APPLICATION NOTE
How to Optimize Usage of SAM S70/E70/V7x Architecture
Atmel | SMART SAM S70/E70
Introduction
The purpose of this application note is to understand the architecture Cortex ®-M7
processor and the Atmel® | SMART SAM S70/E70/V7x devices and how to tune
an application code to benefit from it and maximize performance.
Firstly a short introduction on the Cortex-M7 core will be made with details on the
implementation done in SAM S70/E70/V7x devices. Then the document will
focus on the architecture of the SAM S70/E70/V7x itself. The last part of the
application note will explain how to enable and properly use the features
previously introduced. A concrete example will be used to illustrate it: an
application code performing FFT computation will be successively executed out
of different memories to have a better understanding on the impact on
performance.
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Ta bl e of Conte nts
1
Introduction to ARM Cortex-M7 Processor................................................................ 3
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
2
SAM S70/E70/V7x Devices Architecture and Highlights ........................................... 7
2.1
2.2
2.3
3
3.2
3.3
3.4
Use of Floating Point Unit.................................................................................................................... 11
3.1.1 Enable the Floating Point Unit ................................................................................................ 11
3.1.2 Compiler Configuration ........................................................................................................... 11
Enable I-cache and D-cache ............................................................................................................... 12
Relocate Critical Part of Code in Tightly Coupled Memory.................................................................. 12
3.3.1 TCM Configuration ................................................................................................................. 13
3.3.2 Linker Script Configuration ..................................................................................................... 13
3.3.3 Code Copy in TCM ................................................................................................................. 15
Optimize Pipeline Usage ..................................................................................................................... 15
Software Example: FFT Computation Code Example ............................................. 16
4.1
4.2
4.3
2
High Performance Implementation ........................................................................................................ 7
Multi-port SRAM .................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2.2 System RAM............................................................................................................................. 9
2.2.3 Tightly Coupled Memories ...................................................................................................... 10
Internal Flash ...................................................................................................................................... 10
How to Benefit from the SAM S70/E70/V7x Architecture to Optimize Performance11
3.1
4
Six-stage superscalar pipeline .............................................................................................................. 3
Instruction and Data Tightly Coupled Memories .................................................................................... 4
Instruction and Data Cache ................................................................................................................... 5
Floating Point Unit ................................................................................................................................. 5
Memory Interface .................................................................................................................................. 5
1.5.1 AXI Master Interface ................................................................................................................. 5
1.5.2 AHB Peripheral Interface .......................................................................................................... 5
1.5.3 AHB Slave Interface ................................................................................................................. 6
1.5.4 AHB Debug Interface ................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction to the Example ................................................................................................................. 16
Usage .............................................................................................................................................. 17
Results .............................................................................................................................................. 18
5
Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 18
6
Suggested Readings ................................................................................................. 19
7
Revision History ........................................................................................................ 20
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Introduction to ARM Cortex-M7 Processor
The ARM® Cortex-M7 processor is the high-end processor of the Cortex-M family, providing 5 CoreMark®/MHz
and up to 630 DMIPS. It delivers the best performance level thanks to various new features:
Six-stage superscalar pipeline allowing parallel execution of instructions (dual instruction issue)
Instruction and Data Tightly Coupled Memories (ITCM and DTCM respectively) with access at processor
clock speed with no wait state penalty and deterministic behavior
Inner Data and Instruction caches to compensate wait state penalty when executing code out of external
memory
DSP extension and single/double precision Floating Point Unit (FPv5) with extended instruction set
Embedded Trace Module (ETM) with instruction and data trace capability
Various memory interfaces to increase overall bandwidth:
–
64-bit AXI Master Interface to access memories and peripherals. This memory interface has been
optimized for throughput
–
32-bit AHB Peripheral interface (AHBP) to access low-latency peripherals rather than memory
(peripheral data access only)
–
32-bit AHB Slave interface (AHBS) providing a direct access path between the DMA and TCM
–
32-bit AHB Debug port providing a debug interface (JTAG or SWD interfaces)
The Cortex-M7 processor is based on the ARMv7-M architecture so it is binary compatible with other Cortex-M
processors.
Figure 1-1.
