Getting Started with FRDM-MCXA346

2.1 Install Your Toolchain

NXP offers a complimentary toolchain called MCUXpresso integrated development environment (IDE). Please download MCUXpresso v24.12.148 or above.

Need help choosing?

Get MCUXpresso IDE

Get MCUXpresso for virtual studio (VS) Code

Learn how to install VS Code for your host PC with the following tutorial.

Want to use a different toolchain?

No problem! The MCUXpresso software development kit (SDK) includes support for other tools such as IAR , Keil and command-line GNU compiler collection (GCC).

IAR , KEIL  and command-line GCC .

2.2 Jump Start Your Design with the MCUXpresso SDK

The MCUXpresso SDK is complimentary and includes full source code under a permissive open source license for all hardware abstraction and peripheral driver software. You may install the MCUXpresso SDK directly from the MCUXpresso SDK website at MCUXpresso SDK Builder . Click on the button below to open this board's SDK builder.

Get MCUXpresso SDK

2.3 MCUXpresso Config Tools

The MCUXpresso Config Tools is a suite of configuration tools that guide users in creating new MCUXpresso SDK projects—fully integrated as a part of MCUXpresso IDE and also as a separate tool if using a different IDE. The suite includes pin and clock tools to generate initialization C code for custom board support.

Click Get MCUXpresso Config Tools below to get the Config Tools installer.

2.4 Programming and Provisioning Tools

The MCUXpresso Secure Provisioning (SEC) Tool is a graphical user interface-based (GUI-based) application provided to simplify the generation and provisioning of bootable executables on NXP microcontroller unit (MCU) devices. We recommend that all users begin with the MCUXpresso Secure Provisioning (SEC) tool for trial run and mass production use. It supports secure programming and device provisioning on NXP's microcontrollers at the production stage.

After downloading the tool, you can find the user guide under the Help tab. Follow the instructions for your board in the "processor-specific workflow" chapter.

SEC Installation

If one or more of the demo applications or driver examples sounds interesting, you may want to know how you can build and debug them yourself. The Getting Started with MCUXpresso software development kit (SDK) guide provides easy, step-by-step instructions on how to configure, build and debug demos for all toolchains supported by the SDK.

3.1 Build and Flash an Application Using MCUXpresso IDE

The following steps will guide you through the hello_world demo application using MCUXpresso integrated development environment (IDE) for the Cortex-M33 application. The MCUXpresso IDE installation and the SDK for the MCXA-Series can be found in the section Get Software of this Getting Started guide.

Find the FRDM-MCXA346 SW Quickstart Panel in the lower left-hand corner

1. FRDM-MCXA346 SW Quickstart Panel

2. Then, click on Import SDK example(s)

3. Click on the FRDM-MCXA346 board to select the associated example, and then click Next

4. Use the arrow button to expand the demo_apps category, and then click the checkbox next to hello_world to select that project
   • To use the UART for printing (instead of the default semihosting), select UART as the SDK Debug Console checkbox under the project options
   • Then, click on Finish

5. Select the project build it by either clicking on the "Build" icon in the shortcuts provided above or by clicking "Build" in the Quickstart Panel

6. The project should build without presenting any errors or warnings in the console

7. Connect the board to your computer with the micro-USB to J15 'MCU-LINK' port

FRDM-MCXA346 Development Board



FRDM-MCXA346 Development Board


8. Download the application to your board by either clicking on the "Debug" icon above or clicking "Debug" in the Quickstart Panel

9. Select the MCU-Link CMSIS-DAP debug probe

10. Open up a serial terminal to view the application's output. Select the “Terminal” window and press the “New Terminal” icon

11. Choose "Serial Terminal" and then set the UART settings to 115,200 baud rate, 8-bit data size, no parity and 1 stop bit, then press OK

12. Run the application by pressing the "Run" icon, then see the output printed on the terminal

3.2 Build and Flash an Application with Alternative Toolchains

MCUXpresso for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) provides an optimized embedded developer experience for code editing and development. Learn how to build and flash an application with VS Code.

Using a different toolchain?

This demo is also available for IAR and KEIL.

4.1 Clone an Example Project from MCUXpresso IDE

The following steps will guide you through the manipulation of the general-purpose outputs. The example sets up a CTimer to generate a PWM signal and change between two LEDs.

1. Find the Quickstart Panel in the lower left-hand corner and click on "Import SDK example(s)"

2. Click on the FRDM-MCXA346 board to import an example that can run on that board, and then click "Next"

3. Use the arrow button to expand the driver_examples category, then expand the CTimer examples, click on the checkbox next to ctimer_match_interrupt_example to select it
   • To use the UART for printing (instead of the default semihosting), select UART as the SDK Debug Console checkbox under the project options
   • Then, click on "Finish"

4. Click on the "frdmmcxa346_ctimer_match_interrupt_example" project in the Project Explorer View and build, then compile and run the demo as described in the previous section

5. You should see the GREEN and RED LED changing back and forth
6. Terminate the debug session

4.2 Clone an Example Project Using MCUXpresso Config Tool for 3rd Party IDE

The following steps will guide you through the manipulation of the general-purpose outputs. The example sets up a CTimer to make RED and GREEN LED changing back and forth.

