Cortex-A Application Processors deliver exceptional performance of up to 2GHz+ typical frequency in advanced process nodes, enabling the next generation of mobile internet devices. The processors are available in single-core and multi-core varieties, delivering up to four processing units with optional NEON multimedia processing blocks and advanced Floating Point execution units.
Cortex-R series processors however have been developed for deeply embedded real-time applications where the need for low power and good interrupt behaviour are balanced with exceptional performance and strong compatibility with existing platforms.
Cortex-M series processors have been developed primarily for the microcontroller domain where the need for fast, highly deterministic, interrupt management is coupled with the desire for extremely low gate count and lowest possible power consumption.
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ARM Cortex-R real-time processors offer high-performance computing solutions for deeply embedded systems with demanding real-time response constraints. Target applications are: Mobile handset processing in smart-phones and baseband modems, Enterprise systems such as hard disk drives, networking and printing, Home consumer electronics, set top boxes, digital TV, media players, cameras
Embedded microcontrollers for dependable systems in medical, industrial and automotive.
Within these applications are systems that set hard deadlines on processing response. To avoid data loss or mechanical damage, meeting these deadlines is crucial. The design of Cortex-R processors specifically addresses the need for high performance, dependability and error-resistance with highly deterministic behavior while maintaining energy and cost efficiency.
The ARM Cortex-A series of applications processors provide an entire range of solutions for devices hosting a rich OS platform and user applications ranging from ultra-low-cost handset through smartphones, mobile computing platforms, digital TV and set-top boxes through enterprise networking, printers and server solutions. The top-of-the-range 64bit aarch64 based Cortex-A57, the high-performance Cortex-A15, the scalable Cortex-A9, the market-proven Cortex-A8 processor, and the high-efficiency Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A5 processors all share the same architecture and therefore full application compatibility, that includes support for the traditional ARM, Thumb instruction set and new high performance and compact Thumb-2 instruction set.
Cortex-A50 series processors are excellent dual 32-bit and 64-bit processors. They deliver more performance for ARMv7 32-bit code in AArch32 execution state, and offer support for 64-bit data and larger virtual addressing space in AArch64 execution state
The ARMv8-A architecture allows clean interworking between 32-bit and 64-bit in AArch64 state, enabling a step-by step migration to 64-bit, beginning with 64-bit operating systems running 32-bit ARMv7 applications, migrating to a mix of 32-bit applications and 64-bit applications running in the same system.
With the ARMv8-A architecture, the Cortex-A50 series processors also introduce more advanced SIMD capability, instructions to speed up software cryptography, increased register files, flexible addressing modes, support for tagged pointers, 64k data pages, a new exception model, enhanced cache management and enhanced floating point operations (IEEE754-2008).
The ARM Cortex-M processor family is an upwards compatible range of energy-efficient, easy to use processors designed to help developers meet the needs of tomorrow's embedded applications. Those demands include delivering more features at a lower cost, increasing connectivity, better code reuse and improved energy efficiency.
The Cortex-M family is optimized for cost and power sensitive MCU and mixed-signal devices for end applications such as smart metering, human interface devices, automotive and industrial control systems, white goods, consumer products and medical instrumentation.