Cortex-A5

Characteristics

The Cortex-A5 is the smallest and lowest power applications processor, delivering rich functionality to high-performance, power-sensitive devices.

The processor’s small physical size also means reduced manufacturing costs, reduced system leakage and increased low-cost integration. Compared to the Cortex-A9 processor, the Cortex-A5 achieves more than 50% power efficiency while maintaining around 70-75% of the same performance level, making it ideal for wearable technology.

The Cortex-A5 processor is designed to be a highly configurable processor. The instruction and data cache sizes, for example, can be configured from a 64KB maximum size to as small as 4KB for cost-sensitive applications requiring a small application processor with a Memory Management Unit (MMU).

Cortex-A Comparison Table (Armv7-A)

Cortex-A Comparison Table (Armv8-A)

Arm support

 Arm training courses and on-site system-design advisory services enable licensees to effectively integrate the Cortex-A5 into their design.

Related IP

The Cortex-A5 processor can be incorporated into an SoC using a broad range of Arm technology including Graphics IP, System IP, and Physical IP. The Cortex-A5 processor is fully supported by Arm development tools. Related IP includes:

The Cortex-A5 also offers other configurability options such as optional Floating-Point Unit (FPU) and Neon which enable designers to make trade-offs for performance and cost in their targeted application. In its smallest possible configuration with 4KB caches, the Cortex-A5 can be just 0.2mm2 in size at 28nm process technology.