ST boasts world's most powerful Cortex-M microcontroller

Using the Green Hills Software compiler version 2012 to perform CoreMark tests, ST says that 29% more performance than rival processors was recorded. CoreMark tests produce a single number score designed to compare processors from various manufacturers. The STM32 F4 series produced the highest ever score of 469, operating at its highest maximum frequency of 168MHz – equivalent to 2.79 Coremark/MHz, another record in embedded processing. When executing from ram, performance was even higher at 532 CoreMark or 2.86 CoreMark/MHz. According to ST, the reason for the high performance is due to the device's architecture that includes its Adaptive Real Time accelerator that speeds up code and data retrieval from Flash memory. This increases the performance of the standard Cortex-M4 processing engine which comprises a 32bit mcu, floating point unit and enhances designed to enable efficient execution of dsp single cycle instructions. ST's general manager, Microcontroller Division, said: "In combination with the enhanced Green Hills compiler, the ART accelerator is a key feature enabling the STM32 F4 series to extend its world beating performance. The advanced architecture of the STM32 F4 series allows customers to draw maximum benefit from the market leading performance improvements of the latest Green Hills compiler. It is already the world's most powerful Cortex-M processor based microcontroller available in the market, and compiler version 2012 demonstrates even more performance from the unique ART accelerator and other outstanding features of the family." Chris Smith, vice president of marketing, Green Hills Software, added: "With the new compiler version 2012, Green Hills Software has achieved a milestone by boosting the Cortex-M based STM32 F4 series to new performance records."