CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A): Overview

| CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) Version 1.2.1 CMSIS-Core support for Cortex-A processor-based devices

- Main Page
- Usage and Description
- Reference

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Overview

CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) implements the basic run-time system for a Cortex-A device and gives the user access to the processor core and the device peripherals. In detail it defines:

- Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for Cortex-A processor registers with standardized definitions for the GIC, FPU, MMU, Cache, and core access functions.
- System exception names to interface to system exceptions without having compatibility issues.
- Methods to organize header files that makes it easy to learn new Cortex-A microcontroller products and improve software portability. This includes naming conventions for device-specific interrupts.
- Methods for system initialization to be used by each MCU vendor. For example, the standardized SystemInit() function is essential for configuring the clock system of the device.
- Intrinsic functions used to generate CPU instructions that are not supported by standard C functions.
- A variable to determine the system clock frequency which simplifies the setup of the system timers.

The following sections provide details about the CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A):

- Using CMSIS in Embedded Applications describes the project setup and shows a simple program example.
- CMSIS-Core Device Templates describes the files of the CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) in detail and explains how to adapt template files provided by Arm to silicon vendor devices.
- MISRA-C Deviations describes the violations to the MISRA standard.
- Reference describe the features and functions of the Device Header File <device.h> in detail.
- Data Structures describe the data structures of the Device Header File <device.h> in detail.

## CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) in ARM::CMSIS Pack

Files relevant to CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) are present in the following ARM::CMSIS directories:

File/Folder | Content
--- | ---
CMSIS\Documentation\Core_A | This documentation
CMSIS\Core_A\Include | CMSIS-Core (Cortex-A) header files (for example core_ca.h, etc.)
Device | Arm reference implementations of Cortex-A devices
Device\_Template_Vendor | CMSIS-Core Device Templates for extension by silicon vendors

# Processor Support

CMSIS supports a selected subset of Cortex-A processors.

## Cortex-A Technical Reference Manuals

The following Technical Reference Manuals describe the various Arm Cortex-A processors:

- Cortex-A5 (Armv7-A architecture)
- Cortex-A7 (Armv7-A architecture)
- Cortex-A9 (Armv7-A architecture)

# Tested and Verified Toolchains

The CMSIS-Core Device Templates supplied by Arm have been tested and verified with the following toolchains:

- Arm: Arm Compiler 5.06 update 7
- Arm: Arm Compiler 6.16
- Arm: Arm Compiler 6.6.4
- GNU: GNU Arm Embedded Toolchain 10-2020-q4-major (10.2.1 20201103)
- IAR: IAR ANSI C/C++ Compiler for Arm 8.20.1.14183