Cortex-M4 Efficient, easy to use digital signal control

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Cortex-M4Efficient, easy to use digital
signal control

• Shyam Sadasivan
• Product Manager, Processor Division
• shyam.sadasivan_at_arm.com

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Microcontrollers address broad markets
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Embedded market drivers/trends

• Connectivity
• Connectivity becoming ubiquitous
• Smart technology
• Observe/react to the environment
• Energy efficiency
• Green technology trends
• Ease of use
• Keep programming simple

Healthy software ecosystem required
Real-time signal processing essential
More capability, but not higher MHz or mW!
Excellent tools required
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The Cortex Family
Cortex-A
set top boxes
servers
netbooks
mobile applications
Cortex-R
digital cameras
disk drives
mobile baseband
Cortex-M
appliances
motors
audio
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Why another Cortex-M processor?

• Address new markets requiring digital signal
  control
• Digital Signal(Processor Micro)Controller
• An intelligent blend of MCU and DSP features
  demanded
• Upper limits of bandwidth challenged in general
  purpose MCUs
• Hard to learn/program technology in many general
  purpose DSPs
• Extend the Cortex-M portfolio to cover new
  markets
• Cortex-M0 for mixed signal devices and state
  machine replacements
• Cortex-M3 for mainstream 32-bit microcontrollers
• Opportunity - high end MCUs and DSC market
• Introduce ARM strengths to digital signal control
  market
• Very high energy efficiency more processing in
  less mW
• Strong software ecosystem easy to program and
  use

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Cortex-M4 for digital signal control
MCU Ease of use C Programming Interrupt
handling Ultra low power
DSP Harvard architecture Single cycle
MAC Floating Point Barrel shifter
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Cortex-M processors

• Forget traditional 8/16/32-bit classifications
• Seamless architecture across all applications
• Every product optimised for ultra low power and
  ease of use

Cortex-M0
Cortex-M3
Cortex-M4
32-bit/DSC applications
8/16-bit applications
16/32-bit applications
Binary and tool compatible
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Cortex-M processors binary compatible
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Cortex-M4 - Whats unique about it?
Most energy efficient 32-bit embedded processor
for digital signal controllers
Brings high performance signal processing within
the reach of the typical MCU programmer
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Highest in-class efficiency
The Cortex-M4 is 2X more efficient on most DSP
tasks than leading 16 and 32 bit MCU devices
with DSP extensions
16-bit MCU
32-bit MCU
32-bit Cortex-M4
Cycle counts on DSP tasks compared, smaller is
better
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Cortex-M4 - MP3 playback in lt10MHz
MHz required for MP3 decode, smaller is better
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Cortex-M4 very easy to use

• Complex hardware needs to be easy to program
• On most DSPs assembly optimization is a must
• Cortex-M4 processor can be fully programmed in C
• Quicker learning curve for faster application
  development
• Easy to maintain, reuse and port
• Reusing code extremely important for faster
  delivery
• Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3 code fully upwards
  compatible
• CMSIS support for Cortex-M4 already available
• Programming Cortex-M4 fully in C leads to high
  optimization
• Full compiler support already available through
  ARM software tools

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Whos licensed it? What are their plans?

• Licensees ( March 2010 )
• 5 of the top MCU companies are lead partners,
  including
• Major target markets
• Silicon availability
• Late 2010 to early 2011

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Summary

• What has just been announced?
• Product Cortex-M4 , Product category - Digital
  Signal Control
• Key features Single cycle MAC, Floating point
  unit
• Key markets - Motor control, industrial
  automation, automotive, audio
• Why this processor ?
• Most high-end MCUs need some level of DSP
  capabilities
• An efficient blend of control and DSP features is
  very attractive
• Who has licensed it ?
• 5 of the top MCU companies have licensed the
  Cortex-M4 already !
• How is it different ?
• Most efficient 32-bit DSC processor in the market
• Easy to use tools through extremely strong
  software ecosystem