ARM Announces Cortex-M System Design Kit

May 17, 2011

Example system accelerates Cortex-M processor based chip development

What: ARM today announced the availability of the ARM® Cortex™-M System Design Kit (CMSDK), a system solution enabling Cortex-M processor licensees to get to silicon faster, reduce risk, and focus on differentiation. CMSDK is ideal for semiconductor chip designers who are integrating ARM Cortex-M processors for the first time, and is specifically designed to enable optimized, low gate count, energy efficient implementations.

How: CMSDK provides a working example system around the Cortex-M series processor. This includes interconnects, baseline peripherals, software tests and drivers, and is designed to work with Cortex-M processors out of the box. The CMSDK includes:

• Example systems for ARM Cortex-M0, Cortex-M3 and Cortex-M4 processors
• Example peripherals to aid migration of existing components from 8-bit or 16-bit systems
• AMBA ® AHB™ and APB™ components, including GPIO, timers, watchdog, and UART
• Compilation and simulation scripts for the Verilog environment
• Software drivers and example test code based on CMSIS (Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard) for easy software reuse
• Project files for ARM RVDS™, Keil MDK™, and GNU compilers.

ARM Cortex-M processors: 

ARM Cortex-M processors have seen rapid industry adoption, with over 70 licensees worldwide in a broad array of applications including microcontrollers, smart sensors, touch screen control, motor control, and metering. With the introduction of the smallest, ultra low-power ARM Cortex-M0 processor starting at 12K gates, an increasing number of mixed-signal devices are moving to ARM, replacing 8-bit or 16-processors - even finite state machines.

Who: ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM's comprehensive product offering includes 32-bit RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company's broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. Find out more about ARM by following these links:

• ARM website: http://www.arm.com/
• ARM Connected Community: http://www.arm.com/community/
• ARM Blogs: http://blogs.arm.com/