JumpStart M0Rapid Evaluation Program for the ARM Cortex-M0 Processor

The Cortex™-M0 Processor from ARM® is an excellent step up for systems needing more capability than an 8-bit processor can provide. The smallest and least power consuming processor that ARM offers, the Cortex-M0 gives 32-bit benefits in an 8/16-bit footprint.

ARM offers a free, simulation-ready evaluation version of the Cortex-M0 through the ARM DesignStart™ online IP portal. In addition, the ARM DesignStart license allows manufacturing of  low-volume designs with very low costs.

The DesignStart M0 is great for a quick look, but when it comes to robust evaluations or  product development many customers could use more. Wishlist items include:

• A set of peripherals that would allow representation of a realistic, complete system,
• Some way to effectively debug and run your system test code, and
• Support, so there’s no one to talk with about your particular application and system requirements.

You could overcome these deficiencies yourself, but CAST has a smarter approach: use our JumpStart M0 Evaluation Program.

JumpStart Gets You Going Quickly

JumpStart M0 gives you the missing pieces to quickly conduct a more realistic evaluation of the Cortex-M0, or even to start building production systems using it.

JumpStart complements the free ARM Cortex-M0 DesignStart IP portal download by providing:

• The pre-integrated, pre-verified PiP-M0 platform IP. This pre-integrates IP cores and essential software for a full working system, including peripherals, bus interfaces, and memory controllers.
• Necessary system simulation elements, including models, a testbench, and more for the Mentor Graphics® ModelSim® or Cadence® Incisive® tools, and a sample project for evaluation of the Keil™ µVision™ IDE.
• A hardware system evaluation capability with the platform IP pre-loaded on an FPGA board, a pre-defined C test project, and utilities and links to the Keil µVision tools.

JumpStart also offers various options for expert support, starting with one week free.

If you’re new to 32-bit system design, need to optimize performance or power usage, or just want to get your product to market as quickly as possible, help from our experienced ARM system designers can a make a huge difference.

The PiP-M0 Platform IP

One of our several ARM processor Platform IP offerings, the PiP-M0 provides necessary IP blocks interfaced to AMBA™ AHB and APB buses, plus drivers and other essential software.

You can optionally extend the platform to meet your system requirements by adding in any of our proven AMBA Infrastructure Cores, including additional timers, industry-standard system interfaces, an LCD controller, and more.

The PiP-M0 is especially effective when power consumption is an issue. It includes a full set of power management tools that work together with the ARM PMU, and its peripherals consume an efficient 53.8 µW/MHz.

The PiP-M0 is also relatively small:  the basic PiP-M0 platform needs just 10,750 gates in 0.18 nm process.

Simulation Evaluation

The bare DesignStart M0 download includes just the processor core and some RAM, allowing for only the simplest of simulations.

Our JumpStart program makes it easy to simulate complete, realistic systems built around the M0. Supporting both the Mentor ModelSim and Cadence Incisive simulators, it includes integrated simulation models for all the IP blocks, sample testbenches, simulation execution scripts, and thorough documentation.

JumpStart also helps you use the popular Keil µVision tools for evaluation or development. It includes a ready-to-run C source example project that sets up and tests the interrupt controller and timer, as well as transmitting characters from the UART.

FPGA Evaluation

Nothing provides a satisfying system evaluation like running in actual hardware, and JumpStart M0 makes this as easy as possible.
JumpStart offers:

• A commercially-available FPGA prototyping board to suit your needs (such Avnet’s Xilinx Virtex-5 board).
• A custom JumpStart design FPGA bitfile.
• A C–test project that exercises all the IP blocks and communicates through a UART/communications port connected to a PC.
• A Windows utility application that loads the Cortex-M0 image on or off the FPGA, and

  Getting started with JumpStart

  1. Register with ARM.
  2. Download the DesignStart M0 from the ARM site.
  3. Call CAST (+1 201.391.8300) to get your Jumpstart M0 package. (We'll need prrof of your DesignStart license.)
• Hooks between the FPGA system and Keil’s evaluation and development tools.

Try JumpStart M0 Today

We’ve made evaluation pricing for the JumpStart M0 and its various IP and hardware options extremely attractive. We also offer cost-effective options for additional support, and very competitive licenses for production after your evaluation.

Contact CAST Sales to learn more about JumpStart M0, and start your evaluation of this lean, efficient, yet powerful processor today.