MCX C Knowledge Hub

The MCX C series MCUs, powered by Arm® Cortex®-M23 up to 72 MHz or Arm® Cortex®-M0+ up to 48 MHz, are designed for cost effectiveness and efficiency, making them ideal for low-end Industrial and IoT applications. Featuring precision analog peripherals as well as USB and segment LCD options, these MCUs cater to diverse needs. The MCX C Series extends the classical IPs within NXP MCUs, providing flexible and scalable memory and packages.

MCX C MCUs offer features like USB and segment LCD support, making them ideal for a wide range of general-purpose applications. With a focus on versatility, these MCUs provide the performance and scalability needed for today’s evolving technology demands.

Documents:

MCX C Series Products

MCX C04x: The MCX C04x microcontrollers, featuring an Arm® Cortex®-M0+ core, offer 32 KB Flash, 2 KB SRAM, and 8 KB boot ROM. Designed as entry-level MCUs, they prioritize simplicity and ease of use for a variety of applications. Key peripherals include a 12-bit ADC, comparator and multiple-channel timer/PWM modules. The enhanced low-power architecture ensures efficiency, with static power consumption as low as 2.2 μA and a 7.5 μs wake-up time for full retention. In deep sleep, static mode power consumption drops to just 77 nA. This series supports scalable memory options and flexible packaging, accommodating diverse application needs.
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MCX C14x/C24x/C44x: The MCX C14x/24x/44x microcontrollers, featuring an Arm® Cortex®-M0+ core, offer a range of memory configurations, from 32KB to 256KB Flash and up to 32KB SRAM, with 16KB Boot ROM. These entry-level MCUs are optimized for cost-sensitive and battery-powered applications requiring low-power USB connectivity and segment LCD support. The FlexIO technology enables customization for various serial peripheral emulation needs. They feature optimized low-power modes, achieving efficiency down to 54uA/MHz in very low-power run mode and 1.96 uA in deep sleep mode with retained RAM and RTC.
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MCX C15/C16: The MCX C15 and MCX C16 microcontrollers (MCUs) are low‑cost, entry‑level devices featuring an Arm® Cortex®‑M23 core running at up to 72 MHz, with memory configurations offering up to 64 KB of flash memory and 16 KB of static random‑access memory (SRAM). These devices bring precision analog and control peripherals into the low‑cost, entry‑level MCU class, making advanced features—such as a 16‑bit analog‑to‑digital converter (ADC), comparator with digital‑to‑analog converter (DAC) and flexible pulse‑width modulation (FlexPWM) for motor control—accessible to cost‑sensitive IoT applications.
Designed as an upgrade path from legacy 8‑bit and 16‑bit MCUs, as well as devices based on Arm Cortex‑M0+ cores, this entry‑level 32‑bit MCU series delivers higher performance and greater scalability without increasing costs.
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Boards:

FRDM MCX C444: FRDM-MCXC444 is a compact and scalable development board for rapid prototyping of MCX C444 MCU. It offers industry-standard headers for easy access to the MCU's I/Os, integrated open-standard serial interfaces and onboard MCU-Link debugger.
FRDM MCX C242: FRDM-MCXC242 is a compact and scalable development board for rapid prototyping of MCX C242 MCU. It offers industry standard headers for easy access to the MCU’s I/Os, integrated open-standard serial interfaces and on-board MCU-Link debugger.
FRDM-MCX C041: is a compact and scalable development board for rapid prototyping of MCX C041 MCU. It offers industry-standard headers for easy access to the MCU’s I/Os, integrated open-standard serial interfaces and onboard MCU-Link debugger.

MCX C to FRDM Board Mapping

Supported MCU(s)	Recommended Board	Best fit for	Key Differentiators
MCXC041 (16QFN, 24QFN)	FRDM-MCXC041	Ultra-Low-cost entry-level designs	32KB flash - 2KB SRAM- 48MHz Cortex M0+ - LPUART - SPI - I2C - ADC
MCX C141/ C142/ C241/ C242 /C441 /C442 / C444	FRDM-MCXC444	General-purpose USB and Segment LCD application Industrial / Consumer	Up to 256KB Flash - 32KB SRAM - 48MHz Cortex-M0+ - USB FS 2.0 - SLCD - FlexIO - DMA 0 CAN-FD - Multiple UART/SPI/I2C
MCX C151/ C152/ C161/ C162	FRDM-MCXC162	Motor Control Precision analog Power tools medical devices	Up to 64KB flash - 16KB SRAM - 72MHz Cortex-M23 - 16-bit ADC 2.4MSPS - FlexPWM - 4xUART - 45 GPIO

Application Notes:

Software, Hardware and Peripherals:

AN14321 Using Segment Liquid Crystal Displays (SLCD) Controller on MCX C444 MCU: This document describes the usage of the on-chip SLCD controller by enabling an SLCD device called S401M16KR. The S401M16KR is a four-digit 0.17-inch seven-segment LCD panel.
AN14590 Running RT-Thread on MCUXpresso IDE: This document is intended for the users who are familiar with RT-Thread and want to port it to MCUXpressoIDE. It provides steps to streamline the porting process. The porting steps are applicable to other NXP chips also. This document uses FRDM-MCXC444 as an example.
AN14319 FlexIO Emulating UART with IRDA: This application note introduces how to use the universal peripheral module FlexIO for emulating the UART bus with IRDA. The FlexIO peripheral, initially introduced on the MCXC242 and MCXC444 family, is a highly configurable module capable of emulating a wide range of different communication protocols. These communication protocols include UART, I2C, SPI, I2S, and so on.
AN14322 USB to multi VCOM on MCX C444 Series MCU: This document describes how to implement a USB to functions of multiple VCOMs on MCX C444 series FRDM boards.
AN14349 Emulating I2C Bus Controller by using FlexIO on MCX C: This application note lists the steps to use the FlexIO module for emulating the I2C bus controller

Power Management:

AN14811 Estimated Power-on Hours for the MCX C04x, MCX C14x, MCX C24x and MCX C44x: This document describes the estimated product power-on hours (PoH) for the MCX C04x, MCX C14x, MCX C24x, and MCX C44x industrial MCUs. It uses the criteria from the qualification process.
AN14332 MCX C444 Power Mode Switch Application: This application note focuses on the power management controller (PMC), system mode controller (SMC), Multipurpose Clock Generator Lite (MCG-Lite), and Low-Leakage Wakeup Unit (LLWU).

Training:

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MCX C Knowledge Hub

MCX C Knowledge Hub