Arm® Cortex®-M85 in a nutshell

Introduction:

The Arm Cortex®-M85 processor unlocks the highest compute performance along with advanced DSP and ML capabilities for endpoint AI applications in IoT devices. It delivers over 6 CoreMark/MHz, enabling demanding use cases to be realized on a single, simple-to-program Cortex®-M processor. Cortex®-M hallmarks such as determinism, short interrupt response time, and state-of-the-art low-power management remain uncompromised on the Cortex®-M85.

The Cortex®-M85 is the highest performing Cortex®-M processor based on Arm Helium vector processing technology, delivering unprecedented scalar, DSP, and ML performance for Cortex®-M class devices. It offers developers a fast path to AI-enabled IoT solutions with a broad ecosystem and integrated security features.

Key features of Arm® Cortex®-M85 core

  • Armv8.1-M mainline architecture
  • Bus interface AMBA® 5 AXI5 64-bit master (compatible with AXI4 IPs)
  • 4-stages pipeline
  • TrustZone® technology for Armv8-M security
  • Digital signal processing (DSP) extension
  • Hardware divide instruction
  • Arm custom instructions
  • Up to 64 Kbytes instruction cache with ECC
  • Up to 64 Kbytes data cache with ECC
  • Up to 16 Mbytes instruction tightly coupled memory (TCM) with ECC
  • Up to 16 Mbytes data TCM with ECC
  • Supports up to 480 external interrupts + non-maskable interrupt (NMI)
  • Maximum 16 MPU regions
  • Dual core lock-step (DCLS) configuration
  • Multiple power domains, sleep modes (sleep, deep-sleep), sleep-on-exit, optional retention support for memories and logic
  • Internal/external wake-up interrupt controller
  • Hardware and software breakpoints
  • Performance monitoring unit (PMU)
  • Optional instruction trace
  • Data trace (DWT)
  • Instrumentation trace macrocell (ITM)
arm cortex m0 plus Arm Cortex-M85 block diagram

Key advantages of Arm® Cortex®-M85 core

The Cortex®-M85 processor is designed to deliver ultimate endpoint AI performance with the highest scalar, DSP, and ML throughput in the Cortex®-M family. It integrates Arm Helium vector processing technology, enabling enhanced, power-efficient DSP and machine learning capabilities with over 6 CoreMark/MHz performance.

The Cortex®-M85 supports Arm TrustZone® technology for robust embedded security, and introduces the new PACBTI extension, which provides pointer authentication and branch target identification, further mitigating control-flow attacks.

Its floating-point unit supports half-, single-, and double-precision formats, enabling flexible and efficient processing for a wide range of signal and sensor data workloads.

The Corstone-310 reference package accelerates time-to-market by providing a secure, pre-integrated SoC subsystem, including power and clock infrastructure, TrustZone® security, and software ecosystem support.

Microcontrollers based on the Arm® Cortex®-M85

The STM32V8 is the first STM32 MCU featuring an Arm Cortex®-M85 core