Getting Started with MCXW23-EVK

2.1 Install Your Toolchain

NXP offers a toolchain called MCUXpresso for VS Code. Please download MCUXpresso for VS Code v25.06 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 NXP extension adds tools to help add software repositories into the Visual Studio Code workspace. The software repository can be provided from three sources:

• Remote git URL
• NXP MCUXpresso SDK archive file
• Existing git folder

This section will import the MCUXpresso SDK using the remote git repository option. For the remote git repository option follow these steps.

1. Click on the MCUXpresso extension Icon
2. Click on the “QUICKSTART PANEL” tab and then click on the "Import repositoty" button. After pressing that button a new import window will appear on your IDE

3. Select the “Remote” option to import the provided SDK files
4. Browse to the Repository options by clicking on the arrow button and search for "MCUXpresso SDK - 24.12 or newer" option
5. Browse to the Revision options by clicking on the arrow button and search for version "v25.09.00" or newer
6. Browse to a folder to be a common “Destination” to store SDKs. (i.e. C:\VS_CODE_SDKs ) Enter a name for the new SDK, in this case \mcux_sdk_v25_09_00_pvw1
7. Click on Import button and wait for the installation

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 IDE and also as a separate tool if using a different IDE.

Click the Get MCUXpresso Config Tools 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 GUI-based application provided to simplify the generation and provisioning of bootable executables on NXP MCU devices. We recommend all users to 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

The following steps will guide you through the health care IoT demo application using MCUXpresso for vs code extension for the Cortex-M33 application. The MCUXpresso extension for vs code installation and the SDK for the MCXW-Series can be found at the Get Software section of this Getting Started guide.

3.1 Build and Flash an Application Using MCUXpresso IDE

1. Find the activity bar in the left-hand bar and click it to open it. Once it's open go to the explorer and open the project tab

2. Then click Import example from repository The following tab will open on the editor screen

3. Click the arrow button on the repository tab to choose your previously downloaded the MCXW-Series board SDK to select an example that can run on that board, and then click Next

4. Select the toolchain according to the SDK version, both SDK and toolchain must match to avoid problems. Then select the board

5. Use the arrow button to expand the Template tab, and then select the "wireless_examples/reference_design/health_care_iot_peripheral_bm" to use it as a template for the project. Then, click import button

6. Expand the project, go to the MCU tab and expand it. Search for the Package tab and make sure Package: MCXW236BIHNAR is selected, if not in the MCU tab in the right end click the "Change package" icon button and set MCXW236BIHNAR for the project

7. Select the project and build it by either clicking the “build icon” in the shortcuts provided above or by doing a right click and select the "Build" option

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

9. Connect the board to your computer with the micro-USB to J33 ‘MCU-LINK’ port

10. Download the application to your board by either clicking the “debug” icon above or by doing a right click and select the "Debug" option

11. Open up a serial terminal to be able to see the application’s output. Select the port corresponding to the MCULINK probe to your board “MCULink-VCOM” window. Set your terminal to baud rate or speed to "460800", 8-bit data, no parity and 1 stop bit and connect to that port

12. Run the application by pressing the “run” icon. See the output printed on the terminal

13. Press on board SW3 label as "Wake_up" to start running the example

14. See the output printed on the terminal

15. You can connect the demo to the IoT Toolbox app by following the steps shown in the Plug it in video from section 1

4.1 Clone an Example Project from MCUXpresso for VS Code

The following steps will guide you through the manipulation of the general-purpose outputs. The example sets up a GPIO to set up a signal to toggle an LED.

1. Find the activity bar in the left-hand bar and click it to open it. Once it's open you can either go to the explorer and open the project tab and click import example application from an imported repository, click the import repository icon or go to the Quickstart panel and click Import Example from Repository button

2. Click and select the repository for the MCXW23-EVK board to select the corresponding toolchain that matches the SDK version

3. Use the arrow button to expand the template category, then search for "demo_apps/led_blinky_lpc", click the line that matches this text to select it. Then, click import

4. Expand the "mcxw23evk_led_blinky_lpc" project, go to the MCU tab and expand it. Search for the Package tab and make sure Package: MCXW236BIHNAR is selected, if not in the MCU tab in the right end click the "Change package" icon button and set MCXW236BIHNAR for the project

5. Click the “mcxw23evk_led_blinky_lpc” project in the side bar and, compile, and run the demo as described in the previous section

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

4.2 Use MCUXpresso IDE Pins Tools

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

1. Open the pins tool by right clicking the project, then selecting the selecting “Open with MCUXpressoConfigTools” button

2. The pins tool should now display the start developing window, now you should search for the .mex file of the project and select it. If this file is included in your project you can search search for it in the path/mcux/mcuxsdk\examples\_boards\mcxw23evk\\ For example, in the picture I've selected from my sdk path on the type of project the as project to select the .mex file, this file has the configuration for the project and then click next and finish


3. Note: If your imported example project does not have the .mex files present, please follow the [Working with MCUXpresso config tools guide]. The pins tool should now display the pin configuration for the led_blinky project

4.3 Use MCUXpresso Config Tools

1. We’ll use MCUXpresso Config tools to edit the pin configuration for this project, in th "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. The functions selected for each routed pin are highlighted in green

2. In the current configuration, PIO0_19 is routed as the output of the GPIO to toggle the LED. Let’s add the pin configuration to enable the SW4 button
3. Select “Show no routed pins” to see the other options. To enable the SW4 button, search for PIO0_18 and click the checkbox under the PIN column to enable it

4. After clicking the checkbox, this window will appear, then type on the searchbox "gpio" and select the "GPIO:PIO0,18" and click done

5. Check the pin configuration to be set 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 Update Project in the menu bar

7. Now, save your file to proceed to export the new configuration files. Press either CTRL+S or press on the file tab and click save
8. The screen that pops up will show the files that are changing and you can click “diff” to see the difference between the current file and the new file generated by the Pins tool
9. 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.


10. In this step you replace the new generated files from the tool created inside a new folder called "board"—located in your examples path as shown in previous steps— where you can copy the files from this folder into the original example folder where to change the project files to the new version

11. Let’s add some additional code to the example. Open the led_blinky.c file and add the following macros to control and read the SW4 GPIO pin

12. Add the two variables to stare the sw state values, those will be used later to control the led state

13. In the last while loop, add these modifications

14. Build and download the project as done in the previous section
15. Run the application. Now, every time you press the SW4 the LED will toggle from its current state
16. 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

• MCUXpresso SDK API Reference Manual
• MCU-Link FW
• SPSDK Wiki
• MCUXpresso Secure Provisioning Tool User Guide 25.03

Support

Connect with other engineers and get expert advice on designing with the MCXW236BHN-RDM on one of our community sites.

• General Support
• Wireless Community