title: Why is a device needed between JTAG and the TRACE32 software from Lauterbach?
body: <p>What is the point of having this rectangular thingy like <a href="https://www.microsemi.com/images/soc/partners/solution/ip/Trace_small.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.microsemi.com/images/soc/partners/solution/ip/Trace_small.jpg</a>? How comes that gdbserver is able to debug over the Ethernet without any additional H/W and this TRACE32 behemoth S/W itself cannot decode/encode signals coming out of and to JTAG port? Isn't JTAG a port itself? Doesn't it send signals? Why cannot this piece of S/W interpret them? Why is this thingy needed (which BTW once works, once doesn't and in general is black magic). Is there a reason for existing of a specific device between JTAG and USB port (having in mind that TRACE32 installations has 800 MB...)</p>