The CMSIS-Core Device Files implement CMSIS-Core support for a specific microcontroller device or family of devices. These files are typically provided by the device vendor and use CMSIS-Core Standard Files via #include directives.

CMSIS-Core specifies the organization of CMSIS-Core Device Files, defines their functionalities, and provides unified naming conventions. This brings following benefits:

Simplified device support for vendors with fast scaling for device families and variants on all Arm Cortex-M cores.
Uniform workflows and experience for application developers.

Following CMSIS-Core Device Files are defined:

Delivery in CMSIS-Packs explains how to distribute CMSIS-Core Device Files in CMSIS-Pack format.

Device Template Files

CMSIS-Core includes the template files that simplify the creation of CMSIS-Core Device Files for a specific device variant.

Silicon vendors typically need to add to these template files the following information:

Device Peripheral Access Layer that provides definitions for device-specific peripherals.
Access Functions for Peripherals (optional) that provides additional helper functions to access device-specific peripherals.
Interrupt vectors in the startup file that are device specific.

Template File	Description
📂 CMSIS/Core/Template/Device_M	Folder with CMSIS-Core device file templates (See on GitHub)
┣ 📂 Config	Template configuration files
┣ 📄 Device_ac6.sct	Scatter-Loading description file <device>_ac6.sct template
┣ 📄 Device_gcc.ld	Linker description file for GNU GCC Arm Embedded Compiler
┗ 📄 partition_Device.h	TrustZone setup: partition_<Device>.h template
┣ 📂 Include	Template header files
┣ 📄 Device.h	Device Header File <Device.h> template
┗ 📄 system_Device.h	system_Device Template Files
┗ 📂 Source	Template C files
┣ 📄 startup_Device.c	Startup File startup_<Device>.c template
┗ 📄 system_Device.c	system_Device Template Files

Adapt Template Files to a Device

Each template file contains comments that start with ToDo: and describe required modifications.

The templates contain several placeholders that need to be replaced when creating CMSIS-Core device files:

Placeholder	To be replaced with
`<Device>`	The specific device name or device family name, for example `LPC17xx`
`<DeviceInterrupt>`	The specific interrupt name of the device, for example `TIM1` for Timer 1 interrupt
`<DeviceAbbreviation>`	Short name or abbreviation of the device family, for example `LPC`
`Cortex-M#`	The specific Cortex-M processor name, for example `Cortex-M3`

Device files for the Device Examples can be also a good reference point for implementing CMSIS-Core support for specific devices.