Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard

This file describes the Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS).

Version: 1.30 - 30. October 2009

Information in this file, the accompany manuals, and software is
Copyright © ARM Ltd.
All rights reserved.


Revision History


Contents

  1. About
  2. Coding Rules and Conventions
  3. CMSIS Files
  4. Core Peripheral Access Layer
  5. CMSIS Example

About

The Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) answers the challenges that are faced when software components are deployed to physical microcontroller devices based on a Cortex-M0 or Cortex-M3 processor. The CMSIS will be also expanded to future Cortex-M processor cores (the term Cortex-M is used to indicate that). The CMSIS is defined in close co-operation with various silicon and software vendors and provides a common approach to interface to peripherals, real-time operating systems, and middleware components.

ARM provides as part of the CMSIS the following software layers that are available for various compiler implementations:

These software layers are expanded by Silicon partners with:

CMSIS defines for a Cortex-M Microcontroller System:

By using CMSIS compliant software components, the user can easier re-use template code. CMSIS is intended to enable the combination of software components from multiple middleware vendors.

Coding Rules and Conventions

The following section describes the coding rules and conventions used in the CMSIS implementation. It contains also information about data types and version number information.

Essentials

Recommendations

The CMSIS recommends the following conventions for identifiers.

Comments

Data Types and IO Type Qualifiers

The Cortex-M HAL uses the standard types from the standard ANSI C header file <stdint.h>. IO Type Qualifiers are used to specify the access to peripheral variables. IO Type Qualifiers are indented to be used for automatic generation of debug information of peripheral registers.

IO Type Qualifier #define Description
__I volatile const Read access only
__O volatile Write access only
__IO volatile Read and write access

CMSIS Version Number

File core_cm3.h contains the version number of the CMSIS with the following define:

#define __CM3_CMSIS_VERSION_MAIN  (0x01)      /* [31:16] main version       */
#define __CM3_CMSIS_VERSION_SUB   (0x30)      /* [15:0]  sub version        */
#define __CM3_CMSIS_VERSION       ((__CM3_CMSIS_VERSION_MAIN << 16) | __CM3_CMSIS_VERSION_SUB)

File core_cm0.h contains the version number of the CMSIS with the following define:

#define __CM0_CMSIS_VERSION_MAIN  (0x01)      /* [31:16] main version       */
#define __CM0_CMSIS_VERSION_SUB   (0x30)      /* [15:0]  sub version        */
#define __CM0_CMSIS_VERSION       ((__CM0_CMSIS_VERSION_MAIN << 16) | __CM0_CMSIS_VERSION_SUB)

CMSIS Cortex Core

File core_cm3.h contains the type of the CMSIS Cortex-M with the following define:

#define __CORTEX_M                (0x03)

File core_cm0.h contains the type of the CMSIS Cortex-M with the following define:

#define __CORTEX_M                (0x00)

CMSIS Files

This section describes the Files provided in context with the CMSIS to access the Cortex-M hardware and peripherals.

File Provider Description
device.h Device specific (provided by silicon partner) Defines the peripherals for the actual device. The file may use several other include files to define the peripherals of the actual device.
core_cm0.h ARM (for RealView ARMCC, IAR, and GNU GCC) Defines the core peripherals for the Cortex-M0 CPU and core peripherals.
core_cm3.h ARM (for RealView ARMCC, IAR, and GNU GCC) Defines the core peripherals for the Cortex-M3 CPU and core peripherals.
core_cm0.c ARM (for RealView ARMCC, IAR, and GNU GCC) Provides helper functions that access core registers.
core_cm3.c ARM (for RealView ARMCC, IAR, and GNU GCC) Provides helper functions that access core registers.
startup_device ARM (adapted by compiler partner / silicon partner) Provides the Cortex-M startup code and the complete (device specific) Interrupt Vector Table
system_device ARM (adapted by silicon partner) Provides a device specific configuration file for the device. It configures the device initializes typically the oscillator (PLL) that is part of the microcontroller device

device.h

The file device.h is provided by the silicon vendor and is the central include file that the application programmer is using in the C source code. This file contains:

