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What is the difference between M4 and MP series

O M over 12 years ago

Note: This was originally posted on 8th July 2013 at http://forums.arm.com

Hello

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[size=2]I have to port a project that was written for the ARM11 MPcore to a project that will run on M4 (actually it is freescale Kinetis K60with M4 inside it)[/size]

[size=2]I saw in the documents of the ARM11 MP that it has 2 levelTLB, seven modes of operation (FIQ, IRQ, Supervisor, Abort, System, Undefinedmode), ...[/size]

In the documentation for the M4 I don't find any of it.

May I ask if it is exist in the M4 (K60) and what is themain differences between those two processors ?

Thanks a lot

OM

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Peter Harris over 12 years ago

Note: This was originally posted on 9th July 2013 at http://forums.arm.com

> In the documentation for the M4 I don't find any of it.

Correct =)

> what is the main differences between those two processors ?

The ARM11 is an ARMv6 processor. It was designed as a applications processor for running full-fat operating systems such as Linux, Windows CE, etc, so comes with an MMU, caches, etc.

The Cortex-M4 is an ARMv7M processor. This has a different processor architecture designed to simplify the core (smaller, more power efficient), and make it easier to program for (fewer operating modes, only implements Thumb/Thumb2 (no "ARM" ISA), you can write most code in C with no need for assembler). As a micro-controller it is designed to be plugged directly to a bus with a local SRAM, so it has no cache or MMU, but can have an optional MPU (memory protection unit).

If you are new to the Cortex-M series I would recommend the "The Definitive Guide to the ARM Cortex-M3" book. It doesn;t cover all of the Cortex-M4 changes, but teaches all of the essentials needed for getting started on the Cortex-M - most of the content is the same for both.
HTH,
Iso
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Peter Harris over 12 years ago

Note: This was originally posted on 9th July 2013 at http://forums.arm.com

> In the documentation for the M4 I don't find any of it.

Correct =)

> what is the main differences between those two processors ?

The ARM11 is an ARMv6 processor. It was designed as a applications processor for running full-fat operating systems such as Linux, Windows CE, etc, so comes with an MMU, caches, etc.

The Cortex-M4 is an ARMv7M processor. This has a different processor architecture designed to simplify the core (smaller, more power efficient), and make it easier to program for (fewer operating modes, only implements Thumb/Thumb2 (no "ARM" ISA), you can write most code in C with no need for assembler). As a micro-controller it is designed to be plugged directly to a bus with a local SRAM, so it has no cache or MMU, but can have an optional MPU (memory protection unit).

If you are new to the Cortex-M series I would recommend the "The Definitive Guide to the ARM Cortex-M3" book. It doesn;t cover all of the Cortex-M4 changes, but teaches all of the essentials needed for getting started on the Cortex-M - most of the content is the same for both.
HTH,
Iso
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