Trice Speed

(Read only you are interested in)

A TRICE macro execution can be as cheap like 3-4 Assembler instructions or 6-8 processor clocks:

• Disassembly:
• Measurement: The blue SYSTICK clock counts backwards 6 clocks for each TRICE macro (on an ARM M0+), what is less than 100 ns @64 MHz MCU clock:

A more realistic (typical) timing with target location and µs timestamps, critical section and parameters is shown here with the STM32F030 M0 core:

The MCU is clocked with 48 MHz and a Trice duration is about 2 µs, where alone the internal ReadUs() call is already nearly 1 µs long:

Target Implementation Options

All trice macros use internally this sub-macro:

#define TRICE_PUT(x) do{ *TriceBufferWritePosition++ = TRICE_HTOTL(x); }while(0); //! PUT copies a 32 bit x into the TRICE buffer.

The usual case is #define TRICE_HTOTL(x) (x). The uint32_t* TriceBufferWritePosition points to a buffer, which is codified and used with the trice framing sub-macros TRICE_ENTER and TRICE_LEAVE in dependence of the use case.

Trice Use Cases TRICE_STATIC_BUFFER and TRICE_STACK_BUFFER - direct mode only

1. Each singe trice is build inside a common buffer and finally copied inside the sub-macro TRICE_LEAVE.
2. Disabled relevant interrupts between TRICE_ENTER and TRICE_LEAVE are mantadory for TRICE_STATIC_BUFFER.
3. Usable for multiple non-blocking physical trice channels but not recommended for some time blocking channels.
4. A copy call is executed inside TRICE_LEAVE.

• With appropriate mapping a direct write to physical output(s) is possible:
  • RTT0 without extra copy.
    • With TRICE_DIRECT_SEGGER_RTT_32BIT_WRITE about 100 MCU clocks do the whole work, what is within 1.5 us @ 64 MHz.
  • AUX without extra copy.
  • Not (yet) supported UART transfer loop with polling. With 1MBit baud rate, 4-12 bytes would last 40-120 µs.

Trice Use Case TRICE_DOUBLE_BUFFER - deferred mode, fastest trice execution, more RAM needed

1. Several trices are build in a half buffer.
2. No stack used.
3. Disabled interrupts between TRICE_ENTER and TRICE_LEAVE.
4. Usable for multiple blocking and non-blocking physical trice channels.
5. No copy call inside TRICE_LEAVE but optionally an additional direct mode is supported.

Trice Use Case TRICE_RING_BUFFER - deferred mode, balanced trice execution time and needed RAM

1. Each single trices is build in a ring buffer segment.
2. No stack used.
3. Disabled interrupts between TRICE_ENTER and TRICE_LEAVE.
4. Usable for multiple blocking and non-blocking physical trice channels.
5. No copy call inside TRICE_LEAVE but optionally an additional direct mode is supported.
6. Allocation call inside TRICE_ENTER