Interrupt Number Definition

To access the device specific interrupts the device.h file defines IRQn numbers for the complete device using a enum typedef as shown below:

typedef enum IRQn
{
/******  Cortex-M3 Processor Exceptions/Interrupt Numbers ************************************************/
  NonMaskableInt_IRQn             = -14,      /*!< 2 Non Maskable Interrupt                              */
  HardFault_IRQn                  = -13,      /*!< 3 Cortex-M3 Hard Fault Interrupt                      */
  MemoryManagement_IRQn           = -12,      /*!< 4 Cortex-M3 Memory Management Interrupt               */
  BusFault_IRQn                   = -11,      /*!< 5 Cortex-M3 Bus Fault Interrupt                       */
  UsageFault_IRQn                 = -10,      /*!< 6 Cortex-M3 Usage Fault Interrupt                     */
  SVCall_IRQn                     = -5,       /*!< 11 Cortex-M3 SV Call Interrupt                        */
  DebugMonitor_IRQn               = -4,       /*!< 12 Cortex-M3 Debug Monitor Interrupt                  */
  PendSV_IRQn                     = -2,       /*!< 14 Cortex-M3 Pend SV Interrupt                        */
  SysTick_IRQn                    = -1,       /*!< 15 Cortex-M3 System Tick Interrupt                    */
/******  STM32 specific Interrupt Numbers ****************************************************************/
  WWDG_STM_IRQn                   = 0,        /*!< Window WatchDog Interrupt                             */
  PVD_STM_IRQn                    = 1,        /*!< PVD through EXTI Line detection Interrupt             */
  :
  :
  } IRQn_Type;

Configuration for core_cm0.h / core_cm3.h

The Cortex-M core configuration options which are defined for each device implementation. Some configuration options are reflected in the CMSIS layer using the #define settings described below.

To access core peripherals file device.h includes file core_cm0.h / core_cm3.h. Several features in core_cm0.h / core_cm3.h are configured by the following defines that must be defined before #include <core_cm0.h> / #include <core_cm3.h> preprocessor command.

#define File Value Description
__NVIC_PRIO_BITS core_cm0.h (2) Number of priority bits implemented in the NVIC (device specific)
__NVIC_PRIO_BITS core_cm3.h (2 ... 8) Number of priority bits implemented in the NVIC (device specific)
__MPU_PRESENT core_cm0.h, core_cm3.h (0, 1) Defines if an MPU is present or not
__Vendor_SysTickConfig core_cm0.h, core_cm3.h (1) When this define is setup to 1, the SysTickConfig function in core_cm3.h is excluded. In this case the device.h file must contain a vendor specific implementation of this function.

Device Peripheral Access Layer

Each peripheral uses a prefix which consists of <device abbreviation>_ and <peripheral name>_ to identify peripheral registers that access this specific peripheral. The intention of this is to avoid name collisions caused due to short names. If more than one peripheral of the same type exists, identifiers have a postfix (digit or letter). For example:

Minimal Requiements

To access the peripheral registers and related function in a device the files device.h and core_cm0.h / core_cm3.h defines as a minimum:

These definitions allow to access the peripheral registers from user code with simple assignments like:

SysTick->CTRL = 0;
Optional Features

In addition the device.h file may define:

core_cm0.h and core_cm0.c

File core_cm0.h describes the data structures for the Cortex-M0 core peripherals and does the address mapping of this structures. It also provides basic access to the Cortex-M0 core registers and core peripherals with efficient functions (defined as static inline).

File core_cm0.c defines several helper functions that access processor registers.

Together these files implement the Core Peripheral Access Layer for a Cortex-M0.

core_cm3.h and core_cm3.c

File core_cm3.h describes the data structures for the Cortex-M3 core peripherals and does the address mapping of this structures. It also provides basic access to the Cortex-M3 core registers and core peripherals with efficient functions (defined as static inline).

File core_cm3.c defines several helper functions that access processor registers.

Together these files implement the Core Peripheral Access Layer for a Cortex-M3.

startup_device

A template file for startup_device is provided by ARM for each supported compiler. It is adapted by the silicon vendor to include interrupt vectors for all device specific interrupt handlers. Each interrupt handler is defined as weak function to an dummy handler. Therefore the interrupt handler can be directly used in application software without any requirements to adapt the startup_device file.

The following exception names are fixed and define the start of the vector table for a Cortex-M0:

__Vectors       DCD     __initial_sp              ; Top of Stack
                DCD     Reset_Handler             ; Reset Handler
                DCD     NMI_Handler               ; NMI Handler
                DCD     HardFault_Handler         ; Hard Fault Handler
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     SVC_Handler               ; SVCall Handler
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     PendSV_Handler            ; PendSV Handler
                DCD     SysTick_Handler           ; SysTick Handler

The following exception names are fixed and define the start of the vector table for a Cortex-M3:

