Arm

The Cortex-M3 processor provides hardware support for single precision floating point math operations. This allows developers to leverage the benefits of floating point math in their applications running on Cortex-M3 based microcontrollers. Some of the key benefits of using floating point math include wider dynamic range, absence of overflow issues, and simplified code. This article…

The Arm Cortex-M33 processor features a single precision floating point unit (FPU) that supports the IEEE 754 standard for floating point arithmetic. This FPU is optimized for power efficiency and high performance in embedded applications requiring floating point capabilities. Overview of the Cortex-M33 FPU The key features of the Cortex-M33 FPU include: This built-in FPU…

Adding external RAM to an Arm Cortex system can provide a significant performance boost by increasing the amount of available memory. However, properly interfacing external RAM requires careful planning and configuration to ensure reliable operation. This article provides best practices and step-by-step guidance for using external RAM with Arm Cortex CPUs. Overview of External RAM…

When working with external memory interfaces on ARM Cortex chips, issues can arise that require troubleshooting to resolve. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed steps to identify and fix the most common external memory interface problems encountered. Symptoms of External Memory Interface Issues There are several key indicators that your external memory interface may not…

ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers offer a variety of memory options to choose from. Selecting the right memory configuration requires balancing factors like cost, performance, power consumption, and flexibility. This article provides an overview of the key memory technologies used in Cortex-M devices and discusses the tradeoffs involved in selecting between them. SRAM Static RAM (SRAM) is…

SPI and memory mapped memories are two different ways to connect external memories to Arm Cortex processors. The choice between them depends on the application requirements and tradeoffs between complexity, performance, and flexibility. Overview of SPI The Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial interface commonly used to connect external peripherals and memories to…

A fault exception in the ARM Cortex-M is an unexpected event that occurs during program execution which transfers control to the fault exception handler. This allows the processor to gracefully handle issues and errors before continuing normal execution. Fault exceptions are caused by events like invalid memory accesses, mathematical errors, or external interrupts. When a…

The Cortex-M3 processor has a number of interrupts and exceptions that allow it to respond to events and handle errors gracefully. Interrupts are signals generated by hardware peripherals or software that cause the processor to suspend execution of the current program and run an Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) to handle the event. Exceptions are errors…

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amounts of data that must be saved when power is removed, like calibration tables or device configuration. Unlike EPROM chips that had to be removed and reprogrammed with specialized equipment, EEPROMs can be…

Setting up external SPI memory with an ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller provides additional non-volatile storage space for data and code. The key steps are configuring the SPI peripheral, connecting the memory chip, initializing the memory, and accessing it in software. With some configuration, external SPI memory can be used as executable program memory or for data…