1. Article purpose[edit source]
The purpose of this article is to:
- briefly introduce the RETRAM internal memory peripheral and its main features,
- indicate the peripheral instances assignment at boot time and their assignment at runtime (including whether instances can be allocated to secure contexts),
- list the software frameworks and drivers managing the peripheral,
- explain how to configure the peripheral.
2. Peripheral overview[edit source]
The RETRAM internal memory is located in the VSW power domain, allowing it to be supplied during Standby low power mode, and to retain retention firmware or data in Standby mode.
2.1. STM32MP15x lines 
[edit source]
On STM32MP15x lines , the RETRAM internal memory is 64 Kbytes wide and is physically near to the Arm® Cortex®-M4 for optimized performance from the core and to execute very quickly by the Cortex-M4 on wake up from Standby mode.
The Cortex-M4 firmware has to be loaded to the RETRAM , starting at address 0x00000000. At least, it must load the part of the firmware containing the vector table, since the Arm® Cortex®-M4 reset entry point is address 0x00000004. The rest of the firmware code is loaded into the MCU SRAM. The overall memory mapping is shown in the platform memory mapping section.
While going to Standby low power mode, the RETRAM can remain supplied, so it can preserve a (small) Arm® Cortex®-M4 piece of retention firmware that is executed on wake up when the ROM code (running on Arm® Cortex®-A7) restarts the Arm® Cortex®-M4.
2.2. STM32MP2 series[edit source]
On STM32MP2 series, the RETRAM internal memory is 128 Kbytes wide and mainly dedicated to the Arm® Cortex®-M33 for autonomous wakeup from low power Standby mode.
The Cortex-M33 firmware with low power functions has to be loaded to the "RETRAM" with associated reference CRC by the main processor (TDCID) following the procedure described in the SRAM configuration controller (RAMCFG) chapter of STM32MP25 reference manuals.
On Standby exit, in case of wake up event assigned to Arm® Cortex®-M33, the SoC will verify the RETRAM integrity thanks to associated HW ECC and then the Cortex-M33 firmware integrity by checking CRC. In case of success, the SoC will start Cortex-M33 at start address of the RETRAM. Else an error will be generated and sent to main processor or a system reset generated according to system configuration.
Moreover RETRAM is protected by a RISAB memory firewall which allows to define some memory regions with different access rights with a 4kB granularity. Each region can be assigned to the different execution contexts of the plateform.
Refer to the STM32 MPU reference manuals for the complete list of features, and to the software frameworks and drivers, introduced below, to see which features are implemented.
3. Peripheral usage[edit source]
This chapter is applicable in the scope of the OpenSTLinux BSP running on the Arm® Cortex®-A processor(s), and the STM32CubeMPU Package running on the Arm® Cortex®-M processor.
3.1. Boot time assignment[edit source]
3.1.1. On STM32MP15x lines [edit source]
At boot time, The RETRAM internal memory can contain the Arm® Cortex®-M4 firmware, but could also be dedicated to some other usages.
Click on 
to expand or collapse the legend...
Check boxes illustrate the possible peripheral allocations supported by STM32 MPU Embedded Software:
- ☐ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given boot time context.
- ☑ means that the peripheral is assigned by default to the given boot time context and that the peripheral is mandatory for the STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ⬚ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given boot time context, but this configuration is not supported in STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ✓ is used for system peripherals that cannot be unchecked because they are hardware connected in the device.
The present chapter describes STMicroelectronics recommendations or choice of implementation. Additional possibilities might be described in STM32 MPU reference manuals.
| Domain | Peripheral | Boot time allocation | Comment
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instance | Cortex-A7 secure (ROM code) |
Cortex-A7 secure (TF-A BL2) |
Cortex-A7 non-secure (U-Boot) | |||
| Core/RAM | RETRAM | RETRAM | ☐ | |||
3.1.2. On STM32MP2 series[edit source]
At boot time, The RETRAM internal memory can contain the Arm® Cortex®-M33 firmware, but could also be dedicated to some other usages. Arm® Cortex®-A35 FSBL (TF-A BL2) uses the end of RETRAM to store DDR parameters to be restored on low power mode exit.
Click on to expand or collapse the legend...
- ☐ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given boot time context.
- ☑ means that the peripheral is assigned by default to the given boot time context and that the peripheral is mandatory for the STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ⬚ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given boot time context, but this configuration is not supported in STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ✓ is used for system peripherals that cannot be unchecked because they are hardware connected in the device.
