ARM APB Protocol PPROT[2] and Its Role in Data vs. Instruction Access The ARM Advanced Peripheral Bus (APB) protocol is a low-cost, low-power interface designed for peripheral communication in System-on-Chip (SoC) designs. Among its features, the PPROT signal, specifically PPROT[2], plays a role in distinguishing between data and instruction accesses. While this bit is part…
Delayed Transaction Propagation and Reduced Visibility in AXI4 Systems In AXI4-based systems, the visibility of transactions to downstream components is a critical aspect of ensuring system-level coherency and correctness. The AXI4 protocol allows for certain modifications to transactions, such as changes to the memory attributes specified by the AxCACHE signal. However, these modifications must not…
ACE5 Two-Part DVM Transaction and RLAST Signal Specification The ACE5 (AXI Coherency Extensions 5) protocol introduces advanced features for managing coherency in multi-core systems, including Distributed Virtual Memory (DVM) operations. A two-part DVM transaction is a specific type of operation that requires two separate Address Read (AR) requests to complete. The RLAST signal, which indicates…
AXI4 and AXI5 Write Interleaving Removal and Its Impact on SoC Design The removal of write interleaving support in AXI4 and AXI5 has significant implications for System-on-Chip (SoC) design, particularly in the context of ARM-based architectures. Write interleaving, a feature present in AXI3, allowed for the interleaving of write data transactions with different transaction IDs…
ARM Cortex-M33 Single-Core MCU Design Without TrustZone When designing a single-core Cortex-M33-based MCU without TrustZone, the SSE-200 subsystem serves as a foundational reference. The SSE-200 subsystem, originally designed for dual-core Cortex-M33 processors with TrustZone, includes several components such as the Memory Protection Controller (MPC), Access Control Gateway (ACG), External AHB Master (EAM), and SRAM controller….
Cortex-M0 Core Configuration Failure During IP Build The error "ARM.Atlas.BuildConfiguredComponentStep" typically occurs during the build process of an ARM Cortex-M0 core configuration in the ARM Socrates tool. This error indicates that the tool is unable to successfully compile or generate the necessary files for the configured IP. The Cortex-M0 core, being a lightweight and energy-efficient…
Mali-G78AE and CMN-600AE ACE-Lite Interface Configuration The integration of the Mali-G78AE GPU with the CMN-600AE interconnect involves configuring the ACE-Lite (AXI Coherency Extensions Lite) interface to ensure proper communication and coherency management. The Mali-G78AE is a high-performance GPU that supports up to 8 ACE-Lite connections, depending on the number of slices configured. The CMN-600AE, on…
NIC400 Partitioning and Clock Domain Synchronization Issues The NIC400 interconnect is a critical component in ARM-based SoC designs, responsible for managing communication between multiple masters and slaves. In this scenario, the NIC400 is being partitioned into NIC400_top and NIC400_bottom due to floorplan constraints, specifically a C-type floorplan with limited standard cell availability on the left…
FVP Corstone SSE-300 Compatibility with WSL2 and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS The Fixed Virtual Platform (FVP) Corstone SSE-300 is a powerful tool for simulating ARM-based System-on-Chip (SoC) designs, enabling developers to test and verify their systems before committing to silicon. However, running FVP Corstone SSE-300 on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) presents unique challenges due to…
FVP Base RevC Stuck When Accessing PIR_EL1 and POR_EL1 Registers The FVP Base RevC model, specifically version 1125, is designed to emulate ARM-based systems and is widely used for pre-silicon software development and verification. A critical aspect of its functionality is the support for advanced ARM architecture extensions, such as the ARMv8.9-A Permission Indirection Extension…