Pyjama Brah!

ARMv-8a IRQ handling

Interrupt handling is a very critical part of any architecture. For ARM64, they are looked at from a certain lense. Let’s see how.

ARMv-8a EL0<->EL1 Switching

Syscalls and switching between different exception levels is a very intricate topic filled with minute details which are often overlooked. Let’s dive into details.

From Design to Tapeout (Physical Design) - Beginner's guide

If you’ve ever wondered how the tiny chips powering your smartphone or laptop come to life, you’re in for a treat.

ARMv-8a Exception Levels

ARM-A is the most prevalent architecture out there powering billions of devices. We will be covering these topics over the course of multiple articles in this series.

System on Chip (SoC) and Bare-Metal Programming

A System on Chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines multiple components of a computer or electronic system into a single chip.

Power Management IC (PMIC)

A Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) is a critical component in modern electronic devices, designed to manage power requirements efficiently. It takes input from a DC power supply or a battery, delivers regulated power to various system components, and often includes functionality to charge an onboard battery.

Bootloaders on Cortex-M CPUs

Bootloaders are the unsung heroes of ARM Cortex-M-based systems, ensuring reliable startup, application execution, and firmware updates. By leveraging the Cortex-M’s vector table, VTOR, and low-power features, developers can create efficient and secure bootloaders tailored to their application’s needs.

Roadmap to Learning Linux Device Drivers

Most Linux device driver engineers cannot reason about how the Linux kernel boots or how a device driver is loaded. This post details how you should learn to write device drivers by being able to reason down to the hardware level.

OpenWRT vs. RDK vs. prplOS

What does a humble device like a router do? To most, a router is used till it breaks like many other devices in the house. The router plays such an important role by making sure your netflix works smoothly. However, a solo glance at its shell will reveal a battle raged for OpenWRT, RDK, and prplOS.

Anatomy of Assembly Program

I am going to explain the anatomy of assembly code using RISC-V as an example since it’s a clean, modern instruction set architecture (ISA) that’s easy to understand. Assembly code is a low-level programming language that directly corresponds to machine instructions executed by a processor.

Git, Gerrit! and the Industry

Git and Gerrit are pivotal tools in the software development industry, each serving distinct yet complementary roles that enhance collaboration, code quality, and workflow efficiency.

Hand coding Audio files in C

Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM) is a method used to digitally represent analog signals, particularly audio. It works by sampling the amplitude of an analog signal at regular intervals and then quantizing those samples into a series of discrete numerical values. These values are stored or transmitted as binary data, making PCM a foundational technique for digital audio in computers, CDs, DVDs, and other media.

A shallow dive into do{..}while(0) loop in C

In this article, I want to talk about the do{..}while(0) construct in C. This construct is often used in C programming to define multi-statement macros. It is a common pattern used in the Linux kernel and other standard C projects. I will take an example of a macro that is not safe and show how do{..}while(0) construct can be used to make it safe. Especially in the conditional statements.

Scopes of Identifiers in C

In the C programming language, the scope of an identifier determines where it can be accessed or referenced within a program. Understanding the different scopes in C is crucial for managing variable and function names effectively without causing conflicts.

Optimizing Timer Management in Embedded Systems with Delta Lists

Efficient timer management is a crucial aspect of embedded systems, especially in applications requiring low-power operation, RTOS scheduling, or precise event timing. One of the most efficient ways to manage multiple software timers is the delta list approach, which significantly reduces CPU overhead and optimizes wake-up schedules.

Storage Classes in the C Language

In the C programming language, a storage class defines the scope (visibility) and life-time of variables and/or functions within a program. There are four fundamental storage classes that can be used to define these properties: auto, register, static, and extern.

Tokens in C Language

In the C programming language, tokens are the smallest individual units of a program that the compiler recognizes and processes during lexical analysis, the first phase of compilation. The C compiler breaks down the source code into tokens before proceeding to syntax analysis and further stages. Tokens are the building blocks of a program, and understanding them is fundamental to grasping how C code is interpreted.

Abstractions - From Nature to AI

The layers of abstraction all the way down to Nature that lead us to the world of Electronics, Solid State machines and AI. This article explores the contracts that got us to where we are.Let us start by asking the question -

Writing a RISC-V CPU!

Few days back I decided to implement a RISC-V rv32i CPU and deploy it on an FPGA. Here are some initial thoughts on how I will go about doing this (and potentially you can follow).

ARMv-8a IRQ handling

ARMv-8a EL0<->EL1 Switching

From Design to Tapeout (Physical Design) - Beginner's guide

ARMv-8a Exception Levels

System on Chip (SoC) and Bare-Metal Programming

Power Management IC (PMIC)

Bootloaders on Cortex-M CPUs

Roadmap to Learning Linux Device Drivers

OpenWRT vs. RDK vs. prplOS

Anatomy of Assembly Program

Git, Gerrit! and the Industry

Hand coding Audio files in C

A shallow dive into do{..}while(0) loop in C

Scopes of Identifiers in C

Optimizing Timer Management in Embedded Systems with Delta Lists

Storage Classes in the C Language

Tokens in C Language

Abstractions - From Nature to AI

Writing a RISC-V CPU!

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