ENERGYTRACE

EnergyTrace™ software for MSP430™ MCUs, MSP432™ MCUs, CC13xx wireless MCUs and CC26xx wireless MCUs is an energy-based code analysis tool that measures and displays the energy profile of an application and helps optimize it for ultra-low-power consumption.

As most developers know, it is difficult to tune a system without understanding the state of the system. EnergyTrace software gives you the information needed to help you achieve the lowest power design. This feedback makes it easier to implement the various techniques offered by the MSP architecture, as well as the many tools provided by TI, such as the ULP Advisor.

This technology implements a new method for measuring MCU current consumption. Power is traditionally measured by amplifying the signal of interest and measuring the current consumption and voltage drop over a shunt resistor at discrete times. In debuggers that support EnergyTrace sofware, a software-controlled DC-DC converter generates the target power supply. The time density of the DC/DC converter charge pulses equals the energy consumption of the target microcontroller. A built-in calibration circuit in the debug tool defines the energy equivalent for a single charge pulse. Because the width of each charge pulse remains constant, the debugger can just count each charge pulse and then sum them over time to calculate an average current which leads to very accurate measurements. Using this approach, even the shortest device activity that consumes energy contributes to the overall recorded energy.

Another dimension of this software is called either:

• EnergyTrace+ technology, also known as EnergyTrace+[CPU States]
• EnergyTrace++ technology, also known as EnergyTrace+[CPU States]+[Peripheral States]

These modes take EnergyTrace to the next level. When debugging with devices that contain EnergyTrace+ or EnergyTrace++ support, you are presented with information about the internal states of the microcontroller in addition to the energy consumption of the system.

• The CPU states include whether the device is in active mode or one of the many low-power modes (LPM).

• The peripheral states show the ON-OFF status of the peripherals and all system clocks (regardless of the clock source).

With this tool, you can directly verify whether an application is running as expected. For example, you can make sure that a peripheral is turned off after a certain activity or system event.

Software & hardware requirements:

EnergyTrace software is included in Code Composer Studio™ IDE version 6.0 and later, as well as the latest version of IAR Embedded Workbench. It requires specialized debugger circuitry, which is supported with the MSP-FET or XDS110 emulators, as well as the emulators found on many of the MSP LaunchPad™ development kits.

EnergyTrace+ and EnergyTrace++ technology require additional circuitry within the silicon; therefore, these modes are only supported on select devices. The MSP432P4x family includes EnergyTrace+ features. The MSP430FR5x, MSP430FR6x, CC13x2 and CC26x2 MCUs contain the superset of EnergyTrace++ circuitry.

The following table summarizes what is supported with the different EnergyTrace™ software:

For a user guide to EnergyTrace software, refer to the chapters on EnergyTrace software in either the User’s Guide for Code Composer Studio™ IDE for MSP430™ MCUs, or the User’s Guide for Code Composer Studio™ IDE for SimpleLink™ MSP432 Microcontrollers. Or IAR Embedded Workbench™ IDE for MSP430™ MCUs, or the IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm for for SimpleLink™ MSP432 Microcontrollers.

• Current measurement is enabled for all MSP430 MCUs, MSP432 MCUs and connectivity devices
• Tracing of CPU states is available on selected MSP430 MCUs, MSP432 MCUs, CC13x2 wireless MCUs and CC26x2 wireless MCUs 
• Tracing of peripheral states is also available on selected MSP430 MCUs, CC13x2 wireless MCUs and CC26x2 wireless MCUs 
• MSP430 MCUs require eZ-FET or MSP-FET debuggers in order to support EnergyTrace features
• MSP432 MCUs require either the XDS110-ET (found on the MSP432 LaunchPad development kit) or the MSP-FET with the adapter for the MSP432 MCU
• CC13x2 and CC26x2 devices require either the XDS110-HDR (found on the LaunchPad development kits) or the standalone XDS110 (TMDSEMU110-U) + EnergyTrace HDR accessory (TMDSEMU110-ETH)
• Integrated into Code Composer Studio IDE and IAR Embedded Workbench (EW430 and EWARM)