company blog about Recycle NXP FRDM Development Boards: MCX A Series, MCX W Series, i.MX 93 Series

Recycle NXP FRDM Development Boards: MCX A Series, MCX W Series, i.MX 93 Series

Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd. is China's leading electronic component recycling service provider, specialising in the recovery of electronic component products. We offer enterprises secure, compliant, and high-return inventory solutions, helping clients maximise resource value.

Recycling Process:

1. Inventory Classification and List Submission

Clients must categorise surplus products by model, brand, production date, and quantity. Submit the list via email or our official website to our assessment team.

2. Professional Evaluation and Quotation

Mingjiada's technical team completes model identification and market value analysis within 24 hours, providing inspection proposals and preliminary quotations. For high-value models, sample verification is supported to ensure precise and reliable assessments.

3. Logistics and Distribution

Mingjiada offers fully insured transportation services, supporting global door-to-door collection or cash-on-delivery shipping. Our service network spans global hubs, ensuring efficient and secure cross-border logistics.

4. Inspection and Payment

Mingjiada guarantees payment within T+1 working days post-inspection, supporting multi-currency settlements including USD, EUR, and CNY. The entire process from invoice submission to funds receipt takes no more than five working days, significantly alleviating corporate cash flow pressures.

I. FRDM-MCX A Series: The Universal Foundation for Embedded Development

The FRDM-MCX A Series development boards represent NXP's flagship MCU development platform for general-purpose embedded scenarios. Built upon the MCX A Series microcontrollers, they are fundamentally positioned as ‘low-cost, highly flexible, and strongly adaptable’. Covering entry-level to mid-range development needs across industrial control, consumer electronics, and smart sensing domains, they deliver a streamlined development experience suitable for both beginners and seasoned engineers seeking rapid prototyping.

1. Core Hardware Features

All MCX A Series development boards incorporate the Arm® Cortex®-M33 core, which combines high performance with low power consumption. Operating frequencies are flexible, with models delivering up to 180MHz processing power to meet computational demands across diverse general-purpose embedded scenarios. Memory configurations support up to 2MB Flash storage and 128KB RAM. Selected models incorporate an 8KB ECC error correction module, enhancing data storage stability for industrial applications requiring reliable data integrity.

Interface expandability stands as a core highlight of this series. On-board industrial-standard interfaces and expansion headers include FS USB (with HS USB support on select models), CAN-FD, FlexIO, I3C, LPUART, LPSPI, LPI2C, and multiple serial interfaces, enabling straightforward connection to peripherals such as sensors, displays, and communication modules. Additionally, it supports multiple expansion interface standards including Arduino, FRDM, Pmod™, and mikroBUS™. Developers can flexibly extend project functionality using NXP expansion board hubs (EBH) with various add-on boards, eliminating the need for additional hardware circuit design.

The board incorporates a comprehensive array of fundamental peripherals, including an integrated MCU-Link debugger (supporting CMSIS-DAP) and JTAG/SWD debug interfaces. This enables program download and online debugging without external debugging tools, significantly lowering development barriers. Selected models feature onboard sensors such as the P3T1755DP high-precision digital temperature sensor and FXLS8971CF/FXLS8961AF low-power accelerometers, enabling direct use in environmental monitoring and motion detection prototyping. Additionally, user interaction components such as RGB LEDs, reset button, ISP button, and wake-up button facilitate programme status indication and operational testing.

2. Software Ecosystem and Development Support

This series is fully compatible with NXP's MCUXpresso development suite, encompassing MCUXpresso IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and MCUXpresso SDK (Software Development Kit). The SDK provides extensive drivers, middleware, sample code, and application notes covering typical scenarios such as interface usage, sensor data acquisition, and motor control. Developers can directly reuse code to shorten development cycles.

Additionally, it supports the FreeRTOS real-time operating system, meeting real-time task scheduling requirements in industrial control. Over 100 code snippets and demonstration programs are accessible via NXP's Application Code Hub (ACH). Combined with the MCUXpresso Config Tools configuration utility, this enables rapid pin configuration and peripheral initialisation, reducing development complexity and allowing even novices to quickly master embedded development.

3. Typical Applications

The versatility of the MCX A-series development boards enables adaptation to diverse scenarios. Core applications include:

- Industrial sectors: brushless DC motor (BLDC) control, permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) control, motor drivers, and power metering;

- Consumer electronics: air conditioning control and small appliance control;

- Healthcare: vital signs monitors;

- Prototyping of various smart sensing nodes and general-purpose control modules.