1.1
Cortex-M7 Processor Overview
Six-stage superscalar pipeline
The Cortex-M7 has a six-stage, in order, dual-issue superscalar pipeline with branch prediction.
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Thanks to the dual instruction issue, the Cortex-M7 processor is able to execute two instructions in parallel.
The pipeline features an optional float pipeline so that floating point instructions can be dual issued with integer
instructions as well.
In addition, memory accesses are interleaved with computation to reduce latency, which is a major
improvement compared to previous Cortex-M processors neither dual-issue nor interleaving in CortexM0/M3/M4 processors).
Integer MAC instruction execution has been also improved and takes one cycle only (from two to four cycles
for floating MAC instructions) so it is used whenever possible.
As a consequence Cortex-M7 processor doubles the performance of the Cortex-M4 processor when executing
math functions (FFT, FIR etc.).
1.2
Instruction and Data Tightly Coupled Memories
The TCM controller provides a direct access between the processor and two memory areas: Instruction TCM
(ITCM) and Data TCM (DTCM). The size of these memory areas can be up to 16Mbytes each, but depends on
the silicon vendor integration (up to 128KB each on the SAM S70/E70/V7x devices - see later for more
information).
As shown in Figure 1-2, the interface between the processor and the ITCM is a 64-bit interface, so that the
processor can fetch two 32-bit instructions in a single access, and thus benefit from the dual-issue capability of
the pipeline.
The DTCM interface is a dual 32-bit interleaved interface (DTCM0 and DTCM1), thus concurrent accesses
(from the DMA and the core for instance) can be optimized.
Figure 1-2.
Tightly Coupled Memories
Instructions and data located in TCM can be directly accessed at processor speed (e.g. up to 300MHz on the
SAM S70/E70) with no wait state penalty, as opposed to the other memories such as the flash, which are
accessed at bus speed through the AXI master interface.
The purpose of the TCM memories is to store critical part of code which needs to be processed as fast as
possible. In addition TCM has a deterministic behavior, which makes it perfectly suitable for RTOS-based
applications.
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1.3
Instruction and Data Cache
Cortex-M7 embeds an Instruction (I-cache) and Data cache (D-cache) to compensate wait state penalty when
executing code out of external memory (typically flash):
Instruction cache is 2-way associative, up to 64kB with optional ECC (16kB in SAM S70/E70/V7x)
Data cache is 4-way associative, up to 64kB with optional ECC (16kB in SAM S70/E70/V7x)
I-cache and D-cache are disabled by default and must be enabled by default in the application code.
1.4
Floating Point Unit
The Cortex-M7 processor can optionally integrate a Floating Point Unit (FPU). This FPU, corresponding to the
FPv5 extension, share the same instruction set as the previous version (FPv4) which was implemented on
Cortex-M4 processor and adds the double–precision operand support. It also introduces new instructions such
as rounding functions.
For more information on floating point instructions, you can refer to the Cortex-M7 Devices Generic User Guide
from ARM: http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.dui0646a/CHDHHAJF.html.
1.5
Memory Interface
As shown in Figure 1-1, Cortex-M7 core has four main memory interfaces.
1.5.1
AXI Master Interface
As said in introduction the Cortex-M7 processor features a new 64-bit interface running at processor frequency.
This interface is for both instruction and data accesses and dedicated for on-chip and off-chip memories and
devices (typically flash or RAM).
This interface has been optimized for performance: AXI accesses are not made in a predictable order as this
bus can re-order instruction or data to reduce latency and increase bandwidth.
If predictability is critical when executing some part of an application code, it is recommended to:
1.5.2
Configure the Memory Protection Unit (MPU) to define memory regions with proper attributes. For more
information on MPU configuration one can refer to the following application note:
http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-42128-AT02346-Using-the-MPU-on-Atmel-Cortex-M3-M4-basedMicrocontroller_Application-Note.pdf
A typical MPU configuration example is also included in the software examples from the SAM
S70/E70/V7x Software Package.
Use memory barriers. More information can be found in a dedicated application note from ARM:
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.dai0321a/DAI0321A_programming_guide_memory_ba
rriers_for_m_profile.pdf
AHB Peripheral Interface
The AHB Peripheral interface (AHBP) is dedicated to access low-latency peripherals rather than memory. Note
that AHBP does not support instruction fetch (which is performed through the AXI master interface), but only
data transfers. This interface has been added to avoid overloading the AXI master interface with additional
data transfers and so to increase the overall bandwidth.
