Getting Started with KW47-EVK

Watch the video below for directions on how to get the software.

2.1 Install Your Toolchain

NXP offers a toolchain called MCUXpresso for VS Code. Please download MCUXpresso for VS Code v25.09 or newer.

Get VS Code

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

2.2 Jump Start Your Design with the MCUXpresso SDK

The MCUXpresso software development kit (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 form the MCUXpresso SDK website . Click on the button below to open this board's SDK builder.

Get SDK for KW47-EVK

Mark as complete:2.2 Jump Start Your Design with the MCUXpresso SDK

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2.3 MCUXpresso Config Tools

The MCUXpresso Config Tool is an integrated suite of configuration tools that guides users in creating new MCUXpresso SDK projects, and also provides pin and clock tools to generate initialization C code for custom board support. It is fully integrated as a part of MCUXpresso integrated development environment (IDE), but also as a separate tool when using a different IDE. Click the Get MCUXpresso Config Tools button below to get the Config Tools installer.

Get MCUXpresso Config Tools

2.4 Programming and Provisioning Tools

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

After downloading the tool, find the user guide under the ‘Help’ tab. Then 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're probably wanting to know how you can build and debug yourself. The Getting Started with MCUXpresso 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 Updating NBU for Wireless Examples

Caution. It is necessary to work with the matching NBU image for the SDK version of the application you are working with. This means that when you download your SDK, prior to loading any wireless SDK example, update your NBU image with the provided binaries in the following folder of the SDK: ../middleware/wireless/ble-controller/bin. Here you will find the image for the NBU firmware:

To update the NBU, you may use the LinkFlash tool

1. Open the path to LinkFlash tool. Usually, this path would be:
   C:\nxp\LinkServer_xx.x.xx

2. Select KW47B42ZB7xxxA:KW47-EVK as device, SWD as protocol and 0x48800000 as address. Check the 'Mass erase before programming' checkbox
3. Select 'kw47_nbu_ble_all_hosted.bin' as image file. Press the 'Program' button and wait for the flash operation to be completed

3.2 Build and Flash Application using MCUXpresso for VS Code IDE

The following steps will guide you through the wireless_uart demo application using MCUXpresso for VS Code IDE for the Cortex-M33 application. The MCUXpresso for VS Code IDE installation and the SDK for the KW47 can be found at the section Get Software of this Getting Started guide.

1. Click the MCUXpresso for VS Code icon on the left side of VS Code to open the Activity Bar. Then, click the Projects tab

2. Click the Import example from Repository option

3. Click the Repository dropdown arrow to choose your previously downloaded KW47-EVK SDK

4. Click the Toolchain dropdown arrow to select the latest version of the Arm GNU Toolchain. Then, from the Board dropdown list, choose the KW47-EVK option to select a template application compatible with that board

5. Click the Template dropdown arrow and select wireless_examples/bluetooth/w_uart/bm//wireless_uart_bm. Then, click the Import button

6. Expand the Projects tab located under the Activity Bar. Right-click your previously created project and select Build Project. You can also click the Build Project icon next to the project's name

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

8. Connect the board to your computer with the micro USB to J14 ‘MCU-LINK’ port

9. Right-click your previously created project and select Debug. You can also click the Debug icon next to the project's name. This will download the application to your board

10. VS Code supports a native serial terminal that you can use to view your application's output. Click the Serial Monitor option in the Panel. Then, select COMx - MCU-Link VCom Port as the Port, and set the Baud rate to 115200. Finally, click Start Monitoring

11. Run the application by clicking the Continue icon. Press the View the output in the Serial Monitor. Press SW3 button to switch the BLE role to peripheral. Then press SW2 to start BLE Advertising. You should see the messages printed on the terminal

12. Open your NXP's IoT Toolbox app in your smartphone. Select the wireless UART icon. Select the wireless UART device. At this point, you should see your device's status as 'Connected' both on the IoT Toolbox app and the serial terminal

13. Type and send any message on the NXP's IoT Toolbox app. See it displayed on the serial terminal

14. Type and send any message on the serial terminal. See it displayed on the NXP's IoT Toolbox app

3.3 Build and Flash Application with Alternative Toolchains

MCUXpresso for 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?

Demos are also available for IAR and KEIL.

