Embedded World 2024, Nuremberg: NXP Semiconductors has added two new multiprotocol wireless microcontroller units (MCUs) to its new MCX W series, with support for Matter, Thread, Zigbee, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The new MCX W72x is pitched as the first wireless MCU with Bluetooth Channel Sounding capabilities. NXP is targeting industrial IoT applications.
The new products join its recently launched MCX A and MCX N series devices. They use NXP’s FRDM development platform, as well as the MCX portfolio device architecture, core, peripherals, and MCUXpresso ‘developer experience’. The whole software combination is intended to make it easier for developers to develop new products and use cases quickly, the firm said.
They are also flexible, with an independent software-upgradeable radio subsystem that offloads the main core, freeing it to run the primary application. They also claim scalable memory sizes for the application and connectivity stacks, as well as over-the-air (OTA) updates. The MCX W series allows IoT devices to be upgraded over time as needs change and connectivity protocols evolve.
The MCX W71x and W72x are the first products in the new MCX W series. Support for Bluetooth Channel Sounding in the latter product means improved higher accuracy and security of distance measurements, compared to traditional Bluetooth technology. This is useful for a range of applications, said NXP, such as secure access, asset tracking, and indoor wayfinding.
It features a dedicated on-chip ‘localization compute engine’ accelerator to reduce ranging latency, and also incorporates additional memory to support application-specific code, connectivity stacks, and over-the-air firmware updates. The radio subsystem can run the full Thread or Zigbee stack alongside the BLE stack. Reliability is achieved by running radio activities separately of the core.
The MCX W71x family supports simpler IoT devices with a single chip solution or as a co-processor in a hosted architecture. NXP said it is delivering a complete software solution to allow the MCX W71x to operate seamlessly as a network or radio co-processor with NXP’s MCX MCUs, i.MX RT crossover MCUs, and i.MX applications processors.
It said the MCX W, like its Trimension portfolio of ultra-wideband (UWB) fine ranging products, will “evolve ambient computing into a broad range of market segments and applications”. The MCX W series support both standalone or hosted architectures and are pin- and software-compatible. Both feature a 96 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 core. They start shipping in the second half of 2024.
Charles Dachs, senior vice president and general manager for industrial and IoT at NXP, said: “The future of smart connected devices is evolving faster than ever before, with new features and capabilities introduced regularly. The MCX W series enriches the overall MCX portfolio, making it easier for developers to bring advanced connectivity to their designs and enabling new innovations to be deployed to the next generation of IoT and industrial devices.”
