Microcontroller selection for entry-level consumer graphical application

[Yuza]

Hi support Team,

I  am looking for support in selecting an entry-level microcontroller for a consumer graphical application.

Requirements:

Display: small display up to 320 × 240
Memory: around 1 MB Flash and 256 KB RAM
Power: preferably mainstream or low-power
Peripherals:
3 SPI instances
2 I2C instances
2 ADC channels
The peripherals will be used with dedicated sensors

The application is a consumer product with a small graphical interface and dedicated sensor connections. I am looking for a cost-effective microcontroller that can support the display, peripheral interfaces, and basic graphics requirements in an entry-level solution.

Questions:

Could you recommend suitable microcontroller families or specific part numbers that best match these requirements? 

Is there an existing example or reference project that could be used as a starting point for development? 

Best Regards,

Nuyuan

[Celeste_Liu]

Hello @Yuza ,

Thanks for your post. 

Based on your requirements, we would recommend MCX N94x / N54x.

MCXN94x/54x: MCX N94, N54, N53, N52 and N24 MCUs | NXP Semiconductors

The main reason is memory fit. Your target is around 1 MB Flash and 256 KB RAM , while the MCXN546 / MCXN946 devices provide 1 MB Flash and 352 KB SRAM , and the MCXN547 / MCXN947 devices provide 2 MB Flash and 512 KB SRAM , all running at up to 150 MHz.

This family is also a good fit for a small graphical interface. NXP positions the MCX N family for industrial/consumer HMI applications and highlights display support in the portfolio overview. The MCX N series includes SmartDMA for display and fast I/O use cases, and FlexIO can be used for LCD interfaces.

The MCX N94x / N54x series integrates 10 low-power Flexcomm instances , and these encapsulate LPSPI, LPUART, and LPI2C functions, giving sufficient serial interface resources for requirements such as 3x SPI and 2x I2C .

The documentation includes AN14172, Using SmartDMA for Graphic on MCX N Series MCU , which describes graphics-oriented data handling on MCX N and includes an SDK example named lvgl_demo_widgets_bm . That example uses FlexIO to emulate an MCU8080 interface to drive a 3.5-inch LCD , with SmartDMA transferring data to the FlexIO data registers. In addition, MCX N is listed in NXP’s MCUXpresso GUI ecosystem as a supported platform for LVGL-based development. We also have LVGL demos in our SDK.

We also have EVK board for your evaluation: MCXN947 FRDM Board for Industrial IoT Solutions | NXP Semiconductors

Hope it helps.

BR

Celeste