Specifications
The Cortex-M23 processor is a very compact, two-stage pipelined processor that supports the Armv8-M baseline instruction set. The Cortex-M23 with TrustZone is the ideal processor for the most constrained IoT and embedded applications where security is a key requirement.
TrustZone for Armv8-M provides hardware-enforced isolation between the trusted and the untrusted resources on the Cortex-M23 device, while maintaining the efficient exception handling and determinism that have been the hallmark of all Cortex-M processors.

Architecture | Armv8-M Baseline |
Bus Interface | AMBA 5 AHB (Von Neumann bus architecture) Optional single cycle I/O interface |
ISA Support | Thumb/Thumb-2 subset |
Pipeline | Two-stage |
Software Security |
Optional TrustZone for Armv8-M with optional security Attribution Unit of up to 8 regions Stack limit checking for Secure stack pointers |
Memory Protection | Optional Memory Protection Unit (MPU) with up to 16 regions per security state |
Interrupts | Non-maskable Interrupt (NMI) and up to 240 physical interrupts with 4 priority levels |
Wake-up Interrupt Controller | Optional for waking up the processor from state retention power gating or when all clocks are stopped |
Sleep Modes | Integrated WFI and WFE Instructions and Sleep On Exit capability Sleep and Deep Sleep Signals |
Enhanced Instructions | Hardware single-cycle (32x32) multiply and fast (32/32) divide option |
Debug | Optional JTAG or Serial Wire Debug ports, up to 4 Breakpoints and 4 Watchpoints |
Trace | Optional Micro Trace Buffer (MTB) or Embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) |
Reference package or system example |
Corstone-102 |
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Characteristics
Performance efficiency 2.64 CoreMark/MHz* and 0.98 DMIPS/MHz**
Arm Cortex-M23 Implementation Data*** |
||
40LP (9-track, typical 0.99V,-40°C) |
28HPC+ (9-track, typical 0.81V, 0°C) |
|
Dynamic power | 3.86 μW/MHz |
2.26 μW/MHz |
Floor planned area |
0.0088 mm2 |
0.0037 mm2 |
*See: EEMBC Benchmark Score Viewer
**The result abides by all of the “ground rules” laid out in the Dhrystone documentation and using the original (K&R) v2.1 of Dhrystone.
*** Minimum configuration with full ISA support and Interrupt Controller, includes 1 IRQ + NMI, excludes ETM, MPU and debug.