ã 2001 Microchip Technology Inc. DS51242A-page 5 ON-CHIP DEBUGGER SPECIFICATION 12 Chapter 1.  Overview 1.1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the on-chip debugger. 1.2 Highlights Topics covered in this chapter are: •  On-Chip Debugger Definition •  Debugger vs. Emulator 1.3 On-Chip Debugger Definition An on-chip debugger is special hardware and software that works with
specific PICmicro^® devices to give developers a low cost method for
debugging their code. These PICmicro MCU’s must (1) contain special on-
chip logic supporting debugging functionality and (2) provide In-Circuit Serial
Programming™ (ICSP™) capabilities. The ICSP capability allows in-circuit programming of the PICmicro MCU via
specific hardware pins designated for this purpose.  ICSP is described in
detail in the In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) Guide (DS30277).
Additionally, ICSP-related technical briefs and application notes, as well as
device programming specifications, may be found at our website
(www.microchip.com). The on-chip debug capability provides breakpointing, single stepping, and
external breaking.  Breaks are treated as a special form of interrupt that vector
to debug executive software implemented by the developer.  The same
hardware pins used by the ICSP capability are preserved by the on-chip
debug capability while servicing the debug break, allowing them to be used to
implement communications between the debug executive software and a host
processor. The information in this document is provided as-is and is subject to
change. No guarantees are given or implied. The user assumes all risks
associated with using this information.