Cortex-A32

The Cortex-A32 processor is Arm’s smallest, lowest-power Armv8-A processor optimized for 32-bit embedded applications.

Information on Cortex-A32.

Getting Started

The Cortex-A32 processor uses an efficient, 8-stage, in-order pipeline that has been extensively optimized to provide the 32-bit Armv8-A features in the smallest footprint and power.

Specifications

Architecture 32-bit Armv8-A
Extensions Armv8-A Cryptographic Extension
Multicore 1-4x Symmetrical Multiprocessing (SMP) within a single processor cluster, and multiple coherent SMP processor clusters through AMBA 4 technology
ISA Support
  
  • AArch32 for full backward compatibility with Armv7
  • TrustZone security technology
  • Neon Advanced SIMD
  • DSP & SIMD extensions
  • VFPv4 Floating point
  • Hardware virtualization support
Debug & Trace
 CoreSight SoC-400

Start designing now

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Armv8-A Cryptographic Extension

The Armv8 Cryptographic Extension provides instructions for the acceleration of encryption and decryption, and includes:

  • Armv8.0-AES, which includes AESD and AESE instructions.
  • Armv8.0-SHA, which includes the SHA1* and SHA256* instructions.

The presence of the Cryptographic Extension in an implementation is subject to export license controls. The Cryptographic Extension is an extension of the SIMD support and operates on the vector register file

The Cryptographic Extension also provides multiply instructions that operate on long polynomials. The Cryptographic Extension provides this functionality in AArch64 state and AArch32 state, and an implementation that supports both AArch64 state and AArch32 state provides the same Cryptographic Extension functionality in both states.

Characteristics

The Cortex-A32 processor delivers higher efficiency (performance per mW) and higher performance than the Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A5 processors.

The graph depicts relative performance improvements delivered by the Cortex-A32 processor compared to the Cortex-A5 and Cortex-A7 processors across some of the popular benchmarks. The performance comparisons are for the same clock frequency and same processor configurations. 

  • Manual containing technical information.

  • Cortex-A32 Technical Reference Manual

    For system designers and software engineers, the Cortex-A32 manual provides information on implementing and programming Cortex-A32 based devices.

    Read here
  • A program that is running on a desktop.

  • Cortex-A Series Programmer's Guide for Armv8-A

    Common to all Cortex-A series processors, this programmer's guide is useful for assembly and C language application development for Armv8-A.

    Get the guide
  • a ulink, a board, a desktop.

  • Development Tools for Cortex-A

    Arm and our partners provide specialist code generation, debug and analysis tools for software development on Cortex-A series processors, such as DS-5 Development Studio.

    Learn more
  • Line drawing of letter, email etc.

  • Cortex-A32 Whitepaper

    The whitepaper explains how the Cortex-A32 is an ideal stepping stone into the Cortex-A family for traditional Cortex-M products.

    Download

Cortex-A Comparison Table (Armv7-A)

Feature Cortex-A5 Cortex-A7 Cortex-A9 Cortex-A15 Cortex-A17
Instruction set architecture and extensions Armv7-A Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization		 Armv7-A Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization		 Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization
Pipeline In order In order Out of order Out of order Out of order
Superscalar No Partial Yes Yes Yes
Neon and Floating Point Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional Included
Floating Point Unit only Optional Optional Optional Optional Included
Cryptography Unit No No No No No
Physical Addressing (PA) 32-bit 40-bit 32-bit 40-bit 40-bit
Dual Core Lock-Step (DCLS) No No No No No
L1 I-Cache / D-Cache 4k-64k 8k-64k 16k-64k 32kB/32kB 32k-64k/32k
L2 Cache External L2C-310 Up to 1MB External L2C-310 512kB-4MB 256kB-8MB
L3 Cache NA NA NA NA NA
ECC / Parity   No Yes Yes L2 only
LPAE No Yes No Yes Yes
Bus Interfaces AXI ACE AXI ACE or CHI ACE
ACP Optional No Optional Optional Optional
Peripheral Port     No No Yes
Functional Safety Support          
Security TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone
Interrupt Controller Optional Integrated GIC v1 (MP only) Optional Integrated GIC v2 Internal Integrated GIC v1 (MP only) Optional Integrated GICv2 External GICv2
Generic Timer No Yes Yes Armv8-A Armv8-A

Cortex-A Comparison Table (Armv8-A)

