Bluetooth Channel Sounding enables highly accurate range measurements for indoor location. With the W72, NXP provides a wireless microcontroller for this protocol that also supports various innovative home-related communication systems.

From a compute perspective, the MCX W72 is a three-core unit. Compute power is provided by an ARM Cortex M33 core. Its maximum clock speed of 96 MHz ensures that complex algorithms can run effortlessly. A separate Cortex-M33 core handles wireless communication, while an EdgeLock unit provides security and helps meet standards such as CRA and RED.

Flexible IO Interface for External Hardware

Wireless microcontrollers usually collect information from external sensors. NXP covers this need via a set of peripheral devices, which the datasheet describes as follows:

  • Two Low Power UART (LPUART) modules
  • Two Low Power SPI modules and one MIPI-I3C module
  • Two Low Power I2C (LPI2C) modules supporting the System Management Bus (SMBus) Specification, version 2
  • One programmable FlexIO module supporting emulation of UART, I2C, I2S, SPI, Camera IF, LCD RGB, PWM/Waveform generation

The timer complement contains another exciting peripheral device called SFA. This unit can act as an independent waveform monitor:

Signal frequency analyzer (SFA) provides facilities for the measurement of clock period/frequency, as well as the time between triggers

Finally, some variants of the W72 come with a CAN FD interface. These are orderable under a dedicated SKU, which will be discussed in a following sector.

Bluetooth Channel Sounding and Much More

NXP's Localization Compute Engine peripheral, abbreviated LCE, provides Bluetooth Channel Sounding capabilities. In addition, the software-defined radio includes various stacks that implement commonly used wireless protocols. All wireless transcievers support Bluetooth LE, Matter, Thread, and Zigbee; an IEEE 802.15.4 radio stack can be used for other applications.

Six Options and Three Evaluation Boards

SKUs MCXW727CMFTBR and MCXW727CMFTBT, more commonly known as MCXW727CM and labeled MCXW727CMFTB, provide a full-featured core with both CAN and a location engine. MCXW727DMFTBR and MCXW727DMFTBT, labeled MCXW727DMFTB, omit the CAN transceiver for lower cost. Finally, the SKUs MCXW727AMFTBR and MCXW727AMFTBT also omit the location engine. They are labeled MCXW727AMFTB.

Developers seeking to get started with MCX applications can do so via the FRDM-MCXW72 development board, which comes in NXP's Freedom Board form factor and can integrate with various external hardware modules. SKU MCXW72-LOC yields the Localization Board, intended for small-scale deployment in channel-sounding applications.

Finally, NXP also provides a full-featured evaluation kit.

Conclusion

Designers seeking to deploy the MCX ecosystem in the wireless field now have access to an array of additional communication protocols with the W72. Thanks to the compatibility with other NXP microcontrollers, such as their smash hit MCXN947VKLT, embedded software development skills transfer over effortlessly. In short, a product that always deserves consideration…