Teaching Embedded System Design and Optimization with the ARM Cortex-M0+ Microcontrollers

82 Pages·2014·4.57 MB·English

Teaching Embedded System
Design and Optimization with the
ARM Cortex-M0+ Microcontrollers
Dr. Alexander G. Dean
Dept. of ECE
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC
[email protected]
http://www.cesr.ncsu.edu/agdean
ARM University Program
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Course Approach

Hands-on MCU development experience

Programming in C with free toolchain from Keil

Simple, inexpensive hardware

Easy system expansion with Arduino-compatible hardware

Relevant, useful material based on 13 years of experience

Interaction with industry through on-site design reviews of real
embedded systems

Teaching large (50 – 120 students) undergraduate and graduate
embedded system courses

Prerequisites

Introductory course: introduction to computer organization, C
programming

Advanced course: introductory course. Other courses also helpful
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Course Materials

Easy adoption for your own course

Flexibility with modular design

All source files provided (pptx, docx, vsd, c, h …)

Course modules typically include

PowerPoint slides/lecture notes
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Demonstration code for use in lecture and outside of class
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Homework questions and solutions

Lab exercise(s) with step-by-step procedure and questions

Programming project(s) with solution

Status

Introductory course materials available now

Advanced course materials available early summer

Developing a textbook to support both courses
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Worldwide Adoption

Video introduction

Nearly 100 adoptions since launch last summer

North & South America, Europe, Asia, Africa

“We were delighted to be one of the first institutions to receive the ARM
University Program's Lab-in-a-Box on Embedded Systems. It has immediately
proven itself to me as an excellent resource for our research and teaching
activities.”

Dr. Boris Adryan, University of Cambridge, UK.

"Freescale is delighted to be building on our longstanding relationship with
ARM by providing access to our solutions to universities and electronic
engineering students around the world. The Lab-in-a-Box is just one way
Freescale and ARM collaboratively reach out to our engineers of the future
and help us create a new wave of innovative embedded technologies that will
drive our increasingly connected world.“

Andy Mastronardi, Director, University Programs, Freescale
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Cortex Processor Cores

Cortex-A: application profile

High performance, multiprocessing

Cortex-R: real-time profile

Predictable performance

Cortex-M: microcontroller profile - optimized for embedded applications

Implementation
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Short pipeline

Fast interrupt response

Low cost, low power

Fast GPIO access

Instruction set
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Good code density (16-bit Thumb 2 instructions)

Bit and byte operations

Optional single-cycle multiply instruction, hardware divide, saturated math

Optional DSP & SIMD instructions

Optional floating point unit
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Target Board – Freescale Freedom KL25Z

32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ processor
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Freescale Kinetis MKL25Z128VLK4
microcontroller

Extremely low power use

48 MHz max processor clock freq.
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128 KB Flash ROM, 16 KB RAM

Wide range of peripherals, including
USB on-the-go

FRDM-KL25Z board
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$13 (USD)

Peripherals: 3-axis accelerometer, RGB
LED, capacitive touch slider

Expansion ports are compatible with
Arduino shield ecosystem – endless
opportunities, low-cost hardware

mbed.org enabled - online software
development toolchain, reusable code
Images courtesy of Freescale
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Hardware Ecosystem

Arduino shields
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Wide variety

Low cost

High volume

Xtrinsic sensor board
from element 14
Images courtesy of Freescale, Adafruit, Element 14, Parallax, SeeedStudio
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And Even More Shields
Image courtesy of SeeedStudio
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SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
TOOLS
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