Answer to Question #163020 in Assembler for ayesha

Question

Cortex-A OR Cortex-MQuestion DescriptionA smartwatch is a very useful device developed by several companies these days including Apple, Samsung, Motorola and several others. It has a touch screen interface providing features like GPS tracking, heart rate and sleep monitoring etc. with power efficient batteries. The ARM Cortex processors are used in smartwatches providing several benefits.

 

Suppose we have to choose between ARM Cortex-A or Cortex-M series architecture for our next generation smartwatch. Which one would you select between the two and why? Support your selection of either architecture with solid reasoning considering memory management, cost, performance and chip size.Cortex-A OR Cortex-MQuestion DescriptionA smartwatch is a very useful device developed by several companies these days including Apple, Samsung, Motorola and several others. It has a touch screen interface providing features like GPS tracking, heart rate and sleep monitoring etc. with power efficient batteries. The ARM Cortex processors are used in smartwatches providing several benefits.

 

Suppose we have to choose between ARM Cortex-A or Cortex-M series architecture for our next generation smartwatch. Which one would you select between the two and why? Support your selection of either architecture with solid reasoning considering memory management, cost, performance and chip size.

Answer 1

    ARM has the tech to power a wide range of products, but when it comes to designing a full product, developers have to get the balance just right. ARM sees a split in the design practices that it recommends to its hardware developers: Cortex-M chips for basic wearables, and a combination of Cortex-A and -M cores for higher-end products.

    The most basic smart watches can get away with a simple MCU but the more features it has, the higher the requirements will be in terms of processing power.

     For basic devices, which typically require extended battery life and little user input, the Cortex-M series is perfect for the job, due to its low power requirements and efficient instruction set. However, devices that are required to work with more advanced user inputs and richer software would benefit from the optimized Cortex-A design, as it offers a better balance of performance and power consumption, and the full ARM 32-bit instruction set found in smartphones.

    The wearable Cortex-A designs also make use of ARM’s Mali range of GPUs, which can be used for improved user interfaces and other graphically intensive tasks. A simple fitness tracker with a monochrome LCD display won’t need it, but for advanced smartwatches that do quite a bit of heavy lifting, a Mali GPU core can enable a superior user experience.

    Therefore, for our next generation smartwatches, the ARM Cortex-A and Cortex-M series architecture can be chosen. The choice will depend on the purpose and complexity of the tasks that the smartwatch should perform.