ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A Difference (ARMv7-A vs ARMv8-A) by ARM Holdings

ARMv7-A and ARMv8 by ARM Holdings. 

ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A are different instruction set architectures (ISAs) developed by ARM Holdings. They are commonly used in mobile devices, embedded systems, and other computing devices.

ARMv7-A:

ARMv7-A is the seventh version of the ARM architecture.

It introduced several advancements over previous versions, including support for 32-bit processing, improved performance, and enhanced power efficiency.

ARMv7-A supports both ARM and Thumb instruction sets.

It includes features like ARM TrustZone technology, virtualization support, and hardware-based floating-point operations.

ARMv7-A processors are widely used in older smartphones, tablets, and embedded systems.

ARMv8-A

ARMv8-A is the eighth version of the ARM architecture.

• It represents a significant architectural update over ARMv7-A, introducing support for both 32-bit and 64-bit processing.
• ARMv8-A includes the ARMv8.1-A and ARMv8.2-A extensions, offering improved performance, enhanced security features, and expanded virtualization capabilities.
• It features the ARMv8-A AArch64 execution state, enabling native 64-bit processing, while also maintaining backward compatibility with 32-bit code execution.
• ARMv8-A processors are commonly found in modern smartphones, tablets, servers, and other computing devices.

In summary, ARMv7-A is a 32-bit architecture, while ARMv8-A supports both 32-bit and 64-bit processing. ARMv8-A offers improved performance, enhanced security features, and expanded virtualization capabilities compared to ARMv7-A.