With the rapid development of Internet of Things and the complexity of application environment, especially the demand for embedded AI, and with the rapid development of microelectronics technology, a variety of embedded system kernel architectures have emerged, such as MCS-5 1 architecture, MIPS architecture, PowerPC architecture, ARM architecture and RISC-V architecture. With the user's pursuit of product function diversification, and the increasing demand for lower power consumption, more humanized human-computer interaction interface and multi-task, the traditional 8-bit 5 1 single chip microcomputer based on MCS-5 1 architecture can no longer meet such complex applications in processing capacity and storage capacity. ARM has successfully launched 32-bit Cortex-M series cores for general-purpose MCU, as well as major semiconductor manufacturers (such as NXP, TI, ST, Atmel, etc. ) have developed their own MCU for different application fields based on this kernel. Using standardized kernel, on the one hand, it reduces the research and development difficulty of semiconductor chip manufacturers in chip architecture and shortens the time to market; On the other hand, due to the use of the same ARM core, in order to achieve product differentiation, major semiconductor manufacturers have focused on peripheral interfaces, power consumption, memory resources and other aspects, and launched a series of products for their respective advantageous application fields. From the perspective of embedded developers, this method reduces the difficulty for developers to learn and master the application development of single chip microcomputer. Learners only need to study a single chip microcomputer in depth for the general kernel and master its essence, so that they can achieve mastery. Designing and producing MCU products with unified standardized kernel has become the development trend of embedded MCU.
ARM also has deep cooperation with major semiconductor manufacturers, and has formed a good and complete ecological industry chain/ecosystem on chip-related development tools and software solutions, which not only provides a series of efficient and easy-to-use development tools (such as Keil and IAR) for embedded developers, but also provides rich resources (such as OS, firmware library and application routines). ). It has obvious advantages in key links such as improving development efficiency, reducing development cost and shortening development cycle. For example, the STM32 series products developed by ST Company for Cortex-M kernel provide various firmware libraries for STM32 development, such as standard peripheral library, HAL library and LL library. These library files located in the middle layer of embedded composition structure shield complex register development, so that embedded developers can quickly build system prototypes by calling API functions. At present, the development mode based on library has become the mainstream mode of embedded system development.
As the underlying supporting technology of the Internet of Things, embedded technology is one of the core technologies of the Internet of Things. Both the bottom layer and the sensing layer of the Internet of Things involve the driver development technology of microcontroller and peripheral interface in embedded system. Under the current trend of the integration of Internet of Things with mobile Internet, artificial intelligence and big data, the application fields of Internet of Things, such as intelligent manufacturing, smart home, intelligent transportation and smart medical care, have an increasing demand for embedded technical talents, and embedded AI is welcoming the future with a vigorous attitude.