__Vectors       DCD     __initial_sp              ; Top of Stack
                DCD     Reset_Handler             ; Reset Handler
                DCD     NMI_Handler               ; NMI Handler
                DCD     HardFault_Handler         ; Hard Fault Handler
                DCD     MemManage_Handler         ; MPU Fault Handler
                DCD     BusFault_Handler          ; Bus Fault Handler
                DCD     UsageFault_Handler        ; Usage Fault Handler
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     SVC_Handler               ; SVCall Handler
                DCD     DebugMon_Handler          ; Debug Monitor Handler
                DCD     0                         ; Reserved
                DCD     PendSV_Handler            ; PendSV Handler
                DCD     SysTick_Handler           ; SysTick Handler

In the following examples for device specific interrupts are shown:

; External Interrupts
                DCD     WWDG_IRQHandler           ; Window Watchdog
                DCD     PVD_IRQHandler            ; PVD through EXTI Line detect
                DCD     TAMPER_IRQHandler         ; Tamper

Device specific interrupts must have a dummy function that can be overwritten in user code. Below is an example for this dummy function.

Default_Handler PROC
                EXPORT WWDG_IRQHandler   [WEAK]
                EXPORT PVD_IRQHandler    [WEAK]
                EXPORT TAMPER_IRQHandler [WEAK]
                :
                :
                WWDG_IRQHandler
                PVD_IRQHandler
                TAMPER_IRQHandler
                :
                :
                B .
                ENDP

The user application may simply define an interrupt handler function by using the handler name as shown below.

void WWDG_IRQHandler(void)
{
  :
  :
}

system_device.c

A template file for system_device.c is provided by ARM but adapted by the silicon vendor to match their actual device. As a minimum requirement this file must provide a device specific system configuration function and a global variable that contains the system frequency. It configures the device and initializes typically the oscillator (PLL) that is part of the microcontroller device.

The file system_device.c must provide as a minimum requirement the SystemInit function as shown below.

Function Definition Description
void SystemInit (void) Setup the microcontroller system. Typically this function configures the oscillator (PLL) that is part of the microcontroller device. For systems with variable clock speed it also updates the variable SystemCoreClock.
SystemInit is called from startup_device file.
void SystemCoreClockUpdate (void) Updates the variable SystemCoreClock and must be called whenever the core clock is changed during program execution. SystemCoreClockUpdate() evaluates the clock register settings and calculates the current core clock.

Also part of the file system_device.c is the variable SystemCoreClock which contains the current CPU clock speed shown below.

Variable Definition Description
uint32_t SystemCoreClock Contains the system core clock (which is the system clock frequency supplied to the SysTick timer and the processor core clock). This variable can be used by the user application to setup the SysTick timer or configure other parameters. It may also be used by debugger to query the frequency of the debug timer or configure the trace clock speed.
SystemCoreClock is initialized with a correct predefined value.

The compiler must be configured to avoid the removal of this variable in case that the application program is not using it. It is important for debug systems that the variable is physically present in memory so that it can be examined to configure the debugger.

Note

Core Peripheral Access Layer

Cortex-M Core Register Access

The following functions are defined in core_cm0.h / core_cm3.h and provide access to Cortex-M core registers.

Function Definition Core Core Register Description
void __enable_irq (void) M0, M3 PRIMASK = 0 Global Interrupt enable (using the instruction CPSIE i)
void __disable_irq (void) M0, M3 PRIMASK = 1 Global Interrupt disable (using the instruction CPSID i)
void __set_PRIMASK (uint32_t value) M0, M3 PRIMASK = value Assign value to Priority Mask Register (using the instruction MSR)
uint32_t __get_PRIMASK (void) M0, M3 return PRIMASK Return Priority Mask Register (using the instruction MRS)
void __enable_fault_irq (void) M3 FAULTMASK = 0 Global Fault exception and Interrupt enable (using the instruction CPSIE f)
void __disable_fault_irq (void) M3 FAULTMASK = 1 Global Fault exception and Interrupt disable (using the instruction CPSID f)
void __set_FAULTMASK (uint32_t value) M3 FAULTMASK = value Assign value to Fault Mask Register (using the instruction MSR)
uint32_t __get_FAULTMASK (void) M3 return FAULTMASK Return Fault Mask Register (using the instruction MRS)
void __set_BASEPRI (uint32_t value) M3 BASEPRI = value Set Base Priority (using the instruction MSR)
uiuint32_t __get_BASEPRI (void) M3 return BASEPRI Return Base Priority (using the instruction MRS)
void __set_CONTROL (uint32_t value) M0, M3 CONTROL = value Set CONTROL register value (using the instruction MSR)
uint32_t __get_CONTROL (void) M0, M3 return CONTROL Return Control Register Value (using the instruction MRS)
void __set_PSP (uint32_t TopOfProcStack) M0, M3 PSP = TopOfProcStack Set Process Stack Pointer value (using the instruction MSR)
uint32_t __get_PSP (void) M0, M3 return PSP Return Process Stack Pointer (using the instruction MRS)
void __set_MSP (uint32_t TopOfMainStack) M0, M3 MSP = TopOfMainStack Set Main Stack Pointer (using the instruction MSR)
uint32_t __get_MSP (void) M0, M3 return MSP Return Main Stack Pointer (using the instruction MRS)

