bus of Address and Data.  there is no independent.

So it is necessary to latch by 74373.

Because external memory bus slow. also cannot take benefit from the extended Harvard architecture.

So need faster 74373.

We find Philips 74ABT373A. It has a faster speed. however, it seems a very long delivery.