Timing Violations in NIC-400 Bus Matrix During AXI-to-AHB Transactions The NIC-400 bus matrix is a highly configurable interconnect fabric designed by ARM to facilitate communication between multiple masters and slaves in a system-on-chip (SoC). It supports various protocols, including AXI, AHB, and APB, and is widely used in ARM-based SoCs due to its flexibility and…
GIC-625 Model Unavailability in ARM Fast Models Portfolio The absence of a specific model for the GIC-625 in the ARM Fast Models Portfolio presents a significant challenge for designers and verification engineers working on ARM-based SoCs. The Generic Interrupt Controller (GIC) is a critical component in ARM systems, responsible for managing and distributing interrupts across…
ARM Cortex-A35 and Mali-400 Cache Coherency Requirements In modern SoC designs, integrating multiple processing units such as CPUs and GPUs often introduces challenges related to cache coherency. The ARM Cortex-A35 CPU and Mali-400 GPU are two such units that may operate on shared data, necessitating a clear understanding of their cache behaviors and coherency mechanisms….
PREADY Signal Generation and Wait State Insertion in APB Transfers The PREADY signal in the AMBA 3 APB protocol is a critical handshake signal that indicates the completion status of a transfer between the APB master and the APB slave. The APB slave generates the PREADY signal to inform the APB master whether the current…
RLAST/WLAST Signal Ambiguity During Non-Transactional States The behavior of the RLAST and WLAST signals in the AMBA AXI4 protocol when no transaction is pending or when the VALID signal is low is a critical aspect of ensuring proper communication between master and slave devices. The AMBA AXI4 specification (IHI0022E) states that the slave must assert…
Understanding the Role of .hex Files in ARM Cortex-A9 Cyclone V SoC Designs The .hex file, also known as the Intel Hexadecimal Format file, plays a crucial role in ARM Cortex-A9 based System-on-Chip (SoC) designs, particularly when integrating on-chip RAM. This file format is a text-based representation of binary data, where each line contains a…
Fast Model License Feature Mismatch: Cortex-A9MP vs. Cortex-A9UP The core issue revolves around a licensing mismatch when attempting to run a Fast Model simulation for a Cortex-A9MP (Multi-Processor) configuration using a license intended for a Cortex-A9UP (Uni-Processor) model. The error message explicitly states that the license checkout for the feature FM_ARM_Public and SG_ARM_Cortex-A9MP_CT has been…
GICv3 Group 1 Interrupt Enable Bit Not Propagating to ICC_IGRPEN1_EL3.EnableGrp1NS The issue revolves around the inability of the Non-secure ICC_IGRPEN1_EL1.Enable bit to propagate its value to the ICC_IGRPEN1_EL3.EnableGrp1NS bit when written from EL1. According to the ARM GICv3 specification, the Non-secure ICC_IGRPEN1_EL1.Enable bit is a read/write alias of the ICC_IGRPEN1_EL3.EnableGrp1NS bit. This means that any…
MPAM Register Access Ignored During FVP Simulation The issue at hand involves the inability to access Memory Partitioning and Monitoring (MPAM) registers during a simulation using the FVP_Base_RevC_2xAEMvA model. The user has configured the model with specific parameters to enable MPAM functionality, including setting cluster0.has_mpam=2 and defining CPU affinities and redistributor base addresses. However, when…
ARM Cortex-M3 Boot Process and DDR Remap Challenges The ARM Cortex-M3 is a widely used processor in embedded systems, known for its efficiency and deterministic behavior. One of the key features of the Cortex-M3 is its ability to boot from Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) and execute code from various memory regions, including DDR (Dynamic Random-Access Memory)….