Cortex-M Instruction Access

The following functions are defined in core_cm0.h / core_cm3.hand generate specific Cortex-M instructions. The functions are implemented in the file core_cm0.c / core_cm3.c.

Name Core Generated CPU Instruction Description
void __NOP (void) M0, M3 NOP No Operation
void __WFI (void) M0, M3 WFI Wait for Interrupt
void __WFE (void) M0, M3 WFE Wait for Event
void __SEV (void) M0, M3 SEV Set Event
void __ISB (void) M0, M3 ISB Instruction Synchronization Barrier
void __DSB (void) M0, M3 DSB Data Synchronization Barrier
void __DMB (void) M0, M3 DMB Data Memory Barrier
uint32_t __REV (uint32_t value) M0, M3 REV Reverse byte order in integer value.
uint32_t __REV16 (uint16_t value) M0, M3 REV16 Reverse byte order in unsigned short value.
sint32_t __REVSH (sint16_t value) M0, M3 REVSH Reverse byte order in signed short value with sign extension to integer.
uint32_t __RBIT (uint32_t value) M3 RBIT Reverse bit order of value
uint8_t __LDREXB (uint8_t *addr) M3 LDREXB Load exclusive byte
uint16_t __LDREXH (uint16_t *addr) M3 LDREXH Load exclusive half-word
uint32_t __LDREXW (uint32_t *addr) M3 LDREXW Load exclusive word
uint32_t __STREXB (uint8_t value, uint8_t *addr) M3 STREXB Store exclusive byte
uint32_t __STREXB (uint16_t value, uint16_t *addr) M3 STREXH Store exclusive half-word
uint32_t __STREXB (uint32_t value, uint32_t *addr) M3 STREXW Store exclusive word
void __CLREX (void) M3 CLREX Remove the exclusive lock created by __LDREXB, __LDREXH, or __LDREXW

NVIC Access Functions

The CMSIS provides access to the NVIC via the register interface structure and several helper functions that simplify the setup of the NVIC. The CMSIS HAL uses IRQ numbers (IRQn) to identify the interrupts. The first device interrupt has the IRQn value 0. Therefore negative IRQn values are used for processor core exceptions.

For the IRQn values of core exceptions the file device.h provides the following enum names.

Core Exception enum Value Core IRQn Description
NonMaskableInt_IRQn M0, M3 -14 Cortex-M Non Maskable Interrupt
HardFault_IRQn M0, M3 -13 Cortex-M Hard Fault Interrupt
MemoryManagement_IRQn M3 -12 Cortex-M Memory Management Interrupt
BusFault_IRQn M3 -11 Cortex-M Bus Fault Interrupt
UsageFault_IRQn M3 -10 Cortex-M Usage Fault Interrupt
SVCall_IRQn M0, M3 -5 Cortex-M SV Call Interrupt
DebugMonitor_IRQn M3 -4 Cortex-M Debug Monitor Interrupt
PendSV_IRQn M0, M3 -2 Cortex-M Pend SV Interrupt
SysTick_IRQn M0, M3 -1 Cortex-M System Tick Interrupt

The following functions simplify the setup of the NVIC. The functions are defined as static inline.

