14.5.4 CP15 Register Access
CP15 registers can only be accessed in privileged mode by:
- MCR (Move to Coprocessor from ARM Register) instruction is used to write an ARM register to CP15.
- MRC (Move to ARM Register from Coprocessor) instruction is used to read the value of CP15 to an ARM register.
Other instructions such as CDP, LDC, STC can cause an undefined instruction exception.
The assembler code for these instructions is:
MCR/MRC{cond} p15, opcode_1, Rd, CRn, CRm, opcode_2
The MCR/MRC instructions bit pattern is shown below:
| Bit | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | |
| cond | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Bit | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | |
| opcode_1 | L | CRn | |||||||
| Bit | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | |
| Rd | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bit | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| opcode_2 | 1 | CRm | |||||||
• CRm[3:0]: Specified Coprocessor Action
Determines specific coprocessor action. Its value is dependent on the CP15 register used. For details, see CP15 specific register behavior.
• opcode_2[7:5]
Determines specific coprocessor operation code. By default, set to 0.
• Rd[15:12]: ARM Register
Defines the ARM register whose value is transferred to the coprocessor. If R15 is chosen, the result is unpredictable.
• CRn[19:16]: Coprocessor Register
Determines the destination coprocessor register.
• L: Instruction Bit
0: MCR instruction
1: MRC instruction
• opcode_1[23:20]: Coprocessor Code
Defines the coprocessor specific code. Value is c15 for CP15.
• cond [31:28]: Condition