Unit Testing Ultra-low-power MSP430™ MCUs in a Desktop Environment

Kris

I've written a short white paper that outlines some methodologies that can be used for unit testing code written for any ultra-low-power MSP430™ microcontrollers (MCU). Through my many years of experience of writing software for desktop, embedded and web applications, it's only in the last few years that I've really transitioned into test-driven development, and on the whole, it can be one of the ways to dramatically improve code readability and structure, as well as reduce the potential for the introduction of bugs during design and refactoring stages.

Writing software for an MSP430 MCU should be no different, as one can apply similar design methodologies to embedded development. There are a few small tricks that need to be performed in order to properly setup an MSP430 MCU test suite, but they are relatively simple and make use of modern C++ constructs which fit nicely to mimic register updates and interrupts.

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

TI PROVIDES TECHNICAL AND RELIABILITY DATA (INCLUDING DATASHEETS), DESIGN RESOURCES (INCLUDING REFERENCE DESIGNS), APPLICATION OR OTHER DESIGN ADVICE, WEB TOOLS, SAFETY INFORMATION, AND OTHER RESOURCES “AS IS” AND WITH ALL FAULTS, AND DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

These resources are intended for skilled developers designing with TI products. You are solely responsible for (1) selecting the appropriate TI products for your application, (2) designing, validating and testing your application, and (3) ensuring your application meets applicable standards, and any other safety, security, or other requirements. These resources are subject to change without notice. TI grants you permission to use these resources only for development of an application that uses the TI products described in the resource. Other reproduction and display of these resources is prohibited. No license is granted to any other TI intellectual property right or to any third party intellectual property right. TI disclaims responsibility for, and you will fully indemnify TI and its representatives against, any claims, damages, costs, losses, and liabilities arising out of your use of these resources.

TI’s products are provided subject to TI’s Terms of Sale (www.ti.com/legal/termsofsale.html) or other applicable terms available either on ti.com or provided in conjunction with such TI products. TI’s provision of these resources does not expand or otherwise alter TI’s applicable warranties or warranty disclaimers for TI products.

Mailing Address: Texas Instruments, Post Office Box 655303, Dallas, Texas 75265