# ARM-software/CMSIS_5

CMSIS Version 5 Development Repository

Repository: https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_5
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cmsis_5
Homepage: http://arm-software.github.io/CMSIS_5/index.html
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Archived: true
Last push: 2024-09-03T14:33:59+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3849, "days_push": 729, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1603, forks 1100 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:09.869463+00:00)

## What it is
CMSIS (Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard) Version 5 is ARM's standardized vendor-independent abstraction layer for ARM Cortex-M and Cortex-A processors, providing core APIs, peripheral driver interfaces, RTOS APIs, DSP and neural network kernels. It is the foundation for portable embedded firmware across ARM microcontrollers, though development has moved to CMSIS Version 6.

## Use cases
- write portable firmware across different ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers
- access Cortex-M core peripherals with a standardized API
- run optimized DSP and neural network kernels on Cortex-M MCUs
- interface middleware like file systems or communication stacks with MCU peripherals
- use a common RTOS API with a reference RTX implementation
- develop bare-metal or RTOS-based embedded applications on Cortex-A cores

## When to choose
- you are developing embedded C/C++ firmware for ARM Cortex-M or Cortex-A processors
- you need vendor-independent hardware abstraction for ARM microcontrollers
- you want efficient NN or DSP kernels optimized for Cortex-M
- you must maintain or build on legacy projects pinned to CMSIS 5

## When to avoid
- you are starting a new project that can adopt CMSIS Version 6
- you target non-ARM architectures like RISC-V or x86
- you need a high-level application framework rather than low-level hardware abstraction

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: sdk, embedded, middleware, machine-learning
- domain: embedded-systems, hardware, developer-tools, machine-learning
- platform: embedded, c, cpp
- tags: arm, cortex-m, cortex-a, rtos, microcontroller, cmsis, neural-network-kernels, peripheral-drivers, bare-metal

## Member repositories
- ARM-software/CMSIS_5 (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:09.869463+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:52:21.895845+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_5 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:09.869463+00:00, sha d21494df4756)
  - homepage: http://arm-software.github.io/CMSIS_5/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:24:00.329867+00:00, sha 9ec4ec6418ff)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.