II. FRDM-MCX W Series: Efficient Solutions for Wireless Connectivity Development

The FRDM-MCX W Series development boards represent NXP's dedicated MCU development platform tailored for wireless connectivity scenarios. Designed around the MCX W Series wireless microcontrollers, they are fundamentally positioned for ‘low power consumption, multi-protocol support, and ease of integration’. Specifically engineered for IoT, smart home, and industrial wireless sensing applications requiring wireless communication, they empower developers to rapidly implement wireless connectivity and data transmission capabilities in devices.

1. Core Hardware Features

This series also incorporates the Arm® Cortex®-M33 core, operating at up to 96MHz. It balances computational performance with low power consumption, making it suitable for battery-powered wireless end devices and effectively extending device runtime. Memory configurations include up to 1MB application flash and 256KB RF flash, with select models featuring 8MB SPI external flash. This accommodates wireless protocol stacks and application storage requirements while enabling local data caching and offline processing.

Wireless communication capabilities form the core strength of this series. Different models support Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, Thread, and Matter. Certain variants integrate NXP's IW612 triple-radio solution, simultaneously supporting Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 protocols. This enables multi-protocol compatibility and flexible switching, adapting to diverse wireless connectivity scenarios (e.g., Matter networking for smart homes, Zigbee wireless transmission for industrial sensing).

For interfaces and expansion, the board features onboard SPI, I²C, and UART interfaces. Through expansion headers like Arduino, mikroBUS™, and Pmod™, it easily connects to various sensors, actuators, and expansion modules. The onboard MCU-Link debugger supports in-circuit debugging and program downloads, simplifying the development process. The board incorporates rich peripherals, including an FXLS8964AF three-axis accelerometer and ALS-PT19-315C/L177/TR8 light sensors, enabling direct use in prototyping wireless smart sensing and environmental monitoring projects. It also features user interaction components such as RGB LEDs, a reset button, ISP button, and wake-up button, facilitating functional testing and status indication.

2. Software Ecosystem and Development Support

The FRDM-MCX W Series is also compatible with the MCUXpresso development suite. Its SDK integrates complete wireless protocol stacks (such as Bluetooth LE and Zigbee), wireless drivers, and sample code. Developers can directly invoke protocol stack interfaces to rapidly implement wireless connectivity, data transmission, and networking functions without building protocol stacks from scratch, significantly reducing development time.

Support for the FreeRTOS real-time operating system accommodates multi-tasking scheduling requirements in wireless devices (such as data acquisition, wireless transmission, and task response). Concurrently, compatibility with NXP's eIQ® Machine Learning Toolkit enables basic edge machine learning capabilities (e.g., gesture recognition, environmental parameter anomaly detection), addressing upgrade needs in intelligent IoT scenarios. Furthermore, additional wireless application notes and demonstration programs can be accessed via NXP's Application Code Hub (ACH) and GoPoint. Combined with MCUXpresso Config Tools, this facilitates rapid wireless parameter configuration and pin setup, reducing wireless development complexity.

3. Typical Applications

The MCX W-series development boards focus on wireless connectivity scenarios, with core applications including:

- Smart home solutions: smart locks, smart blinds, thermostats, smart lighting, connected small appliances; Industrial wireless sensing nodes, building security detectors, building security surveillance, smart lighting, and power metering in industrial settings;

Wireless smart sensors and wearable devices in consumer electronics;

Prototype development and solution validation for IoT gateways and wireless data acquisition terminals.

III. FRDM-i.MX 93 Series: Flagship Platform for High-Performance Edge Computing

The FRDM-i.MX 93 series development boards represent NXP's MPU development platform for high-performance edge computing and complex intelligent devices. Built upon the i.MX 93 application processor, it is fundamentally positioned for ‘high performance, high integration, and robust security’. It caters to scenarios requiring high-performance computing and multi-interface integration, such as industrial IoT, smart gateways, edge AI, and multimedia terminals. It stands as one of the highest-end development boards within NXP's FRDM series.

1. Core Hardware Features

This series incorporates a high-performance Arm® Cortex-A55 dual-core processor (maximum clock speed 1.7GHz), integrated with an Arm® Cortex-M33 real-time core (250MHz) and an Arm® Ethos™ U-65 micro NPU (Neural Processing Unit). This tri-core architecture combines ‘high-performance application processing + real-time control + edge AI acceleration’, enabling both complex application execution and real-time control alongside lightweight edge AI computations (e.g., image recognition, data analytics), balancing performance and responsiveness.

