Download Udemy – Mastering Embedded ‘Systems programming’ on ARM Cortex-M4 2023-3

• The process of manipulating memory directly on a microcontroller either through macros or through structure pointers
• Although pointers for embedded systems look similar to their workstation counterparts, there are subtle differences that can break a program if not handled carefully.
• In embedded firmware development, since program efficiency, determinism, energy efficiency, memory size, writing efficient C programs, and tracking compiled assembly code from C/C++ are of great importance.
• The interrupt handling process is complex, and the generated stack frames differ between implementations such as floating-point stacking and floating-point stacking and unstacking. Interrupt preemption is a complex feature and must be used carefully.
• The Linking and Make process is also highly misunderstood. The subject of object files, portability, and icon resolution pose unique challenges, and consolidated information about them is scarce.
• Object file formats are also a gray area that can cause a lot of confusion when understanding the linking process. Different tables in object file like symbol table, displacement table are difficult to understand without proper guidance.
• I/O pin configuration also presents challenges if the electricity and circuitry of the pins is not well understood. There are several configurations in which each pin of a microcontroller can operate, such as open drain, pull-up, high impedance, etc.
• The clock tree is also very complex for a high-end microcontroller. Multiple clock sources feeding clocks to different subsystems make the initial learning curve very steep. Beyond that, high-frequency clocks are driven by PLLs, which are complex circuits themselves and require a good deal of understanding when configuring them.
• Initializing the processor can be tricky, especially the part where the memory is reset after each reset. Understanding the .text, .data, and .bss sections and setting them up correctly at startup presents unique challenges.

In this course I try to address all the above challenges with theory, diagrams, animation and code. There are many demos to explain difficult concepts. I cleared all the concepts through extensive debugging sessions in the IDE while inspecting the various subsystems of the controller in real-time. I have taken the following steps to resolve the challenges

• Accessing memory and operations in various ways such as macros and structures. I developed concepts gradually until I arrived at the final form of phrases. I have shown examples of incorrect memory access via structures and their reduction. Real-time bitwise operations are checked in the debugger.
• To understand the linking process, I created code samples and first manually compiled each source file and looked at the ELF object files, symbol tables, and displacement tables along with disassembly. When files are compiled into a single object file by the linker, symbol resolution and code and symbol displacement are clearly explained by looking at the final object file. The linker script file is explained in detail with diagrams before and after initialization of the memory.
• An extensive debugging session of the startup process that explains how the processor adjusts memory in real time. The reset controller is described and illustrated in C. The process of initializing the .data segment in RAM and initializing the .bss segment and stack is shown in full detail.
• The Make process is explained using several Makefiles, each one increasing in complexity slightly, until the final make-file is written and fully explained. The build dependency diagram is explained and many possible error scenarios in make are discussed to explain how Makefiles deal with them. This is a comprehensive and competent behavior of Make that helps developers write templates for deeply embedded systems.
• Interrupt handling is shown in detail along with theory. Representation and theory of interrupt handling and preemption for non-floating and floating-point configurations. Concepts such as lazy stacking in the debugger are explained and demonstrated.
• The clock tree is explained in detail. PLL calculations for frequency tuning. Theory of operation of PLL with explanation of various subsystems of PLL like voltage controlled oscillator, frequency divider, phase frequency detector, low pass filter with pictures, animations and timing diagrams. Show the initialization of registers in the clock tree subsystem in the debugger.
• I/O circuit and then I/O pin configuration. All pin modes are described, such as push-pull, open-drain, analog, and alternate functions.

Installation guide

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