Unlike AXI master interface, there is no optimization done and speculative access is not supported (e.g.
buffering is ordered). In addition bursts are not supported so only single access can be performed. For burst
access to peripheral it is recommended to use the DMA to do so.
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1.5.3
AHB Slave Interface
The AHB Slave port (AHBS), also called DMA slave port, provides a system access between the DMA and the
TCM through a 32-bit interface. This interface is also usable when processor is in sleep state.
Thanks to this interface both processor and DMA can access the TCM in parallel, thus bandwidth is maximized
when running high resources demanding applications.
1.5.4
AHB Debug Interface
The Cortex-M7 processor implements a complete hardware debug solution, accessible through the AHB
Debug interface (AHBD). This provides high system visibility of the processor and memory through either a
traditional JTAG port or a 2-pin Serial Wire Debug (SWD) port.
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SAM S70/E70/V7x Devices Architecture and Highlights
2.1
High Performance Implementation
In order to support larger flash memory range and benefit from the AXI bus performance, Atmel chose to
implement the Cortex-M7 processor according to the High Performance configuration recommended by ARM.
Figure 2-1 shows a simplified diagram of this implementation, with the example of the SAM S70/E70/V7x
devices.
Figure 2-1.
Cortex-M7 Processor Implementation
Unlike the Simple Microcontroller implementation application code can run from flash (connected to the AXI
master interface) or TCM, and thus benefit of large data storage (flash is up to 2MB) and performance boost
with the TCM running at 300MHz. This architecture also enables the use of I/D cache to accelerate code
execution when running out of flash.
The table below shows the options selected by Atmel when implementing the Cortex-M7 processor in the SAM
S70/E70/V7x devices:
Features
Configurable options
SAM S70/E70/V7x implementation
FPU
No FPU
Single Precision (SP) only
SP and DP
Single and Double Precision FPU
ITCM max size
No ITCM / 4kB-16MB
128kB
DTCM max size
No ITCM / 4kB-16MB
128kB
I-cache size
4, 8, 16, 32, 64kB
16kB
D-cache size
4, 8, 16, 32, 64kB
16kB
AHB Peripheral size (AHBP)
64, 128, 256, 512MB
512MB
ECC support on caches
Implemented or not
Implemented
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Features
Configurable options
SAM S70/E70/V7x implementation
MPU
0, 8, 16 regions
16 regions
Interrupts
1-240
72
Debug Watchpoints and Breakpoints
2 data watchpoints + 4 breakpoints
4 data watchpoints + 8 breakpoints
4 data watchpoints + 8 breakpoints
ITM and DWT Trace
Implemented or not
Implemented
ETM
No ETM
ETM instruction only
ETM instruction and data
ETM Instruction Trace only
Cross Trigger Interface (CTI) Wakeup Interrupt Controller (WIC)
Implemented or not
Not Implemented
In the next coming paragraphs a review of the key features will be done to understand how SAM S70/E70/V7x
devices have been designed to optimize performance.
2.2
Multi-port SRAM
The SAM S70/E70/V7x devices feature a multi-port SRAM, which can be up to 384kB. This SRAM spaces
operates at bus clock (i.e. processor clock/2 = up to 150MHz) and has four ports to optimize the bandwidth and
latency. As shown in Figure 2-2, two ports are dedicated to the Cortex-M7 processor and two ports are shared
by AHB masters (Central DMA, EMAC DMA, USB DMA etc.).
Figure 2-2.
Multi-port SRAM Implementation
The purpose of the multi-port capability is to decrease the latency when several masters try to access the
SRAM simultaneously: the integrated controller manages interleaved addressing of SRAM blocks so that
another master will be able to access it on the next cycle. As an example, when a 16-word burst is performed
by the DMA, another master will be able to access the SRAM on the next cycle (n+1) and not on the (n+16)
one.
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The multi-port SRAM is split in two regions:
System RAM region
TCM region
Figure 2-3.
Multi-port SRAM
The size of the TCM region can be configured through NVM bits, and the remaining SRAM size is
automatically assigned to System RAM region.
