Chapter 1: ARM Embedded Systems Flashcards
What is ARM?
A processor with a whole family of designs sharing simular designs a common instruction set.
What is thumb2 instruction set?
16 bit long instruction.
How many version of ARM?
6; ARMv1 through ARMv6
Is ARM a pure RISC Architecture?
No, because of its primary applications, that’s embedded system.
What does RISC emphasize?
RISC emphasizes on complier complex ( relies on complexity of software).
What does CISC emphasize?
CISC emphasizes on hardware complexity (relies on complexity of the hardware rather than complier).
What are the four major design rules for RISC philosophy?
Instructions, pipelining, register, load/store architecture.
Why is instruction important for RISC design?
RISC processors have a reduced number of instruction classes, and complier will break down complicated operations like division by combining simple instructions.
What is pipeling?
Moves multiple operations through hardware units that each do a piece of an operation, akin to water flowing through a pipeline.
processing instructions broken down to smaller units, and allows the process to flow orderly.
What is a register?
Memory storage that contains data/address.
What is load/store architecture?
Memory access: load and store registers.
ALU operations: occurs between registers.
What are the four components for an Embedded System Hardware?
Processor, Controllers, Peripherals, and Bus.
What can a processor do for the hardware?
A processor execute instructions.
What are controllers and the types for the hardware?
controllers are memory and interrupt controllers.
The peripheral component for an embedded system hardware does _____?
Interactions for input and output externals.
What is Bus?
Bus communicates between different parts of devices.
What is the role of memory?
To store data and execute instructions and data.
What kind of decision metrics on memory characteritics? (perferred)
For people/companies, memory depends of price, performance and power consumption.
What is the memory Hierarchy?
cache, main memory, and secondary.
We use a layered triangle icon to represent the memory hierarchy. The shape indicates speed, cost, and size: the closer to the top, the faster and more expensive per bit the memory; the wider the base of the layer, the bigger the memory.
What software components are needed to control an embedded device?
Initialization code (boot loader), OS, device drivers, and applications.
What is initialization code?
Takes the processor from reset state to another state (e.g. configuring memory controller, caches, initializing some devices, and debug monitors).
What are the phases of initialization code?
Initial hardware configuration(satisfies requirements of boot image), diagnostics, and booting(loading image).
What is the purpose of an OS?
To organize the system resources like peripherals, memory, and processing times.