The present chapter describes STMicroelectronics recommendations or choice of implementation. Additional possibilities might be described in STM32MP25 reference manuals.
| Domain | Peripheral | Boot time allocation | Comment
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instance | Cortex-A35 secure (ROM code) |
Cortex-A35 secure (TF-A BL2) |
Cortex-A35 non-secure (U-Boot) | |||
| Core/RAM | RETRAM | RETRAM | ☑ | DDR parameters are stored in RETRAM by TF-A BL2. | ||
3.2. Runtime assignment[edit source]
3.2.1. On STM32MP15x lines [edit source]
At runtime the RETRAM can be allocated to:
- the Arm® Cortex®-M4 (default) for use with the STM32Cube MPU Package, either for runtime firmware that can be mapped in both RETRAM and MCU SRAM, or for retention firmware that only fits into the RETRAM ,
or
- the Arm® Cortex®-A7 secure to be used under OP-TEE,
or
- the Arm® Cortex®-A7 non-secure to be used under Linux as reserved memory.
Click on to expand or collapse the legend...
Check boxes illustrate the possible peripheral allocations supported by STM32 MPU Embedded Software:
- ☐ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given runtime context.
- ☑ means that the peripheral is assigned by default to the given runtime context and that the peripheral is mandatory for the STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ⬚ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given runtime context, but this configuration is not supported in STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ✓ is used for system peripherals that cannot be unchecked because they are hardware connected in the device.
Refer to How to assign an internal peripheral to an execution context for more information on how to assign peripherals manually or via STM32CubeMX.
The present chapter describes STMicroelectronics recommendations or choice of implementation. Additional possiblities might be described in STM32MP15 reference manuals.
| Domain | Peripheral | Runtime allocation | Comment
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instance | Cortex-A7 secure (OP-TEE) |
Cortex-A7 non-secure (Linux) |
Cortex-M4 (STM32Cube) | |||
| Core/RAM | RETRAM | RETRAM | ⬚ | ⬚ | ☑ | Assignment to the Arm® Cortex®-M4 if used |
3.2.2. On STM32MP25x lines [edit source]
At runtime the RETRAM can be allocated to different contexts thanks to RISAB5 memory firewall:
- the Arm Arm® Cortex®-M33 secure for use with TF-M for mainly low power functions that allows Arm® Cortex®-M33 to exit from low power Standby mode by itself.
- the Arm® Cortex®-M33 non-secure for use with the STM32Cube MPU Package. Could be used in combination with other memories like SRAM or DDR
- the Arm® Cortex®-A35 secure to be used under OP-TEE,
- the Arm® Cortex®-A35 secure to be used under TF-A BL31
- the Arm® Cortex®-A35 non-secure to be used under Linux as reserved memory,
Click on to expand or collapse the legend...
Check boxes illustrate the possible peripheral allocations supported by STM32 MPU Embedded Software:
- ☐ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given runtime context.
- ☑ means that the peripheral is assigned by default to the given runtime context and that the peripheral is mandatory for the STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ⬚ means that the peripheral can be assigned to the given runtime context, but this configuration is not supported in STM32 MPU Embedded Software distribution.
- ✓ is used for system peripherals that cannot be unchecked because they are hardware connected in the device.
The present chapter describes STMicroelectronics recommendations or choice of implementation. Additional possibilities might be described in STM32MP25 reference manuals.
| Domain | Peripheral | Runtime allocation | Comment
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instance | Cortex-A35 secure (OP-TEE / TF-A BL31) |
Cortex-A35 non-secure (Linux) |
Cortex-M33 secure (TF-M) |
Cortex-M33 non-secure (STM32Cube) |
Cortex-M0+ (STM32Cube) | |||
| Core/RAM | RETRAM | RETRAM | ☐OP-TEE
☐TF-A BL31 |
⬚ | ☑ | ☐ | ||
4. Software frameworks and drivers[edit source]
The RETRAM is the minimum (and default) memory for the Arm® Cortex®-M4 firmware.The software frameworks and component managing the RETRAM device to host the Arm® Cortex®-M4 firmware are listed below.
- Linux®: Linux reserved memory and Linux remoteproc framework
- OP-TEE: OP-TEE remoteproc source code
- STM32Cube: STM32CubeMP15 Package and STM32CubeMP2 Package
5. How to assign and configure the peripheral[edit source]
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Coming soon |
Arm® is a registered trademark of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere. 
Arm® is a registered trademark of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.