Cortex-M23 Hard Fault Handler Assembly Code Errors The core issue revolves around debugging a Hard Fault on the Cortex-M23 processor using a custom Hard Fault handler written in inline assembly. The handler is designed to extract register values from the stack to diagnose the cause of the fault. However, the assembly code fails to compile…
Understanding AMBA Bridge Performance Metrics and Their Importance AMBA (Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture) bridges are critical components in modern System-on-Chip (SoC) designs, facilitating communication between different bus protocols such as AXI, AHB, and APB. These bridges enable seamless data transfer between subsystems operating at different speeds, power domains, or clock domains. However, evaluating the performance…
AMBA5 AHB5 Initiator Bus Definition Revision Mismatch The core issue revolves around the incompatibility between two revisions of the AMBA5 AHB5 Initiator bus definition in the IP-XACT format. The managed bus definition, which is currently in use, is based on revision 0, while the newly provided bus definition from ARM is based on revision 2….
ARM IP Integration and OLYMPUS.cpp Setup Issues When integrating ARM IP into a System-on-Chip (SoC) design, one of the critical steps is setting up the simulation environment, which includes configuring and integrating necessary files such as OLYMPUS.cpp. OLYMPUS.cpp is typically a part of the simulation infrastructure that facilitates the execution of test cases, including basic…
AHB5 Write Strobes and Byte Lane Activation Rules The AHB5 protocol introduces the concept of write strobes (HWSTRB) to provide finer control over data transfers, particularly for sparse writes. The behavior of HWSTRB signals is governed by the HADDR (address) and HSIZE (transfer size) signals, which determine the active and inactive byte lanes for a…
ARM Cortex-A53 Baremetal C Programming for SoC Testing When transitioning from assembly to C for testing ARM Cortex-A53 based SoCs, it is essential to understand the foundational concepts of baremetal programming. Baremetal programming refers to writing code that runs directly on the hardware without an operating system. This is particularly relevant for SoC testing, where…
APB Protocol’s Single-Transfer Nature and Its Implications The Advanced Peripheral Bus (APB) is a key component of the ARM Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) family, designed for low-bandwidth, low-power peripheral communications. Unlike its counterparts, AXI (Advanced eXtensible Interface) and AHB (Advanced High-performance Bus), APB is inherently designed to handle single transfers per transaction. This means…
ARM-Based Power Management Challenges in Edge Computing Edge computing environments demand highly efficient power management techniques due to their constrained resources and the need for prolonged battery life. ARM-based processors are widely used in these environments due to their power efficiency and scalability. However, developing and validating new power-saving techniques for ARM-based systems requires robust…
ARM Cortex ACE Protocol: Inner and Outer Domain Cache Coherency Behavior The ARM ACE (AXI Coherency Extensions) protocol is a critical component in ensuring cache coherency across multi-core systems. One of the key aspects of ACE is the division of transaction share domains into Non-shareable, Inner, Outer, and System domains. These domains dictate how cache…
ARM Cortex-M3 DesignStart RTL Source Obfuscation and Encryption The ARM Cortex-M3 DesignStart FPGA Xilinx Edition provides a synthesizable softcore implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor, enabling developers to integrate the processor into custom FPGA designs. However, the RTL (Register Transfer Level) source files provided in the DesignStart package are either obfuscated (cortexm3ds_logic.v) or encrypted (cortexm3.v). This…