Feature Cortex-A32 Cortex-A34 Cortex-A35 Cortex-A53 Cortex-A55 Cortex-A57 Cortex-A65 Cortex-A65AE Cortex-A72 Cortex-A73 Cortex-A75 Cortex-A76 Cortex-A76AE Cortex-A77 
Instruction set architecture and extensions Armv8-A AArch32 only Armv8-A AArch64 only Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only) Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product
Pipeline In order In order In order In order In order Out of order Out of order Out-of-order Out of order Out of order Out-of-order Out-of-order Out-of-order Out-of-order
Superscalar       Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Neon and Floating Point Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Floating Point Unit only N/A N/A N/A N/A Optional Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
Cryptography Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional N/A Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional
Physical Addressing (PA) 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 44-bit 44-bit 40-bit 40-bit 44-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit
Dual Core Lock-Step (DCLS) No No No No No No No Yes (in safety-mode) No No No No Yes (in safety-mode) No
L1 I-Cache / D-Cache 8k-64k 8k-64k 8k-64k 8k-64k 16kB-64kB 48kB/32kB 16KB to 64KB 16KB to 64KB 48KB/32kB-64kB 32k/32k-64k 64KB 64KB 64KB 64KB
L2 Cache 128KB-1MB 128KB-1MB 128KB-1MB 128KB-2MB 64kB-256kB 512kB-2MB 64KB to 256KB 64KB to 256KB 512kB-4MB 256k-8MB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB
L3 Cache NA NA NA NA Optional
From 256kB to 4MB		 NA Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB NA NA Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB
ECC / Parity Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes L2 only Yes Yes Yes Yes
LPAE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bus Interfaces ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI
ACP Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Yes Optional Optional Optional Yes Optional Optional Optional Optional
Peripheral Port         Optional   Optional Optional     Optional Optional Optional Optional
Functional Safety Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes   Yes Yes   Yes Yes Yes Yes
Security TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone
Interrupt Controller External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4
Generic Timer Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A

 

Get Support

Arm Support

Arm training courses and on-site system-design advisory services enable licensees to efficiently integrate the Cortex-A32 processor into their design to realize maximum system performance with lowest risk and fastest time-to-market.

Arm training courses  Arm Design Reviews  Open a support case

Related IP

The Cortex-A32 processor can be incorporated into an SoC using a broad range of Arm technology including Graphics IP, System IP, and Physical IP. The Cortex-A32 processor is fully supported by Arm development tools. Related IP includes:

 

Graphic IP
 Other IP
 Tools

Mali-470 GPU

Mali-DP550 display processor

Mali-V550 video processor

CoreLink Interconnect

Interrupt Controllers

CoreLink Cache Coherent Interconnect Family

Memory Controllers

CoreSight SoC-400

POP IP

DS-5 Development Studio

Fixed Virtual Platforms

Development Boards

Arm Compiler

Fast Models

 

Community Forums

Answered How to specify virtual Address for pl011 uart in linux kernel
  • APB Peripherals
  • Arm11
  • PrimeCell UART (PL011)
  • Interrupt
 0 votes 4163 views 6 replies Latest 4 days ago by smithclarkson01 Answer this
Answered Nuvoton M2351 Keil RTX5 Hard faults on OS initialization
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  • TrustZone for Armv8-M
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 0 votes 291 views 2 replies Latest 7 days ago by Joseph Yiu Answer this
Answered EXC_RETURN when is floating point stack save? 0 votes 348 views 1 replies Latest 10 days ago by Trampas Answer this
Answered How to verify the Cortex-M0 thumb instructions ? I found one chip( RAM &FLASH is OK) when it run LDR relative instructions,the program is in Hardfault。But others run the same code is OK 0 votes 2094 views 19 replies Latest 13 days ago by hyue Answer this
Answered Memory related issue with MCU startup ( __libc_init_array )
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  • stm32l4
 0 votes 4024 views 7 replies Latest 18 days ago by en2senpai Answer this
Answered When the generic timer starts to tick? 0 votes 1345 views 2 replies Latest 23 days ago by rzsz Answer this
Answered How to specify virtual Address for pl011 uart in linux kernel Latest 4 days ago by smithclarkson01 6 replies 4163 views
Answered Nuvoton M2351 Keil RTX5 Hard faults on OS initialization Latest 7 days ago by Joseph Yiu 2 replies 291 views
Answered EXC_RETURN when is floating point stack save? Latest 10 days ago by Trampas 1 replies 348 views
Answered How to verify the Cortex-M0 thumb instructions ? I found one chip( RAM &FLASH is OK) when it run LDR relative instructions,the program is in Hardfault。But others run the same code is OK Latest 13 days ago by hyue 19 replies 2094 views
Answered Memory related issue with MCU startup ( __libc_init_array ) Latest 18 days ago by en2senpai 7 replies 4024 views
Answered When the generic timer starts to tick? Latest 23 days ago by rzsz 2 replies 1345 views