Название: The Microprocessor: A Practical Introduction using the Arm Cortex-M0 Processor
Автор: Darshak S. Vasavada, S.K. Sinha
Издательство: Wiley
Год: 2025
Страниц: 528
Язык: английский
Формат: epub (true)
Размер: 14.9 MB

Provides a comprehensive introduction to microprocessor architecture and programming concepts, using the Arm Cortex-M0 processor as an example.

The Microprocessor offers a supremely accessible and user-friendly introduction to microprocessor basics: instruction set, the exception model, system architecture and microcontroller programming. Explaining the working principles with simplified models, this first-level book builds the base for all onward courses at intermediate and advanced levels.

Filled with exercises that can be executed on the free version of Keil μVision MDK without any hardware, the book explains the essential aspects of microprocessor architecture with simple programming examples in assembly and C. By blending conceptual knowledge with practical exercises, the book offers valuable insights that equip readers to engage with real-world applications in the fields of microprocessor architecture and embedded systems.

This is an entry-level book on microprocessor architecture, with a focus on Arm architecture for Cortex-M processors due to their widespread use in today's microcontrollers. The objective is to build a strong understanding of the core concepts that can serve as a foundation to study more complex processors and systems.

We have used Cortex-M0 processor as an example to explain the underlying concepts. We have chosen it for its simplicity; it allows us to cover all the fundamental concepts without overwhelming readers with complex details. Cortex-M0 has a small instruction set that includes all the key aspects of a typical RISC processor: pipelined execution, arithmetic and logic instructions, load-store and stack operations, and program flow control. It uses an intuitive exception model that remains consistent across all Cortex-M processors. Once learned with Cortex-M0, these same concepts will be applicable while working on more complex processors within Cortex-M family.

We believe that the best way to learn about microprocessor internals is through assembly language programming. Therefore, each chapter is organized as a set of topics, where each topic describes one basic concept, explains the relevant details from the reference manual, and then provides a programming exercise for clarity.

Subsequently, we introduce C programming and demonstrate how various constructs in C are implemented on the processor. The book also describes how a C program is compiled and debugged on a target hardware, providing insights into the internals of a compiler tool chain.

Lastly, we have defined an abstract microcontroller to illustrate an implementation of an Arm processor. We use this microcontroller to explain register-level peripheral programming and peripheral APIs, and demonstrate how real-world applications can be implemented on a microprocessor.

The assembly programming examples are based on the free version of Keil MDK, using the built-in simulator without requiring an additional hardware. At the same time, these programs can also run on any Cortex-M-based hardware, thanks to the compatibility of Cortex-M0 with all the Cortex-M processors.