Powering off Cortex M4

Technical Support
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1

Hello,
we are experiencing some heat issues on some devices in specific hot regions and we are trying different solutions, including powering off the Cortex M4, as we no longer need the code that was previously running on it.
How can I do that?

Regards,
Rocco

2

Hi @RoccoBr ,

Thanks for reaching out.

Can you elaborate a bit on that?
Do you want to stop the M4 from running your code? Or do you want to power off the M4 so that it does not consume power anymore?

Would you also be willing to jump in a call to discuss the details?

Best Regards
Kevin

3

hi @kevin.tx ,
I would like to power off the M4 so it doesn’t consume power.

sure, we can have a call

4

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to completely power off the M4 core. However, it can be set to Deep Sleep Mode. This can be done using the General Power Controller. Please refer to Chapter 5.2, 'General Power Controller (GPC),’ in the i.MX 8M Mini Applications Processor Reference Manual for details

5

Hi @alex.tx ,
can you please provide instructions about how to program the GPC from TorizonCore? is it possible to do from user space?

Regards,
Rocco

6

It should be possible to access HW registers from user space. Please check this link for more info. Details about GPC programming are listed in the i.MX 8M Mini Applications Processor Reference Manual. Some demos/examples can be found here. Please note that not a significant difference in the overall system power consumption is expected when the M4 core is in Deep Sleep mode or if it just stopped by HALT command.