NXP Semiconductors
UM12018
FRDM-MCXN947 Board User Manual
3.1 MCU-Link overview
MCU-Link is a debug probe architecture jointly developed by NXP and Embedded Artists. The MCU-Link
architecture is based on the LPC55S69 MCU, which is based on the Arm Cortex-M33 core.
The MCU-Link architecture is configurable to support different debug feature options, and to support both
standalone probes (such as MCU-Link Pro) and for use on-board evaluation boards such as FRDM-MCXN947.
These on-board implementations are referred to as MCU-Link OB.
The FRDM-MCXN947 board implements a subset of the MCU-Link architecture features, as described in
Section 3.2. For more information on MCU-Link visit MCU-Link Debug Probe Architecture.
The MCU-Link OB on the FRDM-MCXN947 board is factory programmed with the firmware based on the NXP
CMSIS-DAP protocol. The firmware also supports all other features supported in the hardware. A custom
version of the J-Link firmware to make MCU-Link OB compatible with J-Link LITE is also available. However,
this firmware version supports only limited features, including debug/SWO and VCOM. For information on how
to update the firmware, see Section 3.5.
3.2 Supported MCU-Link features
MCU-Link includes several mandatory and optional features. Table 26 summarizes the MCU-Link features
supported on the FRDM-MCXN947 board.
Feature Description
Serial wire debug (SWD) / serial wire debug
trace output (SWO)
Allows SWD-based debugging with SWO for profiling and/or low
overhead debug standard I/O communication
Virtual communication (VCOM) serial port Adds a serial COM port on the host computer, and connects it to the
target MCU by using MCU-Link as a USB-to-UART bridge
USB serial input/output (USBSIO)
[1]
Adds a USB serial I/O port on the host computer, and connects it to the
target MCU by using MCU-Link as a USB-to-SPI bridge or USB-to-I2C
bridge
External debug probe support Allows debugging the target MCU (MCXN947) using an external debug
probe, instead of MCU-Link. Support for an external debug probe is
enabled by disabling the SWD feature. While using an external debug
probe, the VCOM and USBSIO features can be used.
External target support
[1]
Allows debugging an external target MCU using MCU-Link
Table 26. Supported MCU-Link features
[1] J-Link firmware does not support this feature.
3.3 Supported debug scenarios
In the FRDM-MCXN947 board, the MCU-Link debug probe target can be either the MCXN947 MCU or an
external target compliant with MCU-Link. The board also allows to use an external debugger for debugging the
MCXN947 MCU, in place of the MCU-Link debug probe.
Table 27 describes the debug scenarios supported on the FRDM-MCXN947 board.
Debug scenario Feature support Jumper / connector settings
Use MCU-Link as a debugger for
the target MCU (MCXN947)
• SWD is enabled
• VCOM is enabled
• USBSIO is enabled
• J19 must be open
• J18 must be open
Table 27. Supported debug scenarios
UM12018 All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers. © 2024 NXP B.V. All rights reserved.
User manual Rev. 1 — 20 January 2024
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