ARM7 is a group of

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

RISC In electronics and computer science, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer architecture designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a comp ...

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...

processor cores licensed by

ARM Holdings Arm Holdings plc (formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England, whose primary business is the design of central processing ...

for

microcontroller A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...

use.ARM7 Family Webpage; ARM Holdings.
/ref> The ARM7 core family consists of ARM700, ARM710, ARM7DI, ARM710a, ARM720T, ARM740T, ARM710T, ARM7TDMI, ARM7TDMI-S, ARM7EJ-S. The ARM7TDMI and ARM7TDMI-S were the most popular cores of the family. ARM7 cores were released from 1993 to 2001 and no longer recommended for new IC designs; newer alternatives are

ARM Cortex-M The ARM Cortex-M is a group of 32-bit RISC ARM processor cores licensed by ARM Limited. These cores are optimized for low-cost and energy-efficient integrated circuits, which have been embedded in tens of billions of consumer devices. Thoug ...

cores.

Overview

This generation introduced the Thumb 16-bit instruction set providing improved code density compared to previous designs. The most widely used ARM7 designs implement the ARMv4T architecture, but some implement ARMv3 or ARMv5TEJ. ARM7TDMI has 37 registers (31 GPR and 6 SPR). All these designs use a

Von Neumann architecture The von Neumann architecture—also known as the von Neumann model or Princeton architecture—is a computer architecture based on the '' First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', written by John von Neumann in 1945, describing designs discus ...

, thus the few versions containing a cache do not separate data and instruction caches. Some ARM7 cores are obsolete. One historically significant model, the ARM7DI"ARM7DI Data Sheet"; Document Number ARM DDI 0027D; Issued: December 1994. is notable for having introduced

JTAG JTAG (named after the Joint Test Action Group which codified it) is an industry standard for verifying designs of and testing printed circuit boards after manufacture. JTAG implements standards for on-chip instrumentation in electronic design ...

based on-chip debugging; the preceding ARM6 cores did not support it. The "D" represented a JTAG TAP for debugging; the "I" denoted an ICEBreaker debug module supporting hardware breakpoints and watchpoints, and letting the system be stalled for debugging. Subsequent cores included and enhanced this support. It is a versatile processor designed for mobile devices and other low power electronics. This processor architecture is capable of up to 130 MIPS on a typical 0.13 μm process. The ARM7TDMI processor core implements

ARM architecture ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer, RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for central processing unit, com ...

v4T. The processor supports both 32-bit and 16-bit instructions via the ARM and Thumb instruction sets.

licenses the processor to various semiconductor companies, which design full chips based on the ARM processor architecture.

ARM license

ARM Holdings neither manufactures nor sells CPU devices based on its own designs, but rather licenses the processor architecture to interested parties. ARM offers a variety of licensing terms, varying in cost and deliverables. To all licensees, ARM provides an integratable hardware description of the ARM core, as well as complete software development toolset and the right to sell manufactured

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

containing the ARM CPU.

Silicon customization

Integrated device manufacturers (IDM) receive the ARM Processor IP as synthesizable

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

(written in

Verilog Verilog, standardized as IEEE 1364, is a hardware description language (HDL) used to model electronic systems. It is most commonly used in the design and verification of digital circuits, with the highest level of abstraction being at the re ...

). In this form, they have the ability to perform architectural level optimizations and extensions. This allows the manufacturer to achieve custom design goals, such as higher clock speed, very low power consumption, instruction set extensions, optimizations for size, debug support, etc. To determine which components have been included in a particular ARM CPU chip, consult the manufacturer datasheet and related documentation.

Cores

The original ARM7 was based on the earlier ARM6 design and used the same ARMv3 instruction set. The ARM710 variant was used in a CPU module for the Acorn

Risc PC Risc PC was a range of personal computers launched in 1994 by Acorn, replacing the Archimedes series. The machines use the Acorn developed ARM CPU and were thereby not IBM PC-compatible. At launch, the original Risc PC 600 model was fitted ...

, and the first ARM based

System on a Chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or Electronics, electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with computer memory, ...

designs ARM7100 and ARM7500 used this core.

ARM7TDMI

The ARM7TDMI (ARM7 + 16 bit Thumb +

Debug + fast Multiplier + enhanced ICE) processor implements the ARMv4 instruction set. It was licensed for manufacture by an array of

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

companies. In 2009, it was one of the most widely used ARM cores, and is found in numerous deeply embedded system designs. It was used in the popular video game console

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

licensed the ARM7TDMI, which was designed into the

Nokia 6110 The Nokia 6110 is a GSM mobile phone from Nokia announced on 18 December 1997 and released in 1998. It was a hugely popular follower of the Nokia 2110 (1994), and the first of the many Nokia 6xxx series business-targeted phones. Main improvemen ...

