Embedded Trace Visualizers (Tracealyzer / SystemView)

Overview

Visualization tools for RTOS-aware traces captured via ITM/SWO, RTT, or instrumented kernel hooks. Percepio Tracealyzer and SEGGER SystemView display task switches, ISRs, semaphore and queue interactions, and custom user events on a timeline so timing and concurrency issues become visible instead of inferred from logs.

Benefits

• Visualizes scheduler and ISR behavior invisible to a debugger
• Catches priority inversion, missed deadlines, and queue starvation directly
• SystemView is free with any SEGGER probe
• Tracealyzer supports Zephyr, FreeRTOS, ThreadX, SafeRTOS

Limitations & Risks

• Tracealyzer commercial licensing for production-grade use
• Trace volume can overwhelm the channel at very high event rates
• Instrumentation effort for in-house RTOSes is non-trivial

Recommended Actions

Deploy SystemView + RTT for free RTOS-agnostic tracing on any SEGGER probe-equipped project; upgrade to Tracealyzer when timeline statistics, condition tracking, and scriptable analysis matter for timing-critical work.

Additional Notes

Pairs directly with #19 Trace-Based Debugging practice. Both tools are largely interoperable across SEGGER J-Link probes (#27).

References & Links

• https://www.segger.com/products/development-tools/systemview/
• https://percepio.com/tracealyzer/