NXP Semiconductors UM11673 User manual

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 1 of 18

Document information

Info

Content

Keywords

MCU-Link Pro, MCU-Link, MCU-LINK-PRO

Abstract

MCU-Link Pro user manual

M CU-LinkProUM11673

UM11673

MCU-Link Pro standalone debug probe

Rev. 1.2 — June 26, 2023

User manual

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 2 of 18

Revision history

MCU-Link Pro

Rev

Date

Description

1.0

20210831

First release.

1.1

20230410

Update for secondary VCOM and new supporting software.

1.2

20230623

Additional information added aboutUART level shifters.Update to FreeMASTER

compatibility.

Contact information

For more inf ormation, please visit: http://www.nxp.com

For sales of fice addresses, please send an email to: mailto:msalesaddresses@nxp.com

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 3 of 18

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 4 of 18

1. Introduction

Jointly developed by NXP and Embedded Artists, MCU-Link Pro is a powerful and cost

ef f ective debug probe that can be used seamlessly with MCUXpresso IDE, and is also

compatible with 3rd party IDEs that support CMSIS-DAP protocol. MCU-Link Pro

includes many f eatures to f acilitate embedded sof tware development, f rom basic debug

to prof iling, energy consumption analysis, and support of peripheral and host emulation

via USB b ridging f unctions. MCU-Link Pro is one of a range of debug solutions based on

the MCU-Link architecture, which includes a very low cost base model and

implementations built into NXP evaluation boards. MCU-Link solutions are based on the

powerf ul, low p ower LPC55S69 microcontroller and all versions run the same f irmware

f rom NXP. The MCU-Link Pro can be programmed with a special version of f irmware to

implement a version of SEGGER’s popular J-Link debug probe.

Figure 1 MCU-Link Pro overview and connections

The MCU-Link Pro includes f o llowing f eatures:

• CMSIS-DAP firmware to support all NXP Arm®Cortex®-M based MCUs with SWD

debug interf aces

• SEGGER J-Link f irmware option

• High speed USB host interf ace

• Dual USB to target UART bridges (VCOM)

• Simultaneous target supply and current measurement

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MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 5 of 18

• SWO prof iling and I/O f eatures

• CMSIS-SWO support

• USB SPI and I2C bridges for programming/provisioning and host-based application

development

• Option to power target system at up to 350mA (at 1.8V or 3.3V)

• Analog signal trace input

• On-board, user-programmable LPC804 f or peripheral emulation

• Multiple status LEDs f or diagnosis of issues

• Target reset button

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MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 6 of 18

2. Board layout and Settings

The connectors and jumpers on the MCU-Link Pro are shown in Figure 1and

descriptions of these are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Indicators, jumpers, buttons and connectors

Circuit ref

Description

Default

LED1-7

Status LEDs

n/a

Host USB connector

n/a

Multi-probe sync (reserved for future use)

n/a

LPC55S69 SWD connector (for developmentof custom debug probe

code only)

n/a

Firmware update jumper (ISP)

Open

Target voltage selection (when powering target)

Open: 3.3V

Closed:1.8V

Open

Insert to power target from MCU-Link Pro

Open

SWD connector for connection to target system

n/a

Energy measurement connector

n/a

J10

VDDIO selection for LPC804

3.3V (1-2)

J11

SWD connector for LPC804

n/a

J12

Connector for LPC804 peripherals

n/a

J13

SWD disable jumper (install to disable)

Open

J14

VCOM disable jumper (install to disable)

Open

J15

USBSIO (I2C/SPI USB bridge) disable jumper (install to disable)

Open

J16/17/18

Energy measurementrange configuration

High (350mA) range (pos 1-2)

J19

MCU-Link digital connector (for VCOM, bridge and analog trace signals)

n/a

J26

Secondary UART connection to LPC55S69

n/a

SW1

Target reset button

n/a

3. Installation and firmware options

MCU-Link Pro debug probes are factory programmed with NXP’s CMSIS-DAP protocol

based f irmware, which also supports all other f eatures supported in hardware. A custo m

version of J-Link f irmware to make MCU-Link Pro compatible with J-Link LITE is also

available but note that this f irmware is limited to supporting debug (including SWO) and

VCOM f eatures.