4.1 Clone an Example Project from MCUXpresso for VS Code IDE

The following steps will guide you through the manipulation of the general-purpose outputs. The example sets up a TPM to generate a PWM signal and change the RGB LED brightness.

1. Expand the Imported Repositories tab, then right-click your previously downloaded KW47-EVK SDK. Next, select Import Example Application from an imported Repository

2. Click the Board dropdown list, then choose the KW47-EVK option to select a template application compatible with that board

3. Click the Template dropdown arrow and select driver_examples/tpm/tpm_pwm_twochannel_cm33_core0. Then, click the Import button

4. Right-click your previously created project and select Debug. You can also click the Debug icon next to the project's name. This will download the application to your board

5. VS Code includes a native serial terminal that you can use to view your application's output. Click the Serial Monitor option in the Panel. Then, select COMx - MCU-Link VCom Port as the Port, and set the Baud rate to 115200. Finally, click Start Monitoring

6. Run the application by clicking the Continue icon. View the output in the Serial Monitor. The application will prompt you to enter a number between 0 and 9. This number adjusts the RGB LED brightness by modifying its duty cycle

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 TPM to generate a PWM signal and change the RGB LED brightness.

1. Expand the Projects tab located under the Activity Bar. Right-click your previously created project and select Open with MCUXpresso Config Tools

2. In the wizard that comes up, select the “Open an existing configuration” button and click on Next. If your imported project does not contain a configuration .mex file, just click on Cancel

3. On the next screen, select the Import Source option from the Import Wizard. After this, click on the Next button

4. On the next screen, click on the Browse option. After this, search for the pin_mux.c source file to import. This file can be found on the following path: \mcuxsdk\examples\_boards\kw47evk\driver_examples\tpm\pwm_twochannel. Click on the Finish button

5. After source file is imported, MCUXpresso Config Tools interface should display project's pin configuration

4.3 Use the Pins Tools to Modify the LED Routed Pin

We’ll use MCUXpresso Config tools for the rest of the instructions. 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.

1. The functions selected for each routed pin are highlighted in green

2. In the current configuration, PTA20 and PTA21 are routed as the outputs of the TPM. Let’s add the pin configuration to enable the GREEN LED
3. Select “Show no routed pins” to see the other options. To enable the GREEN LED, search for PTA19 and select TPM0_CH2, under the TPM column

4. 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. If configuration file (.mex file) is not saved on disk, save it using the File menu option. After this, click on Update Project in the menu bar

5. The screen that pops up will show the files that are changing and you can click on “diff” to see the difference between the current file and the new file generated by the Pins tool. Click on “OK” to overwrite the new files into your project

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


6. After this, Config tools should have generated the corresponding pin configuration source code. Source code is generated on the board folder; located on the same directory as your configuration file (.mex). Search for the generated pin_mux.c and pin_mux.h source files. Replace the project's source files located on \mcuxsdk\examples\_boards\kw47evk\driver_examples\tpm\pwm_twochannel with the newly generated source files

7. Add the macro to enable the use of the TPM0 channel 2 in the app.h source file

8. Let's add the neccessary code to enable TPM0 Channel 2. Edit the tpm_pwm_twochannel.c code, use the following images as reference

9. Build and download the project as done in the previous section
10. Run the application. You should now see White colored RGB LED. Use the serial monitor to adjust brightness
11. Terminate the debug session

Check out each of the following sections to learn about the ecosystem provided for flexible protyping 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 portal where we provide numerous application examples through NXP's Github.

5.1 FRDM Platform, Full Feature EVK and Shields

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

FRDM development boards come with standard form factor and headers, easy access to MCU I/Os, on-board MCU-Link debugger and a USB-C cable. Our full featured evaluation kits include extended I/O and interface access, extendibility with WiFi and additional MCU-Link features. There are also many compatible Click Boards and/or Arduino shields. For those that are supported with an Open CMSIS Pack examples may be available on ACH, but if not, many of them are easy to use via serial interface like I²C, SPI and UART, for which we provide drivers with examples in the MCUXpresso SDK.

5.2 Application Code Hub

The Application Code Hub 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 the new interactive Application Code Hub.

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 us through importing a project from ACH using a system based on the FRDM platform with a motor control shield and a low cost LCD. 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 FW
• Secure Provisioning Tool User Guide
• SPSDK Wiki
• How to run KW47 module as standalone

Support

• General Support
• MCX Community