Author: Graham Kruk

The soft core in Arm Cortex-M refers to the CPU core design that is implemented using logic synthesis rather than as a hard macro. Soft cores allow more flexibility in implementation compared to hard cores, but may have lower performance. The Arm Cortex-M processor family includes both soft core and hard macro options for the

Getting Cortex-M1 running on an Artix-7 FPGA without a debugger can be challenging, but is certainly achievable with some effort. This article will walk through the key steps and considerations for accomplishing this goal. Overview of Cortex-M1 and Artix-7 The Cortex-M1 processor is a 32-bit ARM processor intended for microcontroller applications. It has a simplified

The Cortex-M1 is an ARM processor core that is commonly used in embedded systems. It has a simple memory map with distinct regions for code, data, peripherals, and external memory interfaces. The Cortex-M1 supports mapping an external DDR (double data rate) memory region into its physical address space to extend available memory beyond internal SRAM

Setting up the vector table properly is crucial for getting your Cortex-M1 application running correctly. The vector table tells the processor where to find the reset and interrupt handlers needed to respond to events. If the vector table is not configured properly, your program may crash or behave unpredictably. Here are some tips for debugging

The answer to whether Arm is really faster than x86 is not straightforward. Both processor architectures have their strengths and weaknesses. However, in recent years Arm has made significant advancements in performance that rival x86 in many workloads. The key factors to consider are: Power Efficiency Arm processors are designed to be power efficient for

The Cortex-M0 is the smallest and most energy-efficient processor in the Cortex-M series of ARM processors. With its low cost and minimal power consumption, the Cortex-M0 is well-suited for applications where cost and battery life are critical factors, such as low-end consumer devices, wearables, wireless sensors, and deeply embedded applications. One common signal processing task

The CMSIS (Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard) library provides useful functions for fixed-point arithmetic operations on ARM Cortex-M processors. Fixed-point arithmetic is important for embedded systems as it allows mathematical operations to be performed efficiently without requiring a floating point unit (FPU). The CMSIS library includes optimized functions for both signed and unsigned fixed-point math.

The GCC compiler for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers provides built-in support for fixed-point data types through its fixed-point types extension. This allows developers to use fixed-point math in their C/C++ code instead of floating point, which can provide performance and memory benefits on resource-constrained microcontroller systems. What are fixed-point types? Fixed-point types represent real numbers using

The main practical differences between the Arm Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3 for C programmers come down to performance, features, and toolchain support. The Cortex-M3 is faster, supports more advanced features like memory protection units, and has better toolchain support overall. However, the Cortex-M0 is cheaper and may be suitable for simpler applications where performance is less