Introduction to the development history of ARM architecture

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Introduction to the development history of ARM architecture [Copy link]

So far ( 2016 ), the ARM architecture has developed to the eighth generation ARMv8 . Before understanding the latest architecture, it is necessary to review the development history of ARM architecture:

　　In 1985 , the ARMv1 architecture was born. This version of the architecture only appeared in the prototype ARM1 , had only 26 bits of addressing space ( 64MB ), and was not used in commercial products.

　　In 1986 , the ARMv2 architecture was born. The first mass-produced ARM processor ARM2 was based on this architecture, which included support for 32 -bit multiplication instructions and coprocessor instructions, but still had a 26- bit addressing space. Later, a variant ARMv2a appeared. ARM3 adopted ARMv2a and was the first ARM processor to use on- chip cache .

　　In 1990 , the ARMv3 architecture was born. The first microprocessor to adopt the ARMv3 architecture was ARM6 ( 610 ) and ARM7 , which had on-chip cache, MMU and write buffer, and the addressing space was increased to 32 bits ( 4GB ).

　　In 1993 , the ARMv4 architecture was born. This architecture was widely used, and ARM7 ( 7TDMI ), ARM8 , ARM9 ( 9TDMI ) and StrongARM adopted this architecture. ARM introduced the T variant instruction set in this series , that is, the processor can work in Thumb state, and added a 16 -bit Thumb instruction set.

In 1998 , the ARMv5 architecture was born. ARM7 ( EJ ), ARM9 ( E ), ARM10 ( E ) and Xscale adopted this architecture. This version of the architecture improved the efficiency of switching between ARM/Thumb states. In addition, DSP instructions and JAVA support were introduced .

　　In 2001 , the ARMv6 architecture was born. ARM11 uses this architecture, which enhances the graphics processing performance. The voice and image processing functions are greatly improved by adding SIMD for effective multimedia processing. In addition, ARM introduced the hybrid 16 -bit /32 -bit Thumb-2 instruction set in this series .

In 2004 , the ARMv7 architecture was born. From this time on, ARM renamed the processor with Cortex . Cortex-M3/4/7 , Cortex-R4/5/6/7 , Cortex-A8/9/5/7/15/17 are all based on this architecture. This architecture includes NEON technology extensions, which can increase DSP and media processing throughput by up to 400% , and provide improved floating-point support to meet the needs of next-generation 3D graphics and games as well as traditional embedded control applications.

　　In 2007 , the ARMv6-M architecture was derived from ARMv6 . This architecture is designed specifically for low-cost, high-performance devices, providing a powerful 32-bit solution to the market previously dominated by 8-bit devices. Cortex - M0 /1/0+ uses this architecture.

　　In 2011 , the ARMv8 architecture was born. Cortex-A32/35/53/57/72/73 uses this architecture. This is ARM 's first processor architecture that supports 64 -bit instruction sets .