The evba7 platform HAL package is loaded automatically when eCos is
configured for a evba7 target. It should
never be necessary to load this package explicitly. Unloading the
package should only happen as a side effect of switching target
hardware.
Startup
The evba7 platform HAL package supports two separate startup types:
RAM
This is the startup type which is normally used during application
development. The board has the GDB stubrom or RedBoot programmed into
flash at location 0x0 in internal on-chip Flash and boots from that
location. arm-eabi-gdb is then used to load
a RAM startup application into memory and debug it. It is assumed that
the hardware has already been initialized by the ROM monitor. By
default the application will use the eCos virtual vectors mechanism to
obtain certain services from the ROM monitor, including diagnostic output.
ROM
This startup type can be used for finished applications which will
be programmed into internal flash at location 0x0. The application will
be self-contained with no dependencies on services provided by other
software. eCos startup code will perform all necessary hardware
initialization.
The ROM Monitor and Virtual Vectors
If the application is intended to act as a ROM monitor, providing
services for other applications, then the configuration option
CYGSEM_HAL_ROM_MONITOR should be set. Typically
this option is set only when building the GDB Stubrom or RedBoot.
If the application is supposed to make use of services provided by a
ROM monitor, via the eCos virtual vector mechanism, then the
configuration option CYGSEM_HAL_USE_ROM_MONITOR
should be set. By default this option is enabled when building for a
RAM startup, disabled otherwise. It can be manually disabled for a RAM
startup, making the application self-contained, or as a testing step
before switching to ROM startup.
If the application does not rely on a ROM monitor for diagnostic
services then serial port UART0 will be claimed for HAL
diagnostics.
System Clock
By default, the system clock interrupts once every 10ms, corresponding
to a 100Hz clock. This can be changed by the configuration option
CYGNUM_HAL_RTC_DENOMINATOR which corresponds to the
clock frequency. Other clock-related settings are recalculated
automatically if the denominator is changed. The PLL multipliers and
dividers may be configured to allow a core clock (CCLK) speed of up to
60MHz. The description of the clock-related CDL options may be found
in the LPC2xxx variant HAL documentation.
Compiler Flags
The platform HAL defines the default compiler and linker flags for all
packages, although it is possible to override these on a per-package
basis. Most of the flags used are the same as for other architectures
supported by eCos.
However there are two flags that are used if Thumb mode is to be supported:
-mthumb
The arm-eabi-gcc compiler will compile
C and C++ files into the Thumb instruction set when this option is used.
-mthumb-interwork
This option allows programs to be created that mix ARM and Thumb instruction
sets. Without this option, some memory can be saved. This option should
be used if -mthumb is used.