1. Open the MCUXpresso Config Tools
2. In the wizard that comes up, select the "Create a new configuration based on an SDK example or "hello word" project" radio button and click "Next"

3. • On the next screen, select the location of the MCUXpresso SDK (the SDK package must be unzipped beforehand) Select the IDE that is being used (Note: only IDEs that were selected in the online SDK Builder when the SDK was built will be available)
   • Click on "Clone the selected example for a board or kit," then, select the project to clone. (For this example, you want to use the CTimer match interrupt project, so you can filter for this by typing "ctimer" in the filter box and then selecting the ctimer_match_interrupt_example example project, or then also specify where to clone the project and the name)
   • Click on "Finish"

4. After cloning, go to the directory you selected and open the project for your IDE, then import, compile and run the project as done in previous sections
5. You should see the RED and GREEN LED changing back and forth
6. Terminate the debug session

4.3 Use MCUXpresso IDE Pins Tools

Note: Previously, you had to clone an SDK project like in the previous step.

1. Open the pins tool by selecting “ConfigTools” on the top-right hand of the file explorer window and then select “Open Pins”
2. The Pins Tool should now display the pin configuration for the CTimer project

4.4 Use the Pins Tools to Modify the LED Routed Pin

1. We'll use MCUXpresso IDE for the rest of the instructions, but the same steps can be done in MCUXpresso Config Tools for third party IDEs
   • In the Pins view, deselect "Show dedicated pins" and "Show no routed pins" checkboxes to see only the routed pins (routed pins have a check in a green box next to the pin name and the functions selected for each routed pin are highlighted in green)

2. In the current configuration, PIO3_18 and PIO3_19 are routed as the outputs of the CTimer, so let's change the pin configuration and add the BLUE LED

3. Modify the CTimer output pin PIO3_18 as GPIO and output Logical 1 to disable RED LED

4. Select "Show no routed pins" to see the other options, (to enable the BLUE LED, search for P3_21 and select GPIO3,21 under the GPIO column)

5. Next, configure the GPIO pin as an output in the "Routing Details" window

6. Now, it's time to implement these changes into the project by exporting the new updated pin_mux.c and pin_mux.h files that are generated by the Pins Tool, (click on "Update Project" in the menu bar)

Note: The clocks and other files may also be tagged as being updated since the header has been changed.


7. Let's add some additional code to the example. Open the simple_match_interrupt.c file and add the following macros to initialize the BLUE LED and GREEN LED

8. Add the macro to enable the use of the LEDs, instead of the CTIMER output, so that we can visualize the behavior on the board easily

9. Build and download the project as done in the previous section
10. Run the application (you should now see the GREEN and BLUE LED blinking back and forth)
11. Terminate the debug session

Check out each of the following sections to learn about the ecosystem provided for flexible prototyping and development. In the video below, we will introduce you to the FRDM platform, the full-featured EVK and the compatible shields for extended capabilities. In addition, we will walk you through our application Code Hub (ACH) portal where we provide numerous application examples through NXP's GitHub.

5.1 FRDM Platform, Full-Featured EVK and Shields

For quick prototyping platforms, we offer both the low-cost FRDM platform and the full-featured evaluation kit (EVK).

FRDM development boards come with standard form factor and headers, easy access to microcontroller unit (MCU) input/outputs (I/Os), onboard MCU-Link debugger and a USB-C cable. Our full features evaluation kits include extended input/outputs (I/Os) and interface access, extendable with Wi-Fi and additional MCU-Link features. There are also many compatible Click boards and/or Arduino Shields. For those that are supported with an Open Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS) Pack example may be available on ACH, but if not many of them are easy to use via serial interface like inter-integrated circuit (I²C), serial peripheral interface (SPI) and universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART), for which we provide drivers with examples in the MCUXpresso Software Development Kit (SDK).

5.2 Application Code Hub

The ACH further enhances our MCUXpresso Developer Experience by giving developers an interactive dashboard to quickly locate software. Visit the ACH  today to start exploring or discover additional details and benefits of it's new interactive.

Software accessible from Application Code Hub is located in NXP’s GitHub repository  so it can be easily accessed and cloned from that location directly.

5.3 Demo Walkthrough

The following demo walks you through importing a project from ACH using a system based on the FRDM platform with a motor control shield. Although your evaluation board may differ from this system, the following steps can be replicated and used for all supported platforms.

Additional References

• Getting Started with MCUXpresso SDK
• MCUXpresso SDK API Reference Manual
• MCUXpresso SDK Builder
• MCU-Link Debug Probe
• MCUXpresso Secure Provisioning Tool User Guide 25.03
• Secure Provisioning SDK

Forums

Connect with other engineers and get expert advice on designing with the FRDM-MCXA156 on one of our community sites.

• General Support
• MCX Community
• FRDM Training Hub