Although a wide range of potential applications exists for the ARMV8-M processors, developers working on secure real-time applications will certainly see the largest benefit. So far, the ARMV8-M architecture can be found in M23 and M33 Cortex-M and M35P processors. Let’s take a look at the new features included in ARMV8-M and how these processors differ from previous generation ARMV7-M parts.
[...] The ARMV8-M feature that really sets the M23, M33, and M35P apart is their support for ARM TrustZone. TrustZone is a security extension that provides hardware isolation within the microcontroller so that developers can create secure and unsecure regions. These regions can be locations in RAM, Flash, or even interrupts and peripherals. The separation between secure and unsecure regions creates isolation within the microcontroller, allowing developers to protect mission-critical code and data.
The isolation creates two new modes that the processor can be running in: secure and unsecure. When in secure mode, the executing code can access all memory within both the secure and unsecure zones. However, if the processor is executing in the unsecure zone, only the unsecure regions can be seen. The secure regions are hidden and cannot be executed from the unsecure state without special code being added, which creates a gateway to access a secure call. This makes it possible to use secure functions while hiding what is happening behind the scenes.
There are several other new features that developers will find interesting besides the TrustZone extension. These include:
- Simpler MPU setup
- Flexible breakpoint configuration
- Improved trace support
- Instruction set enhancements
- Dynamic reprioritization of interrupts
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday August 11 2018, @01:30AM (2 children)
The answer is simple: leave it to the Indians. Not that they know shit from shine-ola, but we can always dream...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @02:10AM (1 child)
Can you get any stupider? We don't think so.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:23PM
Things can always get more stupid. Take 2015 for instance. I didn't think America could get more stupid than it already was, but then 2016 happened :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.