ARM Cortex Pipeline Corruption Leading to Illegal Instruction Exceptions Illegal instruction exceptions in ARM architectures, particularly those arising from Undefined Abort exceptions, are often indicative of severe underlying issues in the system. These exceptions occur when the CPU encounters an instruction that it cannot decode or execute, which may be due to corruption in the…
ARM Cortex-A53 32-bit to 64-bit Mode Transition Challenges The ARM Cortex-A53 processor, part of the ARMv8-A architecture, is designed to support both 32-bit (AArch32) and 64-bit (AArch64) execution states. This dual-state capability allows developers to leverage the benefits of 64-bit computing, such as larger address spaces and enhanced performance, while maintaining compatibility with existing 32-bit…
Cortex-A53 Complex Array Allocation and HTL Instruction Fault The issue at hand involves a failure during the allocation of a complex array on an ARM Cortex-A53 processor. The code, which previously functioned correctly on a Cortex-A9, now results in a Hardware Transactional Memory (HTL) instruction fault when executed on the Cortex-A53. The fault occurs at…
ARM Cortex-A55 and FEAT_SHA3: Understanding the Limitations The ARM Cortex-A55 is a mid-range, low-power processor core that implements the Armv8.2-A architecture. It is widely used in embedded systems and mobile devices due to its balance of performance and energy efficiency. However, there has been significant confusion regarding its support for the FEAT_SHA3 extension, which includes…
BLXNS Instruction and IPSR State Change Implications The BLXNS instruction in ARMv8-M architecture is designed to facilitate a secure-to-non-secure state transition by calling a non-secure function from the secure world. When BLXNS is executed, the Interrupt Program Status Register (IPSR) is updated to reflect an exception number of 1, which corresponds to the Reset exception….
PDSC Debug Description Failure and Undefined Identifier Error in STM32L010 The issue at hand revolves around the failure to load the PDSC (Package Description) debug description file for the STM32L010 microcontroller when using Keil MDK (Microcontroller Development Kit). This failure manifests as an error message: "Loading PDSC Debug Description failed for STM32L010. Disabling usage of…
ARM ACE Protocol Transaction Sequencing and Cache Line Contention In ARM-based systems utilizing the ACE (AXI Coherency Extensions) protocol, transaction sequencing and cache coherency are critical to maintaining system integrity and performance. The ACE protocol ensures that multiple managers (e.g., CPUs, GPUs, or other masters) can coherently access shared memory regions without violating the coherency…
ARM ACE Protocol Barrier Transactions and Their Role in Transaction Ordering and Observability The ARM ACE (AXI Coherency Extensions) protocol is a critical component in modern ARM-based systems, particularly in multi-core and multi-manager environments where cache coherency and transaction ordering are paramount. Barrier transactions within the ACE protocol are mechanisms designed to enforce ordering and…
MCUboot Validation Failure Due to Incorrect Image Signing Process The core issue revolves around the failure of MCUboot to validate a signed binary image in a multi-image configuration when using Trusted Firmware-M (TF-M) on an ARM Cortex-M33-based STM32L552ZE-Q microcontroller. The error message indicates that the image in the primary slot is not valid, and MCUboot…
ARM Cortex-M0 32-bit Multiplication and Shift Operations The ARM Cortex-M0 is a highly efficient, low-power processor designed for embedded applications. However, its limited instruction set and lack of hardware support for certain operations, such as 64-bit multiplication, can pose challenges for developers working on digital signal processing (DSP) tasks. One such challenge is efficiently computing…