A retargetable C compiler for embedded systems

Abstract

With the expansion of the market of available embedded platforms the variety of target architectures is rapidly increasing. Therefore the need for retarget able software development tools has never been greater. The C compiler, probably the most significant development tool for embedded systems, is required to be quickly and easily adaptable for new architectures. This paper describes one such generic C compiler which has been adapted for Crystal 32-bit and MIPS 32-bit as two different target platforms. The aim of this paper is to prove that the compiler has modifiable infrastructure and can be easily adapted to support new architectures, as well as to improve the compiler in terms of extending this capability. The compiler has been tested for correctness for both architectures. For Crystal 32-bit platform quality testing has also been performed and all test results showed remarkable results. On the other hand, for MIPS 32-bit architecture, for which full compiler support is still an ongoing process, correctness tests were performed with exceptions of C language aspects which are not commonly used in embedded system applications. The analyses of these tests showed convincing results for embedded domain and promising results for reaching full MIPS 32-bit support. © 2013 IEEE.