Title:Arm Architecture Reference Manual 2nd Ed

Review Date: JAN 2002
Author: David Seal
Pub: Addison Wesley
ISBN: 0-201-37319-1
COST: -
DISK/CD N/A
Cover: soft
Pages: lots!
Keywords: ARM Embedded
Recommendation: Recommended
Source: - direct from publisher

This is exactly what it says it is: An Architectural reference. If you need to understand the low level architecture and write code that directly interfaces with the hardware this is the book. (You will probably be writing in assembler or C) No fluffy introductions and descriptive discussions. It is not for students and home users it is a serious(low level) programmers reference. Not much more you can say about it really.

 

It gives registers and instruction bit encoding for both ARM and Thumb. There are instructions on how the floating-point unit (and DSP) works also a whole section on the memory, MMU, buffers and cache. If you need to know how the mechanics of the processor works and what all the bits do this is the book.

 

For an introduction to the ARM core and a descriptive text on how it, and it's component parts, work try Steve Furber's Arm System on a chip Architecture, also from AW

 

As a Reference Manual I like it. It covers ARM to ARMv5TE and is darted June 2000 so you will need the next edition for ARM 7, 9 or 10,