CMSIS enables consistent device support and simple software interfaces to the processor and its peripherals, simplifying software reuse, reducing the learning curve for microcontroller developers, and reducing the time to market for new devices.
A super-loop concept is only adequate for simple embedded applications. Cortex-M microcontrollers are designed for real-time operating systems that give you resource and time control.
CMSIS-RTOS is an API that enables consistent software layers with middleware and library components. CMSIS-RTOS RTX runs on every Cortex-M device and is the proven reference implementation that is easy to learn and use.
Developing a real-time digital signal processing (DSP) system is not trivial as the DSP algorithms rely heavily on complex mathematical operations that are even time-critical.
CMSIS-DSP library is a rich collection of DSP functions that Arm has optimized for the various Cortex-M processor cores. CMSIS-DSP is widely used in the industry and enables also optimized C code generation from various third-party tools.
Interfacing microcontroller peripherals with middleware or generic application code can be challenging as each device is different. Ready-to use CMSIS-Driver interfaces are today available for many microcontroller families and avoid cumbersome and time consuming driver porting.
Previously, software modules were hard to integrate as the source and header files had unclear requirements, inconsistent documentation, or missing license information.
Because CMSIS-Packs defines the structure of a software pack containing software components, these issues are addressed. Software components are easily selectable, and any dependencies on other software are highlighted.
Explore CMSIS-Packs
For every supported microcontroller, debuggers can provide detailed views to the device peripherals that display the current register state.
CMSIS-SVD files enable these views, and ensure that the debugger view matches the actual implementation of the device peripherals.
Inexpensive development boards are available from many microcontroller vendors. Frequently, a low-cost debug unit is included, but different interfaces need a specific tool setup.
CMSIS-DAP is a standardized interface to the Cortex Debug Access Port (DAP) and is used by many starter kits and supported by various debuggers.
Neural network-based solutions are becoming increasingly popular for embedded machine learning applications.
CMSIS-NN is a collection of efficient neural network kernels developed to maximize the performance and minimize the memory footprint of neural networks on Cortex-M processor cores.