Storage and memory configurations are robust, featuring onboard 2GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X RAM and 32GB eMMC 5.1 flash storage. Complemented by a Micro SD card slot and EEPROM, it accommodates large applications, multimedia data, and AI models with high-speed read/write capabilities. This enables rapid boot-up and efficient operation, catering to demanding edge computing scenarios.

Extensive interface and expansion capabilities include dual Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45 ports), USB 2.0 Type-C and Type-A ports, HDMI display output, MIPI DSI (display interface), MIPI CSI-2 (camera interface), 3.5mm headphone jack, CAN interface, and ADC interface. This allows simultaneous connection of displays, cameras, headphones, storage devices, and communication modules. This versatility caters to multi-interface scenarios such as multimedia terminals and smart gateways. For wireless connectivity, the board integrates a U-blox Maya-W276-00B triple-radio module, supporting Wi-Fi 6 (dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.4 (Classic Bluetooth + Bluetooth Low Energy), and 802.15.4 protocols. This enables high-speed wireless connectivity and multi-protocol compatibility, meeting the complex wireless networking requirements of IoT gateways. Certain models feature a DNP M.2 slot for further expansion of wireless module functionality.

Comprehensive on-board peripherals and protection mechanisms include an integrated PCF2131 high-precision real-time clock (RTC), PCA9451A power management IC, and multiple USB protection ICs (e.g., NX20P3483UK, NX20P5090UK), enhancing device stability and reliability. Equipped with SWD debug interface and USB-Type-C UART debug interface, supporting online debugging and program downloads. Simultaneously integrates EdgeLock® secure enclave, providing hardware-level security protection to enable data encryption, identity authentication, and secure firmware upgrades, suitable for high-security scenarios such as industrial control and smart gateways.

2. Software Ecosystem and Development Support

The FRDM-i.MX 93 series supports dual operating systems: Linux and FreeRTOS. The Linux system accommodates complex applications, multimedia processing, and edge AI computing, while FreeRTOS is suited for real-time control tasks (such as peripheral control and real-time data acquisition). Developers may flexibly select the operating system according to requirements, enabling the collaborative operation of ‘high-performance applications + real-time control’.

Regarding the software ecosystem, compatibility is ensured with NXP's MCUXpresso SDK and i.MX software development kits. The SDK provides a wealth of drivers, middleware, AI model examples, and application notes covering typical scenarios like multimedia processing, edge AI, networking, and security encryption. Support for NXP's eIQ® Machine Learning Toolkit enables rapid deployment of lightweight AI models (such as object detection, image classification, and speech recognition), fully leveraging the AI acceleration capabilities of the Ethos™ U-65 NPU to reduce the complexity of edge AI development.

Additionally, it supports NXP's GoPoint tools, offering comprehensive scenario-based demonstration programs to help developers quickly familiarise themselves with board functionality and accelerate solution iteration. It also supports various open-source software and tools to accommodate developers' customisation needs, providing comprehensive technical support for system customisation, driver development, and AI model deployment.

3. Typical Applications

The FRDM-i.MX 93 series development boards focus on high-performance edge computing and complex intelligent scenarios. Core applications include:

- Industrial IoT gateways, industrial edge controllers, smart industrial terminals, and industrial vision inspection equipment in the industrial sector;

- High-end smart gateways and multi-protocol IoT terminals in the IoT domain;

- Multimedia terminals and smart display devices in consumer electronics;

- Prototype development and solution validation for edge AI devices, smart security terminals, and in-vehicle assistance terminals.

IV. Core Differentiators Across Three Series

1. Processor and Computing Power:

- MCX A Series (Cortex-M33, up to 180MHz): Targets general-purpose embedded applications with moderate computing power; The MCX W Series (Cortex-M33, up to 96MHz) emphasises wireless connectivity, with computing power optimised for wireless scenarios; The i.MX 93 Series (dual-core Cortex-A55 + Cortex-M33 + NPU, up to 1.7GHz) prioritises high performance, supporting edge AI and complex computations with leading computational capabilities.

2. Core Functions: The MCX A Series emphasises general-purpose control and interface expansion without native wireless capabilities; the MCX W Series centres on multi-protocol wireless communication while balancing low power consumption and general control; the i.MX 93 Series prioritises high-performance computing, multi-interface integration, edge AI, and hardware security, offering the most comprehensive functionality.

3. Applications: The MCX A series suits general embedded systems and industrial control scenarios without wireless requirements; the MCX W series caters to IoT and smart home applications requiring wireless connectivity; the i.MX 93 series addresses high-performance demands in edge computing, smart gateways, and multimedia terminals.