SAM7SE512_14 Datasheet, PDF (92/682 Pages) ATMEL Corporation – High-performance 32-bit RISC Architecture

There is no priority in the protection of the memory spaces. In case of overlap between several
memory spaces, the strongest protection is taken into account. If an access is performed to an
address which is not contained in any of the 16 memory spaces, the Memory Protection Unit
generates an abort.
The reset value of MC_PUIAx registers is 0, which blocks all access to the first 1K of memory
starting at address 0, which prevents the core from reading exception vectors. Therefore, all
regions must be programmed to allow read/write access on the first 4M Bytes of the
memory range during MPU initialization.
18.4.6
Embedded Flash Controller
The Embedded Flash Controller is added to the Memory Controller and ensures the interface of
the flash block with the 32-bit internal bus. It allows an increase of performance in Thumb Mode
for Code Fetch with its system of 32-bit buffers. It also manages with the programming, erasing,
locking and unlocking sequences thanks to a full set of commands.
18.4.7
Misalignment Detector
The Memory Controller features a Misalignment Detector that checks the consistency of the
accesses.
For each access, regardless of the master, the size of the access and the bits 0 and 1 of the
address bus are checked. If the type of access is a word (32-bit) and the bits 0 and 1 are not 0,
or if the type of the access is a half-word (16-bit) and the bit 0 is not 0, an abort is returned to the
master and the access is cancelled. Note that the accesses of the ARM processor when it is
fetching instructions are not checked.
The misalignments are generally due to software bugs leading to wrong pointer handling. These
bugs are particularly difficult to detect in the debug phase.
As the requested address is saved in the Abort Status Register and the address of the instruc-
tion generating the misalignment is saved in the Abort Link Register of the processor, detection
and fix of this kind of software bugs is simplified.
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