Among other things, this applies to runtime analysis of RTOS and AUTOSAR-based applications. From now on, the data for calculations can be obtained not only through the microcontroller's trace system but also by sampling via the debug interface. While this method may offer slightly lower statistical accuracy, it provides a significant advantage by allowing CPU utilization to be evaluated on microcontrollers that lack trace support.
The additional operating system hooks defined in the AUTOSAR Runtime Interfaces (ARTI) allow for an even more detailed visualization of the runtime behavior of AUTOSAR applications. UDE uses them to display service calls and spinlocks, as well as tasks and interrupts, within the execution sequence diagram. This facilitates a more precise analysis of application and operating system behavior, helping to identify potential performance issues.
To facilitate the development of scripts used in automating software debugging and testing tasks using the popular Python scripting language, PLS UDE 2026 also offers its own script debugger within the integrated Python console. This feature allows you to set breakpoints and step through Python code, as well as view Python variables in a dedicated observation window.
Furthermore, specific enhancements and adaptations have been made in UDE 2026 for certain microcontroller and device families, such as the Infineon AURIX™ TC4Dx, the first member of the TC4x family. For example, trace support has been extended to monitor the runtime of virtualized applications, meaning that virtual machines managed by the TC4x hardware hypervisor are now also visible in trace logs. UDE 2026 also now supports trace functions for so-called production devices. This offers the significant advantage of enabling trace recording both during the development phase using emulation devices—which can be expensive—and in the field using standard microcontrollers.
However, due to hardware limitations, trace functionality is restricted in terms of the size of available trace memory and only allows a single trace recording after a restart or reset of the application or driver, respectively.
For AURIX™ TC3xx-based TTControl control units of the TTC 2300 and TTC 2030 series, PLS's UDE 2026 also offers pre-configured target settings that provide users of these ECUs with a ready-to-use debugging environment, without requiring any ECU-specific configurations by the developer.
Many of the architectures, device families, and embedded processors recently added to PLS support also benefit from the even more optimized testing, debugging, and plotting capabilities of UDE 2026. The focus is on controllers based on Arm® Cortex® cores, such as NXP's S32K5 automotive MCUs, STMicroelectronics' STM32H5, Texas Instruments' MSPM0 and MSPM33 mixed-signal industrial microcontrollers, the latest generation of Infineon MOTIX™ family MCUs, and the THA6 Gen2 series multi-core automotive MCUs from Chinese manufacturer Tongxin Micro. For the open RISC-V architecture, PLS has implemented support for Andes' 32-bit AndesStar™ V5 architecture. Early adopters are already using UDE® for software development on the AndesCore™ D23 core based on this architecture.
The large-scale commercial launch of UDE® 2026 is planned for early May of this year.