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User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 7 of 18

3.1 Host driver and utility installation

A step-by-step installation guide f or MCU-Link Pro is provided at the board web page on

nxp.com (https://www.nxp.com/demoboard/MCU-LINK-PRO.) The rest of this section

explains the same steps as can be f ound on that page.

MCU-Link Pro is now also supported by the Linkserver utility (https://nxp.com/linkserver),

and running the Linkserver installer will also install all the required drivers and f irmware

update utilities mentioned in the remainder of this section. It Is recommended that this

installer is used unless you are using an MCUXpresso IDE version of 11.6.1 or older.

Please check the MCUXpresso IDE compatibility (see Table 2) before updating the

MCU-Link f irmware.

MCU-Link debug probes are supported on Windows 10, MacOS X and Ubuntu Linux

platforms. MCU-Link probes use standard OS drivers but the installation program f or

Wind ows includes inf o rmation f iles to provide user f riendly device names. If you do not

want to use the Linkserver installer package you may install these inf ormatio n f iles and

the f irmware MCU-Link update utility, by going to the Design Resources section of the

board web page and selecting “Development sof tware” f rom the SOFTWARE sectio n.

Installation packages f or each host OS will be shown. Download the package f or your

host OS install (Linux or MacOS) or run the installer (Windows). Af ter setting up the OS

drivers, your host computer will be ready to use with MCU-Link Pro. It is usually

advisable to update to the latest version of the f irmware as this may have changed since

your MCU-Link Pro was manuf actured but first check Table 2to confirm compatibility

with the MCUXpresso IDE version you are using. See the next section f or the step s to

perf orm a f irmware upd ate.

3.2 Updating MCU-Link Pro firmware

To update the MCU-Link’s f irmware it must be powered up in (USB) ISP mode. To do

this insert jumper J4 then connect MCU-Link Pro to your host computer using a micro B

USB cable connected to J1. The red STATUS LED (LED3) should light and stay on (f or

f urther inf ormation on LED status inf o rmation ref er to Section 4.7. The board will

enumerate on the host computer as a HID class device. Navigate to the MCU-

LINK_installer_Vx_xxx directory (where Vx_xxx indicates the version number, e.g.

V3.108), then f ollow the installation instructions in the readme.txt to f ind and run the

f irmware update utilities f o r CMSIS-DAP or J-Link versions. Af ter updating the f irmware

using one of these scripts, unplug the board f rom the host computer, remove J4 and

then reconnect the board.

NOTE: From version V3.xxx onwards, the MCU-Link firmware uses WinUSB

instead of HID for higher performance, but this is not compatible with earlier

version of MCUXpresso IDE. CMSIS-SWO support will also be introduced from

V3.117, enabling SWO-related features in non-NXP IDEs, but also requiring an

updated IDE. Please check the table below for compatibility between version of

MCU-Link firmware and MCUXpresso IDE. The last V2.xxx firmware release (2.263)

is available at https://nxp.com/mcu-link for developers using older IDE versions.

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 8 of 18

Table 2 Firmware features and MCUXpresso IDE compatibility

MCU-Link f irmware version

USB

driver

type

CMSIS-

SWO

support

FreeMASTER support

via …

MCUXpresso IDE

versions supported

SWD / JTAG

USB

bridge

V1.xxx and V2.xxx

HID

Yes

MCUXpresso 11.3

onwards

V3.xxx up to and including

V3.108

WinUSB

FreeMASTER

V3.2.2 or later

Yes

MCUXpresso 11.7.0 or

later REQUIRED

V3.117 and onwards

WinUSB

Yes

FreeMASTER

V3.2.2 or later

Yes

MCUXpresso 11.7.1 or

later REQUIRED

Af ter p rog ramming the MCU-Link Pro with the CMSIS-DAP f irmware three USB HID

devices (f or the SPI/I2C USB bridges, trace and power ports) will enumerate, plus two

virtual com ports, and a WinUSB device called MCU-Link Pro CMSIS-DAP. If v2.xxx or

older f irmware is being used then the CMSIS-DAP device will appear as a HID device.

The red status LED will repeatedly fade f rom on to of f and back on again (“breathing”),

while the green USB status LED will stay on constantly. For more inf ormation on the

status LEDs when using CMSIS-DAP f irmware please see Section 4.7.