, the first ARM-powered GSM phone. This led to the popular series of Nokia phones using the processor, including the 3210 and 3310. The ARM7TDMI-S variant is the synthesizable core.

ARM7EJ-S

ITracker mini0806-S - GPS antenna - MTK MT3337V-0384

The ARM7EJ-S (ARM7 + Enhanced + Jazelle - Synthesizable) is a version of the ARM7 implementing the ARMv5TE instruction set originally introduced with the more powerful ARM9E core.

Chips

NAOMI Yamaha AICA Super Intelligent Sound Processor

ARM7TDMI or ARM7TDMI-S core

Analog Devices Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology, headquartered in Wilming ...

AD6720 (used in LG KG130/150), AD6724 (used in LG KP130/135), AD6726 (used in LG KP170/175) * Atmel AT91M,Atmel Legacy ARM-Based Solutions; Atmel.
/ref> AT91R, AT91SAM7L, AT91SAM7S/SE, AT91SAM7X/XC (see

AT91SAM7 Atmel ARM-based processors are microcontrollers and microprocessors integrated circuits, by Microchip Technology (previously Atmel), that are based on various 32-bit ARM processor cores, with in-house designed peripherals and tool support. Overvi ...

) *

STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics Naamloze vennootschap, NV (commonly referred to as ST or STMicro) is a European multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the largest of such companies in Europe. ...

STR7 *Alcatel Microelectronics (

) ALCATEL 2840 (MTC-20276 INTQ, MTC-20277 INTT); used in Alcatel One Touch 30x (BE4) *

PortalPlayer PortalPlayer, Inc., founded in 1999, was a fabless semiconductor company that supplied system-on-a-chip semiconductors, firmware and software for personal media players. The company handled semiconductor design and firmware development, while su ...

PP5002, PP5022 (used in iPods) * NXP LPC2100, LPC2200, LPC2300, LPC2400

Unreferenced ARM7 core

* ADMtek ADM8628 * Atmel AT91CAP7 * Cirrus Logic CL-PS7110 * Mediatek MT2502 (ARM7 EJ-STM) * NetSilicon NS7520 *

Nuvoton Nuvoton Technology Corporation () is a Taiwanese semiconductor company established in 2008. It originated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Winbond Electronics Corp. before becoming an independent entity. It became a public company in September 201 ...

NUC500, NUC700 * LH7 *

5002, 5003, 5020, 5021-TDF, 5022, 5024 SOCs (dual ARM7TDI cores) * Samsung S3C46Q0X01-EE8X, S3C44B0X * Yamaha AICA (ARM7DI) – sound processor with DSP

Notable uses

* Apple

eMate 300 The eMate 300 is a personal digital assistant designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer to the education market as a low-cost laptop running the Newton operating system. It was the only Apple Newton Device with a built-in keyboard. Th ...

– laptop running

Newton OS ''Newton OS'' is a discontinued operating system for the Apple Newton PDAs produced by Apple Computer, Inc. between 1993 and 1997. It was written entirely in C++ and trimmed to be low power consuming and use the available memory efficiently. Ma ...

* Apple

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

– the first 5 generations of the

iPod Classic The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and originally simply iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a spin-off (the ...

as well as the Mini and first Nano used dual-core ARM7TDMI processors * iRobot

Roomba A Roomba is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner made by the company iRobot, and was first introduced in September 2002. Roombas have a set of sensors which help them navigate the floor area of a home. These sensors can detect the presence ...

– robotic vacuum cleaner *

Lego Mindstorms NXT Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit released by Lego on August 2, 2006. It replaced the Lego Mindstorms#Robotics Invention System, Robotics Invention System, the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit. The base kit ships in two ve ...

– 2nd generation robotics toy line from Lego * Microsoft

Zune HD The Zune HD is a portable media player in the Zune product family released on September 15, 2009, by Microsoft. It was a direct competitor with Apple's iPod Touch series of mobile devices. It was initially released in 16 and 32 GB capacities ...

– portable media player * Nintendo

– handheld video game console *

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

– successor to the Game Boy Advance *

– first GSM phone to use an ARM processor * Sega

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

– home video game console (audio coprocessor) * Sony

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

– home video game console (security handler)

References

External links

* * Architecture Reference Manual
ARMv4/5/6
* Core Reference Manuals
ARM7DI
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0214b/DDI0214.boom.pdf ARM7EJ-S
ARM7TDMIARM7TDMI-SARM710aARM710TARM720TARM740T
* Instructions: Thumb
1
, ARM and Thumb-2
2
, Vector Floating Point
3
* Opcodes: Thumb
12
, ARM
34
, GNU Assembler Directive
5

Differences between ARM7TDMI and ARM7TDMI-S

A starter's tutorial on ARM assembly
ARM7TDMI Microcontroller Development Resources
- schematics, CAD files, header files {{Clear ARM processors 32-bit microprocessors