CHAPTER 10 - Cortex-M3 Programming

Abstract

This chapter focuses on how the Cortex™-M3 can be programmed using either assembly language, C language, or other high-level languages, like National Instruments LabVIEW. Various software programs are available for developing Cortex-M3 applications. The concepts of code generation flow in terms of these tools are similar. For beginners in embedded programming, using C language for software development on the Cortex-M3processor is the best choice. It is to be noted that the use of the C language can often speed up application development. This chapter explores some C language development areas including the use of device driver libraries, the Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS), and Keil MDK-ARM and illustrates various ways to access memory-mapped peripheral registers in C language. The fundamentals of CMSIS—developed by ARM to allow users of the Cortex-M3 microcontrollers to gain the most benefit from all these software solutions and to allow them to develop their embedded application quickly and reliably—are discussed. The chapter also goes through the exclusive access instructions that are used for semaphore operations and the bit-band feature to carry semaphore operations, provided that the memory system supports locked transfers or only one bus master is present on the memory bus.