CMSIS-DSP Libraries for IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm

CMSIS, or Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard, consists of a vendor-independent hardware abstraction layer for Arm Cortex processors which provides consistent device support. It provides simple software interfaces to the processor and the peripherals, simplifying software re-use, reducing the learning curve for developers, and reducing the time to market for new devices.

Designed on top of CMSIS, CMSIS-DSP is a comprehensive suite of compute kernels for applications requiring compute performance on mathematics (basic, fast, real, complex, quaternion, linear algebra), filtering (DSP), transforms (FFT, MFCC, DCT), statistics, classical ML, and related functionalities, built as a library for Arm Cortex-M devices.

In general, the CMSIS-DSP Library is supposed to be delivered as a CMSISPack provided by silicon vendors. However, the library can also be used by non-CMSISPack projects. This repository offers a process for building the CMSIS-DSP Library from its latest sources, in IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm, for non-CMSISPack enabled projects.

IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm unleashes compute performance when paired with highly optimized CMSIS-DSP libraries on Cortex-M devices.

How to build CMSIS-DSP Libraries

The CMSIS-DSP Library is released in source form. It is strongly advised to build the library with optimizations for high speed to get the best performances.

Software components

Currently this repository uses the following software:

• IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm v10.10.2 (previous releases)
• CMSIS-DSP v1.17.1
• CMSIS v6.3.0

Cloning

Set a persistent environment variable for your operating system named CMSIS_DSP_PATH containing the path to which you intend to clone this repository. This environment variable serve as a persistent reference for any application projects making use of one these libraries.

• Linux (using Bash)

# Automatically sourced at login by XDG-compliant Desktop Environments (KDE, GNOME, XFCE, etc.)
mkdir -p ~/.config/environment.d
echo "CMSIS_DSP_PATH=~/.iar/IAR-CMSIS-DSP" >> ~/.config/environment.d/xdg.conf

# For Bash and friends
echo "export CMSIS_DSP_PATH=~/.iar/IAR-CMSIS-DSP" >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/IARSystems/IAR-CMSIS-DSP $CMSIS_DSP_PATH

• Windows (using Command Prompt)

setx CMSIS_DSP_PATH "%USERPROFILE%/.iar/IAR-CMSIS-DSP"
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/IARSystems/IAR-CMSIS-DSP %CMSIS_DSP_PATH%

Building

We provide an Embedded Workbench Workspace to facilitate the building of static libraries for the supported core variants.

In IAR Embedded Workbench for Arm:

1. Open the <CMSIS_DSP_PATH>/Library/arm_cortexM_math.eww workspace.
2. Hit F8
3. Choose Build All .

The libraries can be found at <CMSIS_DSP_PATH>/Lib/iar_*_math.a. Unless there are changes in the compiler version or in the CMSIS-DSP Library sources, there is no explicit need to build them more than once. They are reusable by any applications linking against them.

The project in this workspace brings a build configuration for each supported core. Inspect the build configurations for further details.

Examples

We provide an Embedded Workbench Workspace at <CMSIS_DSP_PATH>/Examples/CMSIS-DSP_Examples.eww, with projects ready to run on a simulated Cortex-M4 target with single-precision FPU.

Using the Library

The library functions are declared in the arm_math.h public header file. Simply include this header file to your application.

In your application project, consider the following options:

Project → Options (Alt + F7) → General Options → Target

In your application project, select the desired target device. By default, new projects comes with Core:Cortex-M3.

Project → Options (Alt + F7) → C/C++ Compiler → Preprocessor

IAR Embedded Workbench can map environment variables when they are expressed between $_ and _$ (e.g., $_CMSIS_DSP_PATH_$).

Add the following header directories to your compiler's preprocessor options in your project:

$_CMSIS_DSP_PATH_$/CMSIS_6/CMSIS/Core/Include
$_CMSIS_DSP_PATH_$/CMSIS-DSP/Include

Project → Options (Alt + F7) → Linker → Libraries

The table below maps which library to use for each supported Arm Cortex-M core:

Cortex-M core	Architecture	Endian	soft float	SP float	DP float	HP float
M0	ARMv6-M	little	cortexM0l
M0	ARMv6-M	big	cortexM0b
M3	ARMv7-M	little	cortexM3l
M3	ARMv7-M	big	cortexM3b
M4	ARMv7E-M	little	cortexM4l	cortexM4lf
M4	ARMv7E-M	big	cortexM4b	cortexM4bf
M7	ARMv7E-M	little	cortexM7l	cortexM7ls	cortexM7lf
M7	ARMv7E-M	big	cortexM7b	cortexM7bs	cortexM7bf
M23	ARMv8-M Baseline	little	ARMv8MBLl
M33	ARMv8-M Mainline	little	ARMv8MMLl	ARMv8MMLlfsp	ARMv8MMLlfdp
M35P	ARMv8-M Mainline	little	ARMv8MMLl	ARMv8MMLlfsp	ARMv8MMLlfdp
M55	ARMv8.1-M Mainline	little	ARMv81MMLld		ARMv81MMLldfdp	ARMv81MLldfdph
M85	ARMv8.1-M Mainline	little	ARMv81MMLld		ARMv81MMLldfdp	ARMv81MLldfdph

In your application project, add the CMSIS-DSP Library matching your application's target device. Follow the naming convention $_CMSIS_DSP_PATH_$/Lib/iar_<library-selection>_math.a.

For example, an application developed for a Cortex-M55 with double-precision FPU should be linked against:

$_CMSIS_DSP_PATH_$/Lib/iar_ARMv81MMLldfdp_math.a

Issues

• For IAR technical support contact IAR Customer Support.
• For problems related to the contents of this repository, please create a new issue in here.
• For problems with the CMSIS-DSP Library itself, reach out to the CMSIS-DSP team. Please create a new issue in here.