2.2.2
System RAM
System RAM is accessed by AHB masters (peripherals, DMA) through the AHB matrix or the Cortex-M7 core
through a privileged access (see Figure 2-2) at bus clock frequency (up to 150MHz).
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2.2.3
Tightly Coupled Memories
As explained previously ITCM and DTCM can be directly accessed by the processor at 300MHz. Transfers
between DMA and TCM is done though the dedicated AHBS interface to maximize bandwidth and free CPU
resources.
2.3
Internal Flash
Internal flash is accessed through the AXI Master and AHB matrix at bus clock. Wait states must be added
depending on the operating frequency (up to five wait states when processor is running at maximum
frequency), but thanks to I-cache and D-cache penalty can be compensated.
Figure 2-4.
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Connection Between Flash and Memory Interface
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3
How to Benefit from the SAM S70/E70/V7x Architecture to Optimize
Performance
This chapter gives more details on how to properly enable and configure the features previously introduced to
reach the maximum performance level. Usage of the Floating Point Unit, I- and D-cache and Tightly Coupled
Memories will be discussed in this part, illustrated with code snippets for Atmel Studio, Keil and IAR™ users.
More information will be also given on how to optimize the load/store process and boost performances.
3.1
Use of Floating Point Unit
By default Floating Point Unit is not enabled and developers have to enable it in the application code and make
sure FPU instructions will be used by the compiler.
3.1.1
Enable the Floating Point Unit
When developing an application code requiring the use of the FPU, one have to ensure FPU is enabled by
software using the following code sequence:
/** Address for ARM CPACR */
#define ADDR_CPACR 0xE000ED88
/** CPACR Register */
#define REG_CPACR (*((volatile uint32_t *)ADDR_CPACR))
/**
* \brief Enable FPU
*/
__always_inline static void fpu_enable(void)
{
irqflags_t flags;
flags = cpu_irq_save();
REG_CPACR |= (0xFu << 20);
__DSB();
__ISB();
cpu_irq_restore(flags);
}
Note:
3.1.2
__DSB() is a memory barrier used to ensure that all data memory transfers are complete.
__ISB() is also a memory barrier used to flush the instruction pipeline.
More information can be found in Section 1.5.1 of this document.
Compiler Configuration
User has to make sure FPU instructions will be used when compiling the application code and configure the
compiler accordingly. For ARM GCC compiler the following flags need to be added:
-mfloat-abi=hard or softfp
softfp: to be used only if the user intends to use same binary on Cortex-M4F and CortexM7F based product
hard: in any other case
-mfpu=fpv5-sp-d16 or fpv5-d16
fpv5-sp-d16 is for single precision
fpv5-d16 is for double precision
In Atmel Studio, those flags are added in Project Properties menu > Toolchain tab > ARM/GNU C Compiler
menu > Miscellaneous
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For IAR users, there is no need to add flags and users simply have to select VFPv5 single-precision or VFPv5
double-precision in the project options (in General Options > Target tab > FPU drop-down menu).
3.2
Enable I-cache and D-cache
By default I-cache and D-cache are disabled and must be active in the application code, like the Floating Point
Unit.
Below is a code example to enable it:
__STATIC_INLINE void SCB_EnableICache(void)
{
#if (__ICACHE_PRESENT == 1)
__DSB();
__ISB();
SCB->ICIALLU = 0;
// invalidate I-Cache
SCB->CCR |= SCB_CCR_IC_Msk;
// enable I-Cache
__DSB();
__ISB();
#endif
}
_STATIC_INLINE void SCB_EnableDCache(void)
{
#if (__DCACHE_PRESENT == 1)
uint32_t ccsidr, sshift, wshift, sw;
uint32_t sets, ways;
ccsidr
sets
sshift
ways
wshift
=
=
=
=
=
SCB->CCSIDR;
CCSIDR_SETS(ccsidr);
CCSIDR_LSSHIFT(ccsidr) + 4;
CCSIDR_WAYS(ccsidr);
__CLZ(ways) & 0x1f;
__DSB();
do {
// invalidate D-Cache
int32_t tmpways = ways;
do {
sw = ((tmpways << wshift) | (sets << sshift));
SCB->DCISW = sw;
} while(tmpways--);
} while(sets--);
__DSB();
SCB->CCR |=
SCB_CCR_DC_Msk;
// enable D-Cache
__DSB();
__ISB();
#endif
}
The two above functions are included in the software library provided for free on Atmel.com (SAM V71 / V70 /
E70 / S70 Software Package).
