Introduction
An ARM microcontroller is a microcontroller based on the 32-bit ARM architecture. Microcontrollers are used in a wide variety of applications, including automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics.
What is an Arm Microcontroller?
An Arm microcontroller is a microcontroller based on the 32-bit Arm Cortex-M core. The cortex-M series are processors that are designed specifically for control applications. They are widely used in automotive, medical, industrial and consumer applications.
What is the Arm Microcontroller Architecture?
An Arm microcontroller is a microcontroller based on the 32-bit Arm Cortex-M core. As of February 2016, about 98% of the world’s Arm chips are shipped by Arm licensees. More than 50% of all new semiconductor projects introduced each year now use Arm cores.
The Cortex-M core is a 32-bit processor that can run at clock speeds between 8 MHz and 256 MHz. It offers low power consumption, high performance, and a rich set of features. The Cortex-M core is used in a wide range of applications, including cell phones, digital TVs, USB flash drives, and industrial control systems.
The Arm Microcontroller Architecture
The Arm Microcontroller Architecture is a 32-bit architecture that was developed by Advanced RISC Machines. The architecture is used in a variety of microcontrollers, including the Atmel AVR, the Microchip PIC32, and the NXP LPC. The Arm Microcontroller Architecture has a number of benefits, including a wide range of supported peripherals, a large number of available software libraries, and low power consumption.
The Arm Cortex-M0 Processor
The Arm Cortex-M0 is the world’s most energy efficient processor, outperforming competing solutions by up to 10x. It delivers 32-bit performance while maximizing energy efficiency in 16-bit and 8-bit MCUs. The Arm Cortex-M0 features low gate count, low power consumption and small code size that enables cost effective microcontrollers.
The Arm Cortex-M3 Processor
The ARM Cortex-M3 processor is the industry-leading 16/32-bit embedded processor core. It has been developed to deliver high performance and low power consumption, and is used in a wide range of embedded systems including microcontrollers, automotive body controllers, industrial control systems and digital consumer products. The Cortex-M3 processor is based on the Armv7-M architecture and includes a memory protection unit (MPU), debug features, and a Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC). The Cortex-M3 processor core offers exceptional computational power, with a peak performance of 1.25 DMIPS/MHz (Dhrystone 2.1), and has a memory protection unit (MPU) for enhanced system robustness. The processor also includes an instruction cache and data cache, each of which can be individually controlled by software.
The Arm Cortex-M4 Processor
The Arm Cortex-M4 processor is the latest generation of Arm processors for embedded systems. It is designed to offer an exceptional level of flexibility and performance for a broad range of applications.
The Cortex-M4 processor is based on the Armv7-M architecture and includes a number of features that make it ideal for a wide range of embedded applications. These features include:
- A 32-bit internal data bus for high performance data processing
- A wide range of memory protection options for improved system security
- A Floating Point Unit (FPU) for single and double precision operations
- DSP extensions for improved audio and video processing
- An Event Recorder for non-intrusive trace debugging
The Cortex-M4 processor also offers a number of power saving features, making it an ideal choice for low power applications.
Conclusion
In summary, the ARM microcontroller architecture is a sound choice for both beginners and experienced developers alike. Its flexibility and power mean that it can be used in a wide variety of applications, from simple projects to more complex ones.