Getting Started with RDA8420T Battery Junction Box Reference Design

Last Modified: Jun 30, 2026 new Supports RDA8420T

Contents of this document

  • 1

    Out of the Box

  • 2

    Get Hardware

  • 3

    Configure Hardware

Purchase your RDA8420T

Contents of this document

1. Out of the Box

The NXP analog product development boards provides an easy-to-use platform for evaluating NXP products. The boards supports a range of analog, mixed-signal and power solutions. They incorporate monolithic integrated circuits (ICs) and system-in-package (SiP) devices that use proven high-volume technology. NXP products offer longer battery life, a smaller form factor, reduced component counts, lower cost and improved performance in powering state-of-the-art systems.

This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and using the RDA8420T board.

1.1 Kit Contents

Table 1 (see below) lists the kit's components.

Description Quantity
Electrical transport protocol link (ETPL) 1
Power supply cable 1
High-voltage measurement cable (orange) 10
Chassis connection cable (black) 1
Two-point general-purpose cable (pyrotechnic switch connection, crash signal connection) 4
Current measurement and temperature measurement cable 2

1.2 Additional Hardware

The RDA8420T requires an external +12 V power supply (see power supply).

The following equipment can further assist with the evaluation process:

  • ETPL communication board (KIT-PC2TPL or KIT-6x02AP2T1)
  • Battery junction box emulator to simulate the high voltages, the battery current and the pyrotechnic switch controllers (PACK-BJBEMUL)
  • High-voltage source
  • High-current source coupled with a shunt resistor

NextGet Hardware

2. Get Hardware

NXP Semiconductors provides online resources for this evaluation board and its supported devices. For example, the BMA8420 information page provides overview information, documentation, software and tools, parametrics, ordering information and a Getting Started tab.

2.1 Board Features

The reference design offers the following features:

  • Four current measurement channels with an external shunt (−300 mV to +300 mV)
  • Eight positive high-voltage measurement inputs (0 V to +1000 V)
  • Two bipolar high-voltage measurement inputs (−1000 V to +1000 V)
  • Isolation monitoring between the high-voltage domains and low-voltage domains
  • Two temperature measurement channels with an external negative temperature coefficient (NTC) resistor
  • One isolated crash signal monitoring input
  • Two pyrotechnic switch control outputs with an independent energy reservoir capacitor
  • One electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) for storing calibration data
  • Galvanically isolated ETPL for communication
  • Galvanically isolated DC-DC converter for supplying the board from the low-voltage section
  • Printed circuit board (PCB) designed according to IEC 60664 (pollution degree 2, material group IIIa)

2.2 Connectors

Figure 1 below shows the location of the connectors used to interface the reference design with a power supply, an emulator or external instruments

Figure 1. Connector Location

Figure 1. Connector Location

PreviousOut of the Box
NextConfigure Hardware

3. Configure Hardware

This section describes the typical setup used to configure the RDA8420T and to evaluate the key features of BMA8420.

It uses a PACK-BJBEMUL to emulate the voltages, the battery current and the pyrotechnic switches. Other external equipment can also be used in place of this optional board.

The setup shows a communication board to interface the BMA8420 with the computer via NXP software tools such as battery management system (BMS) ScriptGUI.

Figure 2. Hardware Setup

Figure 2. Hardware Setup

3.1 Bill of Materials (BOM)

Identifier Description Comment
RDA8420T Battery junction box reference design
PACK-BJBEMUL Battery junction box emulator
KIT-6x02AP2T1 Communication board KIT-PC2TPLEVB can also be used
1 Voltage measurement cable Included in the kit
2 Pyrotechnic switch cable Included in the kit
3 Current and temperature measurement cable Included in the kit
4 Crash signal cable Included in the kit
5 Power supply cable Included in the kit
6 ETPL communication cable Included in the kit
7 USB to universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) cable Included in the KIT-PC2TPLEVB kit

PreviousGet Hardware
NextDesign Resources

Design Resources

Board Documents

Additional References

In addition to the RDA8420T product description page, also check out the following resources:

PreviousConfigure Hardware