Introduction to ARM Cortex-M

Introduction to ARM Cortex- M

ARM Cortex – M :• A group of 32-bits processor cores• Licensed by ARM company • The company does not manufacture

processors.

32-bits ?

• Internal registers in the register bank are 32-bits

• Data paths are 32-bits• Bus Interfaces are 32-bits

32-bit can handle 232= 4294967296 bytes =4.2GB

Bit sizeBit size allows the CPU to address memory for an individual process.

X- bit can handle 2x bytes of memory

16-bit can handle 216 = 65536 bytes

8-bit can handle 28 = 256 bytes The higher the bit size the higher performance.

Cortex – M family Cortex- M0 Cortex – M0+ Cortex-M1 Cortex – M3 Cortex – M4 Cortex-M7

• Cheapest• Low area 90µm

• Lowest energy consumption• 15 years

• Performance efficiency

• Digital Signal Control• Floating point

• Max. DSC performance• Flexible memory system• High precision FP

• FPGA Application

Why Cortex – M ?

• High code density• Energy efficient• Interrupts

Microprocessor vs Microcontroller

Basically, a microprocessor has only a CPU i.e. processing power.

Microcontroller has CPU, ROM, RAM and other peripherals.

CPU

INTERRUPTS

INTERFACES / PORTS

MICROPROCESSOR

CPU

INTERRUPTS

INTERFACES / PORTS

MICROPROCESSOR

RAM ROM

INPUT PORTS

OUTPUT PORTS

INTERNAL PERIPHERALS

MICROCONTROLLER

In simple terms…

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The End