3.3
Relocate Critical Part of Code in Tightly Coupled Memory
As explained previously Tightly Coupled Memories are intended to store critical parts of code which needs to
be executed with a maximum performance. When determining which functions or data will be executed/stored
out of TCM, it is important to be understand that power consumption increases according to its usage: the
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more TCM is used, the more power consumption increase. So user has to find the best trade-off between
performance and power consumption and make sure his application does not exceed the power budget when
moving code to TCM.
3.3.1
TCM Configuration
The first step is to configure the TCM size and enable it in the application code. This step is performed at
startup before initializing the clocks and other peripherals.
TCM size is set with GPNVM bits 7 and 8 according to the below table.
GPNVM8
GPNVM7
ITCM/DTCM size [kB]
System RAM
(348kB – TCMs size)
0
0
0/0
384
0
1
32 / 32
320
1
0
64 / 64
256
1
1
128 / 128
128
GPNVM bits are configured with specific EFC commands, as shown in the below code example:
/*Configure TCM sizes to: 128 kB ITCM - 128 kB DTCM (set GPNVM7 and GPNVM8)*/
EFC->EEFC_FCR = (EEFC_FCR_FKEY_PASSWD | EEFC_FCR_FCMD_SGPB | EEFC_FCR_FARG(7));
EFC->EEFC_FCR = (EEFC_FCR_FKEY_PASSWD | EEFC_FCR_FCMD_SGPB | EEFC_FCR_FARG(8));
Then TCM must be enabled by writing in the SCB register (System Control Block register) of the Cortex-M7
processor:
__STATIC_INLINE void TCM_Enable(void)
{
__DSB();
__ISB();
SCB->ITCMCR = (SCB_ITCMCR_EN_Msk | SCB_ITCMCR_RMW_Msk | SCB_ITCMCR_RETEN_Msk);
SCB->DTCMCR = (SCB_DTCMCR_EN_Msk | SCB_DTCMCR_RMW_Msk | SCB_DTCMCR_RETEN_Msk);
__DSB();
__ISB();
}
3.3.2
Linker Script Configuration
In the linker file, a new region corresponding to the TCM must be created so that relevant code and data can
be linked to the right memory addresses.
For Atmel Studio/GCC compiler the linker file is a .ld file. Firstly ITCM and DTCM memory regions have to be
defined, with their respective base addresses, list of attributes (read, write, execute etc.) and size:
/* ITCM and DTCM are 128KB each */
itcm (rwx) : ORIGIN = 0x00000000, LENGTH = 0x00020000
dtcm (rw) : ORIGIN = 0x20000000, LENGTH = 0x00020000
Then a section needs to be created to place the relevant code and data in ITCM and DTCM respectively.
Below is an example from the Atmel Studio project given with this application note, in which FFT computation
functions are placed in TCM:
SECTIONS
{
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.code_TCM 0x00000000:
AT ( _itcm_lma )
{
_sitcm = .;
fft.o (.text.*)
fft.o (.rodata)
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
_eitcm = .;
} > itcm
.data_TCM 0x20000000:
{
_sdtcm = .;
fft.o (.data)
fft.o (.bss)
fft.o (COMMON)
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
*(EXCLUDE_FILE (library/*
_edtcm = .;
} > dtcm
.DTCM_stack :
{
. = ALIGN(8);
_sdtcm_stack = .;
. += STACK_SIZE;
_edtcm_stack = .;
} > dtcm
}
signal.o
signal.o
signal.o
signal.o
main.o
main.o
main.o
main.o
wdt.o)
wdt.o)
wdt.o)
wdt.o)
.text)
.text.*)
.rodata.*)
.fini*)
signal.o main.o wdt.o) .data)
signal.o main.o wdt.o) .bss*)
For more information on linker script concepts, you can refer to the below application note:
http://www.atmel.com/Images/doc32158.pdf.
