ARM7 Overview

Overview

Introduced in 1994, the ARM7 processor family has been immensely successful, and has helped establish ARM as the architecture of choice in the digital world. Over the years, more than 10 billion ARM7 processor family-based devices have powered a wide variety of cost and power-sensitive applications. While the ARM7 processor family continues to be used today for simple 32-bit devices, newer embedded designs are increasingly making use of latest ARM processors such as the Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3 processors, both of which offer significant technical enhancements over the ARM7 family.

Design migration from the ARM7

The ARM7 family is the world’s most widely used 32-bit embedded processor family, with more than 170 silicon licensees and over 10 Billion units shipped since its introduction in 1994. While the ARM7 processor family continues to be used today for simple 32-bit devices, newer digital designs are increasingly making use of the newer, more powerful and feature-rich ARM processors which offer significant technical enhancements over the ARM7 family.

System designers wishing to upgrade from ARM7 benefit from a robust ARM processor roadmap providing multiple upgrade options, including the latest Cortex processors. In most cases migration is straightforward, and brings significant benefits in PPA, features and efficiency.

More Resources
	Supplier Line card		Supplier Development Tools
	Knode Development Kits & Platform Room		element14 Knode

Key Features

Upgrading options from ARM7TDMI-S for the Embedded market

Features	ARM7TDMI	Cortex-M0/M3	Benefits of upgrading
Interrupt controller	No standard interrupt controller	Integrated Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC)	Flexible and powerful interrupt handling
ISR entry	Non-deterministic ISR entry	H/W stacking ensures deterministic ISR entry	Fully deterministic interrupt handling
Power management	No in-built power management	Architected sleep mode support	Extremely low power modes
Need for assembly language code	Assembler code required (for ISR etc)	No assembler code required	Simplified software development Code everything in C Reduced Project cost/timescales
Instruction set Performance v/s Code size	Optimal performance-code size balance requires interworking between ARM & Thumb code	Thumb-2 offers ARM performance at Thumb code density	Simplified programmers model Superior code density Simplified software development
Ease of application porting from one device to another	Lack of standardization inhibits application porting	NVIC, SysTick & Memory Map defined CMSIS Compatible	Standardization enables IP reuse Faster Time to Market

Development Tools

Software Development Tools:

Tool Type	Supplier	MPN	Supported Family	Description
IDE	ARM Keil	MDK ARM	ARM Cortex-M / Cortex-R4 / ARM7 / ARM9	The MDK-ARM (Microcontroller Development Kit) is the complete software development environment for ARM7, ARM9, Cortex-M, and Cortex-R4 processor-based devices. Learn More
IDE	ARM	DS-5	ARM Cortex-A / Cortex-R / ARM9 / ARM11	The ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5) tool enable developers to get the best from their ARM technology-based systems. Whether implementing an ARM processor-based SoC or writing software for an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), ARM tools enable you to deliver the best solution with the highest performance and lowest power. Learn More

Tool Type

Supplier

MPN

Supported Family

Description

IDE

ARM Keil

MDK ARM

ARM Cortex

-M / Cortex-R4 / ARM7

/ ARM9

The MDK-ARM (Microcontroller Development Kit) is the complete software development environment for ARM7, ARM9, Cortex-M, and Cortex-R4 processor-based devices. Learn More

IDE

ARM

DS-5

ARM Cortex

-A / Cortex

-R / ARM9

/ ARM11

The ARM Development Studio 5 (DS-5) tool enable developers to get the best from their ARM technology-based systems. Whether implementing an ARM processor-based SoC or writing software for an Application Specific Standard Product (ASSP), ARM tools enable you to deliver the best solution with the highest performance and lowest power. Learn More

Hardware Development Tools:

Tool Type	Supplier	MPN	Supported Family	Description
Emulator / Debugger / Programmer	ARM	ULINK2ULINK2	ARM Cortex-M / ARM7 / ARM9	ULINK2 Debug Adapter
Emulator / Debugger / Programmer	ARM	ULINKProULINKPro	ARM Cortex-M / ARM7 / ARM9	ULINKpro Debug and Trace Unit
Debuggers, Emulators & JTAG Tools	ARM	DSTRM-KT-0181ADSTRM-KT-0181A	ARM7 / ARM9 / ARM11 / Cortex-A / Cortex-R / Cortex-M	DSTREAM Debug and Trace Unit
Emulator	Segger	J-LinkJ-Link	ARM Cortex-M / Cortex-R4 / Cortex-A / ARM7 / ARM9	JTAG/SWD Emulator with USB interface
Programmer	Segger	Flasher ARMFlasher ARM	ARM Cortex-M / Cortex-R4 / Cortex-A / ARM7 / ARM9	Flash Programmer for ARM and Cortex cores

Applications

Embedded applications
Powered a wide variety of cost and power-sensitive applications.

Video

Technical Documents

Learning Center

Type	Description
Reference Manual	ARM: Reference Manual for ARM Architecture - ARMv7-A and ARMv7-R
Reference Manual	ARM: Reference Manual for ARMv7-M Architecture
Reference Manual	ARM: Reference Manual ARM7TDMI
Reference Manual	ARM: Reference Manual for ARM7TDMI-S