The Definitive Guide to the ARM Cortex-M3, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Publisher Summary

This chapter is intended to be a starter guide for people new to Cortex-M3 processor. It delves into the basics of cortex-M3 processor, which was primarily designed to target the 32-bit microcontroller market, as well as the beginning of ARM, its evolution, its various versions and how the processors are named. ARM processor's architecture's evolution has been deeply influenced by enhancement and extension of instruction sets. This chapter throws light on different instruction sets introduced for its development. Thumb-2 Technology and how it is beneficial have also been discussed. There are a wide variety of applications where Cortex-M3 processor is ideal.

1.1 What Is the ARM Cortex-M3 Processor?

The microcontroller ...