In the 50 years since the rise of the first microcontrollers (MCUs), we’ve seen continuous advancements in MCU technologies as these highly integrated devices have become more powerful, energy-efficient, rich in peripherals, secure and intelligent. While general-purpose 32-bit devices dominate today’s broad MCU market, most portfolios include diversified offerings optimized for specific applications, ranging from industrial control to IoT connectivity to precision analog and much more.
Given the maturity, breadth and scale of today’s MCU market, it’s fair to ask: Does the world need another new 32-bit MCU portfolio?
The short answer is yes. It boils down to keeping pace with our rapidly evolving technology landscape and meeting developer and end-user needs.
Modern applications expect more from their MCU platforms than ever before. Creating intelligent edge devices requires them to address complex security challenges, IoT connectivity requirements and power limitations, while delivering advanced machine learning (ML) capabilities to process vision and voice inputs and predict human intentions with greater accuracy.
for the next era of advanced industrial and IoT edge computing. Read more about the new MCU of choice.
Some applications require dedicated neural processing acceleration to tackle ML workloads. Others need low-power wireless connectivity for IoT devices that stretch battery life from months to years. Still, others need precision analog for motor control and industrial automation. Everyone requires the latest security technologies to stay a step ahead of cyber adversaries or to prevent cloning by competitors. Scalable levels of performance, memory and functionality across broad portfolios are also a must. And every MCU platform must be backed by a rich ecosystem of software and tools that streamline development.
Listening closely to the needs of new and existing customers, NXP has introduced the MCX portfolio, a new MCU platform that addresses developer requirements for scalability, parallelism, security, simplicity and optimized capabilities for an array of IoT, edge ML and industrial automation use cases.
Born from the cross-platform convergence of NXP’s industry-leading LPC and Kinetis MCU families, the MCX portfolio combines the DNA of each family to redefine the future of general-purpose MCUs for the intelligent, connected edge and industrial applications. Using NXP's decades of MCU expertise as a guide, we've brought together the best features, peripherals and capabilities of LPC and Kinetis and created an all-new, purpose-built portfolio. Backed by the popular and widely used MCUXpresso suite of software and development tools, MCX gives developers a bold, new future for scalable, smart and secure system design. The MCX portfolio offers optimal enablement, dedicated accelerators, analog integration and a host of peripherals and memory options for any power- and cost-sensitive application that needs intelligence, voice, precision motor control and wireless connectivity.
For existing LPC and Kinetis customers, the MCX family offers more memory options and lower power requirements and it preserves their engineering investment by enabling them to port existing code to a next-generation MCU platform with no need to redesign from the ground up. New customers benefit from the portfolio’s scalability, simplified system design and developer-focused software. When evolving designs call for more performance and capabilities, MCX customers can leverage NXP’s broad portfolios of i.MX RT crossover MCUs and i.MX applications processors for future growth.
Powered by a high-performance Arm® Cortex®-M33 core, the general-purpose MCX MCUs are built on a common foundation of low-power processing, advanced on-chip security and wireless connectivity technologies. The portfolio also features the first occurrence of NXP’s new, specialized neural processing unit (NPU) for accelerating inference at the edge, delivering up to 30x faster machine learning throughput compared to a CPU core alone. Scalable memory options include up to 4 MB of flash memory supported by a low-power cache, advanced memory management controllers and up to 1MB of SRAM to enhance real-time performance.
The MCX portfolio debuts four new MCU series offering the right mix of scalability, optimized integration and developer-focused software to simplify system design.
The MCX MCUs are available in popular package options, ranging from TSSOP to BGA and from 16 to 200 pins, to fit your system design needs.
Each MCX MCU series is supported by the unified MCUXpresso suite of software and tools. The widely used, developer-focused MCUXpresso ecosystem provides comprehensive, easy-to-use development tools and enables software technologies designed to optimize, simplify and accelerate system development, allowing customers to focus on differentiating their designs. The MCUXpresso SDK includes key application examples such as asset trackers, beacons, wireless sensors and other devices to help developers get up and running quickly. Using MCUXpresso, existing customers can reuse and port their code easily and preserve their engineering investment.
Every application use case differs, and so does the security threat model. To meet the requirements of so many different applications, we designed our MCX portfolio to address this wide range of options. The MCX N Series features our EdgeLock® secure subsystem which comprises the immutable core security functionality. It’s part of the silicon root of trust and features side-channel protected cryptographic acceleration engines, key management and device attestation. Pre-configured security and key management policies enable device makers to simplify the path to certification and avoid costly mistakes and save development time. The W Series has advanced security features including crypto accelerators for secure boot, and the A Series offers essential security features including lock/unlock and read-out protection.
Transform and accelerate your next development project with NXP’s scalable MCX portfolio, bringing smart, secure applications closer to the edge. To learn more about the new MCX portfolio, visit nxp.com/mcx or contact NXP Sales worldwide.
CK joined Philips Semiconductors in 1993 and worked in various roles including quality, applications engineering, product engineering and technical marketing. After Philips, CK joined Freescale in 2012 and rejoined NXP through the Freescale merger. CK is now a Product Manager for Microcontrollers in the Edge Processing Business Line.