For IAR users, linker files are in the .icf format. In this .icf file, two regions must be created for ITCM and DTCM
(ITCM_region and DTCM_region in the below example) with their respective start address and size:
define
define
define
define
symbol
symbol
symbol
symbol
__ICFEDIT_region_ITCM_start__= 0x00000000;
__ICFEDIT_region_DTCM_start__= 0x20000000;
__ICFEDIT_size_itcm__= 0x20000;
__ICFEDIT_size_dtcm__= 0x20000;
define region ITCM_region = mem:[from __ICFEDIT_region_ITCM_start__ size
__ICFEDIT_size_itcm__];
define region DTCM_region = mem:[from __ICFEDIT_region_DTCM_start__ size
__ICFEDIT_size_dtcm__];
Then relevant functions and data are placed in TCM. The below example is from the IAR project coming with
the application note:
place in ITCM_region
{
readwrite object fft.o,
readwrite object arm_cortexM7lfdp_math.lib,
readwrite object dl7M_tln.a,
readwrite object m7M_tlv.a,
readwrite object rt7M_tl.a
};
place in DTCM_region
zi object fft.o,
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zi
zi
zi
zi
object
object
object
object
arm_cortexM7lfdp_math.lib,
dl7M_tln.a,
m7M_tlv.a,
rt7M_tl.a
};
initialize by copy
{
object fft.o,
object arm_cortexM7lfdp_math.lib,
object dl7M_tln.a,
object m7M_tlv.a,
object rt7M_tl.a
};
For more information on IAR linker files, you can refer to the following application note:
http://supp.iar.com/FilesPublic/UPDINFO/005316/xlink.ENU.pdf.
3.3.3
Code Copy in TCM
When compiling an application code with Atmel Studio/GCC compiler, the code to move in TCM area must be
copied manually. This is usually done during initialization, just before reaching the main function. The below
code snippet shows how to do it:
/* copy code_TCM from flash to ITCM */
volatile char *dst = &_sitcm;
volatile char *src = &_itcm_lma;
while(dst < &_eitcm){
*dst++ = *src++;
}
For IAR users, this copy loop is already implemented in the IAR cstartup file, so there is no need add it in the
application step.
3.4
Optimize Pipeline Usage
In order to fully benefit from the dual-instruction issue capability of the Cortex-M7 pipeline, it is recommended
to interleave load and store instructions as shown below:
Xn1 = pIn[0];
Xn2 = pIn[1];
Xn3 = pIn[2];
acc1 = b0 * Xn1 + d1;
Xn4 = pIn[3];
d1 = b1 * Xn1 + d2;
Xn5 = pIn[4];
d2 = b2 * Xn1;
Xn6 = pIn[5];
d1 += a1 * acc1;
Xn7 = pIn[6];
d2 += a2 * acc1;
Compilers are not able to perform such kind of optimization thus it must be done at application code level.
Note:
The ARM CMSIS library for Cortex-M7, which is used on all software examples for SAM S70/E70/V7x,
already implements such optimization mechanism.
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Software Example: FFT Computation Code Example
This part is an introduction of the code example provided with this application note, which allows to illustrate
the different concepts previously detailed. This code example is provided for Atmel Studio 7 (build 7.0.567 or
above), and needs the Atmel | SMART SAM V71 Xplained Ultra board.
This code example is based on the ARM CMSIS-DSP library version 1.4.3 (CMSIS version 3.20).
4.1
Introduction to the Example
The purpose of the example is to generate a 256-point FFT of a sine wave using 32-bit floating-point data type
(F32). FFT computation time and CPU load are displayed in real time on the DEBUG USB Virtual COM port:
FFT computation time (in µs)
CPU load (in %)
As shown in the below screenshot, the project is made of three folders:
libchip: provides the API for the different embedded peripherals
libboard: provides the API for the different on-board components and board low-level initialization
linkerScripts: contains the linker scripts
The following source files are also noticeable:
16
main.c: program entry-point. In this file you will find the initialization function of the device, and the sine
wave generation function. The I- and D-cache enable functions can be found at the beginning of the
main function (SCB_EnableICache() and SCB_EnableDCache() functions).
fft.c: contains all functions related to the FFT computation process. This process calls the mathematics
functions from the ARM CMSIS-DSP library (included in Atmel Studio).
