ARM Cortex-A5 explained

ARM Cortex-A5
Produced-Start:	2011
Slowest:	233 MHZ
Fastest:	1.00 GHZ
Designfirm:	ARM Holdings
Manuf1:	TSMC
Arch:	ARMv7-A
Numcores:	1–4
L1cache:	4–64 KB/4–64 KB

The ARM Cortex-A5 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2009.

Overview

The Cortex-A5 is intended to replace the ARM9 and ARM11 cores for use in low-end devices.^[1] The Cortex-A5 offers features of the ARMv7 architecture focusing on internet applications e.g. VFPv4 and NEON advanced SIMD.^[2]

Key features of the Cortex-A5 core are:

• Single-issue, in-order microarchitecture with an 8-stage pipeline^[1]
• NEON SIMD instruction set extension (optional)
• VFPv4 floating-point unit (optional)
• Thumb-2 instruction set encoding
• Jazelle RCT
• 1.57 DMIPS / MHz

Chips

Several system-on-chips (SoC) have implemented the Cortex-A5 core, including:

• Actions Semiconductor ATM7029 (gs702a) is a quad-core Cortex-A5 configuration
• AMD APUs include a Cortex-A5 as a security co-processor^[3]
• Amlogic S805, M805 and A111
• Analog Devices ADSP-SC57x, ADSP-SC58x series ARM Cortex-A5 + SHARC+ multicore DSP
• Atmel SAMA5Dxx
• Freescale Vybrid Series
• NTC Module 1879VM8Ya (penta-core Cortex-A5, up to 800 MHz)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7x25A / MSM7x27A (up to 1.0GHz + Adreno 200)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play
• Samsung Exynos 7420 (Cortex-A5 as an audio DSP)^[4]
• Spreadtrum SC8810 (single core A5 1 GHz + Mali400 GPU)
• contain a Cortex-A5 as a Platform Security Processor^[5]

See also

• ARM architecture
• Comparison of ARMv7-A microarchitectures
• JTAG
• List of applications of ARM microarchitectures
• List of ARM microarchitectures

External links

ARM Holdings

• • ARM Cortex-A5 Technical Reference Manuals

Notes and References

1. Web site: ARM fills out CPU lineup with Cortex A5 . Oct 23, 2009 . Ars Technica . Jon Stokes . 2012-10-18.
2. Web site: Cortex-A5 Processor. February 2015.
3. Web site: AMD 2013 APUs To Include ARM Cortex-A5 Processor For TrustZone Capabilities . 2012-06-13 . . Ryan Smith . 2012-10-17.
4. Web site: The Samsung Exynos 7420 Deep Dive - Inside A Modern 14nm SoC . AnandTech . 2015-06-15.
5. presentation slides . Robert . Buhren . Alexander . Eichner . 2020-08-05 . All You Ever Wanted to Know about the AMD Platform Security Processor and were Afraid to Emulate - Inside a Deeply Embedded Security Processor . presentation . https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=KR8bPLj4nKE&t=2320 . Black Hat USA 2020 . https://www.blackhat.com/us-20/briefings/schedule/#all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-amd-platform-security-processor-and-were-afraid-to-emulate---inside-a-deeply-embedded-security-processor-20106 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230622161736/https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=KR8bPLj4nKE&t=2320 . 2023-06-22 . live . 2023-06-22 . The Cortex used inside the AMD CPU is a Cortex A5.