ARM Cortex-M3 Overview

Cortex-M3 Overview

he ARM Cortex-M3 processor is the industry-leading 32-bit processor for highly deterministic real-time applications and has been specifically developed to enable partners to develop high-performance low-cost platforms for a broad range of devices including microcontrollers, automotive body systems, industrial control systems and wireless networking and sensors. The processor delivers outstanding computational performance and exceptional system response to events while meeting the challenges of low dynamic and static power constraints. The processor is highly configurable enabling a wide range of implementations from those requiring memory protection and powerful trace technology through to extremely cost sensitive devices requiring minimal area.

Delivering higher performance and richer features

Introduced in 2004 and recently updated with new technologies and configurability, the Cortex-M3 is the mainstream ARM processor developed specifically with microcontroller applications in mind.

Performance and Energy Efficiency

With high performance and low dynamic power consumption the Cortex-M3 processor delivers leading power efficiency 12.5 DMIPS/mW based on 90nmG. Coupled with integrated sleep modes and optional state retention capabilities the Cortex-M3 processor ensures there is no compromise for applications requiring low power and excellent performance.

Full featured

The processor executes Thumb-2 instruction set for optimal performance and code size, including hardware division, single cycle multiply, and bit-field manipulation. The Cortex-M3 NVIC is highly configurable at design time to deliver up to 240 system interrupts with individual priorities, dynamic reprioritization and integrated system clock.

Rich connectivity

The combination of features and performance enables Cortex-M3 based devices to efficiently handle with multiple I/O channels and protocol standards such as USB OTG(On-TheGO).