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4.2
startup_sam.c (in the libboard folder): contains the exception table and reset handler. The reset
handler sets the vector table, and also configure the TCM (GPNVM bits) and enable it.
board_lowlevel.c (in the libboard folder): Performs the low-level initialization of the chip, including
EEFC (Flash Controller), MPU and master clock configuration. The code copy in TCM memory can be
also found at the end of the LowLevelInit() function in this file.
samv71q21_xxx.ld (in linkerScripts directory): program linker file. As explained previously its purpose
is to describe how the sections in the input files should be mapped into the output file (.hex file), and to
control the memory layout of the output file.
Usage
The project contains several configurations so that FFT computation process runs out of flash (with I-/D-cache
enabled or not), System RAM or TCM.
Figure 4-1 shows the case with FFT computation is executed out of TCM:
Figure 4-1.
FFT Computation Process Running out of TCM
ITCM
FFT computation
and maths library
0x20000000
DTCM
0x20400000
0x00000000
-INSTRUCTIONS-
FFT computation
and maths library
-DATA-
0x00400000
Flash
Other functions
(result display…)
System RAM
0x00800000
ROM
0x20C00000
SRAM memory space
Code memory space
The configuration is changed through the drop-down menu at the top of the tools bar:
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4.3
FLASH-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of flash with I-/D-cache enabled
FLASH-NO-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of flash with I-/D-cache disabled
RAM1-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of System RAM with I-/D-cache enabled
RAM1-NO-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of System RAM with I-/D-cache disabled
TCM-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of TCM with I-/D-cache enabled
TCM-NO-CACHE executes the FFT computation process out of TCM with I-/D-cache disabled
Results
As mentioned in introduction the code example is based on the ARM CMSIS-DSP library version 1.4.3 (CMSIS
version 3.20) and running on the SAM V71 Xplained Ultra board.
The results to expect are the following (FFT computation time in us, CPU load in %):
Flash
System RAM
TCM
I/D cache disabled
358µs
6.1%
341µs
5.8%
79µs
1.3%
I/D cache enabled
102µs
1.7%
95µs
1.5%
79µs
1.3%
The maximum performance level is achieved when FFT computation code is running out of TCM, thanks to the
direct access to the Cortex-M7 processor at the processor clock speed (300MHz).
The results when running out of flash with cache enabled are pretty close because instruction and data in
cache are also fetched at processor clock speed. As explained previously the main difference between code
execution out of cache and TCM is determinism: TCM is more suitable when performing real-time tasks
because it is fully deterministic. The other difference is that TCM management mechanism is simpler: unlike
cache, there are no maintenance operations to perform, such as invalidate, clean etc.
5
Conclusion
This application note presented the new features introduced by the Cortex-M7 core and how it was integrated
in the SAM S70/E70/V7x devices. We also had a review of the SAM S70/E70/V7x architecture to have a better
understanding on why these devices are perfectly suited for highly performance demanding application. Finally
a concrete example was given to illustrate how to enable and properly use these specific features.
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Suggested Readings
Cortex-M7 Processor Technical Reference Manual:
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0489b/DDI0489B_cortex_m7_trm.pdf
Atmel | SMART SAM S70 Product Datasheet:
http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-11242-32-bit-Cortex-M7-Microcontroller-SAM-S70Q-SAM-S70NSAM-S70J_Datasheet.pdf
Atmel | SMART SAM E70 Product Datasheet:
http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-11296-32-bit-Cortex-M7-Microcontroller-SAM-E70Q-SAM-E70NSAM-E70J_Datasheet.pdf
Using the MPU on Atmel Cortex-M3 / Cortex-M4 based Microcontrollers:
http://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-42128-AT02346-Using-the-MPU-on-Atmel-Cortex-M3-M4-basedMicrocontroller_Application-Note.pdf
ARM Cortex-M Programming Guide to Memory Barrier Instructions:
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.dai0321a/DAI0321A_programming_guide_memory_ba
rriers_for_m_profile.pdf
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Revision History
Doc Rev.
Date
Comments
44047B
03/2016
Code example updated to Atmel Studio 7.
44047A
06/2015
Initial document release.
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