The popularity of the Cortex-M series processors means there is a wide range of developer resources available from a growing number of silicon and tools vendors, to help initial development. One of the easiest ways to begin developing with a Cortex-M series processor-based microcontroller is to get a starter kit and use the examples provided in the kit.

Interrupt handling is easy and fast in the Cortex-M series processors, but there are a lot more factors that make the Cortex-M series processor easy to learn and use. First of all, the processor has a B linear address space, so there is no need to use any memory paging to overcome memory size limitations.

The Cortex-M series processors include an interrupt controller called the Nested Vector Interrupt Controller for interrupt handling such as interrupt prioritisation and interrupt masking. The NVIC contains a number of programmable registers for interrupt management such as enable/disable, and priority levels.

All the Cortex-M series processors are designed to be low power, very energy efficient and have high code density. For most simple, low power applications, the Cortex-M0 processor or the Cortex-M0+ processor can handle the task easily. The Cortex-M0+ processor is the newest member of the series which reduces the pipeline to two stages, reducing power consumption even further.

If you are yet to employ what is rapidly becoming the most widely deployed architecture in the (albeit relatively short) history of electronic engineering, here’s a beginner’s guide to the ARM Cortex-M series processors, including why you don’t need to be an expert to use one. By Joseph Yiu

The ARM Powered MultiCuber robot solves a 3x3x7 cube - another world's first? Here is another example of how David Gilday (@IAssemble) has fun with ARM technology! The 3x3x7 cube is like a regular 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube with additional layers but is somewhat more complex due to its asymmetric structure with rectangular pieces. We think it looks cool when scrambled.

ARM today announced that MStar has licensed the ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore and ARM926EJ-S processors, in addition to a range of ARM system IP for use in smart-TVs, set-top-boxes (STBs) and smartphones. MStar is already a licensee of the ARM Mali-400 MP Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which is used in mass production for MStar smart-TV system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. By extending its ARM IP portfolio MStar will be able to provide solutions featuring a r...

Under the theme of “ARM Scales Across Your Embedded World” – alluding to one of the company’s key differentiators - the wide range of Cortex processors which are currently being employed in embedded applications will be on display: From the recently launched, ultra low-power Cortex-M0+ processor, up to high-performance Cortex-A9 processor.

ARM today announced the ARM Cortex-M0+ processor, the world’s most energy-efficient microprocessor. The Cortex-M0+ processor has been optimized to deliver ultra low-power, low-cost MCUs for intelligent sensors and smart control systems in a broad range of applications including home appliances, white goods, medical monitoring, metering, lighting and power and motor control devices.

ARM today announced that MStar has licensed ARM Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology for use in smart-TV applications. Already highly integrated into existing MStar products and deployed in the latest mainstream consumer electronics devices, the Mali-400 MP GPU strengthens MStar's industry-leading smart-TV solutions. This includes support for high performance applications, such as the latest 3D user interfaces and gaming experiences.

Analysis of findings from Semicast’s Embedded Processing Service and Automotive Electronics & Entertainment Systems Service shows that ARM maintained its position as the leading architecture for 32-bit embedded processors in the automotive sector in 2011, ahead of Power Architecture, SH, TriCore and V850. The data also suggests that ARM’s lead in this sector is set to increase significantly over the next five years.

ARM and VeriSilicon has announced that VeriSilicon has licensed a wide range of ARM Intellectual Property (IP). This includes selected cores from the high performance, energy-efficient ARM Cortex processor and ARM Mali Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) families, and ARM Artisan Physical IP. Access to this broad range of ARM IP will enable VeriSilicon to provide its highly differentiated, platform-based system-on-chip (SoC) design and turn-key servi...

ARM has announced the ARM Mali-T658 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) - the latest member of the Midgard architecture-based GPU family targeting high performance devices, such as superphones, tablets and smart-TVs. The Mali-T658 GPU leverages the unique ARM system-level approach to multicore reference design that optimizes both performance and energy-efficiency. To address high-end consumer requirements, the Mali-T658 GPU delivers up to ten times th...

Demand for our technology has come from a broad range of applications, from sensors to computers as our partners make long-term commitment to ARM technology which will underpin future growth in ARM’s royalty revenues.

ARM has announced the ARM Cortex -A7 MPCore processor - the most energy-efficient application class processor ARM has ever developed, and big.LITTLE processing - a flexible approach that redefines the traditional power and performance relationship. The Cortex-A7 processor builds on the low-power leadership established by the Cortex-A8 processor that is at the heart of many of today’s most popular smartphones. A single Cortex-A7 processor delive...

ARM and UMC today announced a long-term agreement that provides UMC foundry customers with access to the latest advanced ARM Artisan Physical IP solutions validated on UMC’s 28HPM process technology.

ARM has announced that HiSilicon, a leading supplier of ASICs and solutions for communication networks and digital media, has licensed a range of ARM IP for use in 3G/4G base stations, networking infrastructure, mobile computing and power management applications. The broad agreement includes licences for the high performance, energy efficient ARM Cortex™-A15 MPCore™ processor, ARM CoreLink™ CCI-400 Cache Coherent Interconnect fabric IP and...

ARM selected for its low power credentials and comprehensive ARM Partner ecosystem to address low- and high-end applications, such as smart phones, tablets and smart TVs

ARM today announced the latest AMBA 4 interface and protocol specification featuring the AMBA 4 AXI Coherency Extensions (ACE). Cache coherency is essential in multicore computing applications to efficiently maintain the consistency of data stored in local caches of a shared resource. The AMBA 4 ACE specification enables system level cache coherency across clusters of multicore processors, such as the ARM® Cortex™-A15 MPCore™ processors and ...

Andy Beeson demos the latest tools from CodeRed running on Cortex-M based development boards.