If the J-Link f irmware is programmed then only a J-Link device and single VCOM port will

enumerate. Note that the J-Link f irmware uses the VCOM LED to indicate status. The

LED will illuminate after boot up then blink to indicate debug activity.

If a more recent f irmware version than that programmed into your MCU-Link is available,

MCUXpresso IDE (f rom version 11.3 onwards) will alert you to this when you use the

probe in a debug session; take careful note of the version of f irmware you install to

ensure it is compatible with the IDE version you are using. If you are using another IDE

with the MCU-Link Pro it is advisable to update the f irmware to ensure the latest version

of f irmware is installed.

If J-Link firmware has been installed, the SEGGER device drivers will be able to perf orm

subsequent f irmware updates as these are released without the need to use the NXP

supplied f irmware update scripts and without having to install the ISP mode jumper. Note

that if the CMSIS-DAP f irmware is installed later then this update capability will be lost

until the J-Link f irmware is installed again using the NXP firmware update scripts.

3.3 Setup for use with development tools

The MCU-Link debug probe can be used with IDEs supported within the MCUXpresso

ecosystem (MCUXpresso IDE, IAR Embedded Workbench, Keil MDK, MCUXpresso for

Visual Studio Code (f rom July 2023)); f or more inf ormation on getting started with these

IDEs please visit the Getting Started section of the MCU-Link Pro page on nxp.com.

NXP Semiconductors UM11673

MCU-Link Pro

User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 9 of 18

3.3.1 Use with MCUXpresso IDE

MCUXpresso IDE will recognize any type of MCU-Link probe, either with CMSIS-DAP or

J-Link f irmware, and will show the prob e types and uniq ue identif iers of all prob es it f inds

in the probe discovery dialog when starting a debug session. This dialog will also show

the f irmware version, and will show a warning if the f irmware is not the latest version.

See Section 3.2 for information on how to update the f irmware. MCUXpresso IDE 11.3

or later must be used when using MCU-Link Pro, and version 11.4.1 or later is required

to use the Energy Measurement f eatures.

3.3.2 Use with other IDEs

MCU-Link Pro should be recognized as a CMSIS-DAP or J-Link probe by other IDEs

(depending on the f irmware that is programmed), and should be usable with standard

settings f or that probe type. Follo w IDE vendor instructions f or setup and use of CMSIS-

DAP and J-Link probe types.

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User manual Rev. 1.2 — 26 June 2023 10 of 18

4. Feature descriptions

This section describes the various f eatures of MCU-Link Pro. The USB bridging, VCOM

port, power measurement and analog trace features all utilize the Digital I/O Connector

(J19), f or which an accompanying cable is provided with the MCU-Link Pro. The table

below shows the connections for J19. All the signal pins on J19 have ESD protection.

SPI, I2C and triggering digital signals used can be in the range 1.2V to 5.5V; if no target

VDD IO ref erence is used then the circuit will def ault to 3.3V. Note the Analog trace input

should be kept in the 0 to 3.3V range to avoid damage to the voltage f ollower circuitry on

MCU-Link Pro.

Table 3 Digital I/O Connector (J19)

Cable color

J19 pin

Signal

Feature

Black

GND

Brown

SPI SSEL

USB-SPI bridge

Red

SPI MOSI

Orange

SPI CLK

Yellow

SPI MISO

Green

I2C SDA

USB-I2C bridge

Blue

I2C SCL

Violet

UART IN (Target TXD)

VCOM

Gray

UART OUT (Target RXD)

White

SYNC trigger (for future use)

Black

GND

Brown

Analog trace input

Analog trace

Red

Energy Measurementtrigger

Energy measurement

Orange

Target VDD IO Reference voltage

4.1 Target SWD/SWO interface

MCU-Link Pro provides support for SWD-based target debug, including f eatures enabled

by SWO. The MCU-Link Pro board includes f ootprints f or both 10 (J7) and 20 pin (J8)

Cortex debug connectors, with the 10-pin connector installed. MCU-Link Pro comes with

cables f or 10-pin to 10-pin and 10-pin to 20-pin target connections.

Level shif ters are provided between the LPC55S69 MCU-Link Probe processor and the

target to enable target processors running at between 1.2V and 5V to be debugged. A

reference voltage tracking circuit is used to detect the target voltage at the SWD

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