What is so special about the TCF protocol?
• TCF makes it simple to add value-adding servers into the host-target communication link: Instead of wrapping higher-level services like piggypack on top of lower ones, all services are on the same protocol layer. Therefore, servers can be plugged into the communication link transparently – no matter whether it’s a hardware or software component. An example of a value-adding server is a debug engine providing translation between high-level language and assembly language debugging, or OS awareness adding information like which process or thread is currently executing when the target does not explicitly provide such information. • TCF provides for tunneling, addressing and auto-discovery all through one single, simple protocol such that the target agent can be small and lightweight. A reference implementation of such a lightweight agent is included for Linux, Windows and VxWorks. • There is a single abstraction for a “Channel” to support message-based host/target communication. Currentl
