Author: System on Chips

NIC-400/AXI Bandwidth Utilization Challenges The NIC-400 interconnect and AXI (Advanced eXtensible Interface) protocol are widely used in ARM-based systems to facilitate high-performance communication between components such as processors, memory controllers, and peripherals. While the theoretical bandwidth of these interfaces is often advertised based on clock speed and data width, achieving this maximum bandwidth in practice…

Bit-Band Operation Mechanics and Data Size Challenges Bit-band operations in ARM Cortex-M processors provide a mechanism to access individual bits in memory or peripheral registers as if they were separate variables. This feature is particularly useful in embedded systems where fine-grained control over memory or hardware registers is required. The bit-band region is a specific…

Cortex-A55 Secondary Core Hotplug Execution Start Point When a secondary core in a Cortex-A55-based system is hotplugged, the execution start point is determined by the system’s firmware and bootloader implementation. Typically, the secondary core begins execution at the reset vector defined in the system’s memory map. This reset vector is often configured during the initialization…

ARM Cortex-A78AE vs. MIPS CN78XX: Performance Equivalence and Core Utilization When migrating from a MIPS CN78XX 48-core architecture to an ARM Cortex-A78AE 16-core design, understanding the performance equivalence and core utilization is critical. The primary goal is to determine whether the ARM Cortex-A78AE cores can handle 60% of the existing workload after offloading 40% to…

ARMv8.2 RAS Extension Error Injection Registers and Their Implementation Differences The ARMv8.2 architecture introduced the Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) extension, which provides mechanisms for error detection, correction, and reporting. One of the key features of the RAS extension is the ability to inject errors for testing purposes. This is facilitated through specific system registers…

ARM A78-AE Core Performance Evaluation and MIPS CN78XX Comparison When transitioning from a MIPS CN78XX 48-core architecture to an ARM A78-AE 16-core architecture, it is crucial to understand the performance characteristics of both architectures to ensure that the ARM cores can handle the computational load, especially when offloading a portion of the workload to an…

ARM Cortex-R5 and Cortex-M33 Exception Handling During Read and Write Errors The behavior of ARM Cortex-R5 and Cortex-M33 processors when receiving error response signals during memory access operations, particularly with PSRAM, is a critical aspect of system reliability and fault tolerance. In this scenario, the Cortex-R5 and Cortex-M33 exhibit different behaviors when encountering read and…

Cortex-M3 Vector Table Relocation Issue Leading to osRtxIdleThread Entry When working with the Cortex-M3 processor, one of the most critical aspects of system initialization is the correct configuration of the Vector Table Offset Register (VTOR). The VTOR is responsible for informing the processor about the location of the interrupt vector table, which contains the addresses…

Cortex-A53 L1 Cache Size and Structure Identification The Cortex-A53 processor, a popular ARMv8-A architecture-based core, is widely used in embedded systems and mobile devices due to its balance of performance and power efficiency. One of the critical aspects of optimizing software for this processor is understanding its cache architecture, particularly the L1 cache. The L1…

ARM Cortex-A53 Signal Processing: Interleaved Load/Store Mnemonics Performance Anomaly The ARM Cortex-A53 is a widely used processor in embedded systems, particularly for signal processing applications due to its balance of performance and power efficiency. A common optimization technique in such applications involves the use of ARM NEON intrinsics for SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) operations….