Name Core Parameter Description
void NVIC_SetPriorityGrouping (uint32_t PriorityGroup) M3 Priority Grouping Value Set the Priority Grouping (Groups . Subgroups)
uint32_t NVIC_GetPriorityGrouping (void) M3 (void) Get the Priority Grouping (Groups . Subgroups)
void NVIC_EnableIRQ (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Enable IRQn
void NVIC_DisableIRQ (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Disable IRQn
uint32_t NVIC_GetPendingIRQ (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Return 1 if IRQn is pending else 0
void NVIC_SetPendingIRQ (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Set IRQn Pending
void NVIC_ClearPendingIRQ (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Clear IRQn Pending Status
uint32_t NVIC_GetActive (IRQn_Type IRQn) M3 IRQ Number Return 1 if IRQn is active else 0
void NVIC_SetPriority (IRQn_Type IRQn, uint32_t priority) M0, M3 IRQ Number, Priority Set Priority for IRQn
(not threadsafe for Cortex-M0)
uint32_t NVIC_GetPriority (IRQn_Type IRQn) M0, M3 IRQ Number Get Priority for IRQn
uint32_t NVIC_EncodePriority (uint32_t PriorityGroup, uint32_t PreemptPriority, uint32_t SubPriority) M3 IRQ Number, Priority Group, Preemptive Priority, Sub Priority Encode priority for given group, preemptive and sub priority
NVIC_DecodePriority (uint32_t Priority, uint32_t PriorityGroup, uint32_t* pPreemptPriority, uint32_t* pSubPriority) M3 IRQ Number, Priority, pointer to Priority Group, pointer to Preemptive Priority, pointer to Sub Priority Deccode given priority to group, preemptive and sub priority
void NVIC_SystemReset (void) M0, M3 (void) Resets the System

Note

SysTick Configuration Function

The following function is used to configure the SysTick timer and start the SysTick interrupt.

Name Parameter Description
uint32_t SysTickConfig (uint32_t ticks) ticks is SysTick counter reload value Setup the SysTick timer and enable the SysTick interrupt. After this call the SysTick timer creates interrupts with the specified time interval.

Return: 0 when successful, 1 on failure.

Cortex-M3 ITM Debug Access

The Cortex-M3 incorporates the Instrumented Trace Macrocell (ITM) that provides together with the Serial Viewer Output trace capabilities for the microcontroller system. The ITM has 32 communication channels; two ITM communication channels are used by CMSIS to output the following information:

Note

The prototype of the ITM_SendChar routine is shown in the table below.

Name Parameter Description
void uint32_t ITM_SendChar(uint32_t chr) character to output The function outputs a character via the ITM channel 0. The function returns when no debugger is connected that has booked the output. It is blocking when a debugger is connected, but the previous character send is not transmitted.

Return: the input character 'chr'.

Example for the usage of the ITM Channel 31 for RTOS Kernels:

  // check if debugger connected and ITM channel enabled for tracing
  if ((CoreDebug->DEMCR & CoreDebug_DEMCR_TRCENA) &&
  (ITM->TCR & ITM_TCR_ITMENA) &&
  (ITM->TER & (1UL << 31))) {
    // transmit trace data
    while (ITM->PORT31_U32 == 0);
    ITM->PORT[31].u8 = task_id;      // id of next task
    while (ITM->PORT[31].u32 == 0);
    ITM->PORT[31].u32 = task_status; // status information
  }

Cortex-M3 additional Debug Access

CMSIS provides additional debug functions to enlarge the Cortex-M3 Debug Access. Data can be transmitted via a certain global buffer variable towards the target system.

The buffer variable and the prototypes of the additional functions are shown in the table below.

Name Parameter Description
extern volatile int ITM_RxBuffer Buffer to transmit data towards debug system.

Value 0x5AA55AA5 indicates that buffer is empty.
int ITM_ReceiveChar (void) none The nonblocking functions returns the character stored in ITM_RxBuffer.

Return: -1 indicates that no character was received.
int ITM_CheckChar (void) none The function checks if a character is available in ITM_RxBuffer.

Return: 1 indicates that a character is available, 0 indicates that no character is available.

CMSIS Example

The following section shows a typical example for using the CMSIS layer in user applications. The example is based on a STM32F10x Device.

#include "stm32f10x.h"

volatile uint32_t msTicks;                       /* timeTicks counter */

void SysTick_Handler(void) {
  msTicks++;                                     /* increment timeTicks counter */
}

__INLINE static void Delay (uint32_t dlyTicks) {
  uint32_t curTicks = msTicks;

  while ((msTicks - curTicks) < dlyTicks);
}

__INLINE static void LED_Config(void) {
  ;                                              /* Configure the LEDs */
}

__INLINE static void LED_On (uint32_t led) {
  ;                                              /* Turn On  LED */
}

__INLINE static void LED_Off (uint32_t led) {
  ;                                              /* Turn Off LED */
}

int main (void) {
  if (SysTick_Config (SystemCoreClock / 1000)) { /* Setup SysTick for 1 msec interrupts */
    ;                                            /* Handle Error */
    while (1);
  }
  
  LED_Config();                                  /* configure the LEDs */                            
 
  while(1) {
    LED_On (0x100);                              /* Turn  on the LED   */
    Delay (100);                                 /* delay  100 Msec    */
    LED_Off (0x100);                             /* Turn off the LED   */
    Delay (100);                                 /* delay  100 Msec    */
  }
}