Erich Styger Takes NXP's MCU-Link Pro — and Its Power Measurement Capabilities — Through Its Paces
Priced at just $40, this new debug probe offers 1.8V and 3.3V power with current measurement capabilities — and a second MCU.
Embedded developer Erich Styger has penned a hands-on with NXP's new MCU-Link Pro, a debugging probe that offers couple of neat new tools for the tester's arsenal: energy measurement and a new user-programmable microcontroller.
"The MCU-Link Pro [is] not only a debug probe but a power/energy measurement tool too, including an extra LPC804 microcontroller which can be used for all kind of things, like automation or scripting," Styger explains of NXP's new device. "The MCU-Link Pro is much more versatile [than the MCU-Link] and includes an extra LPC804 microcontroller. The biggest difference is that the Pro can measure energy/power consumption of a target board while debugging it."
Built around the same 150MHz LPC55S69 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller as its predecessor, but now with an 15MHz LPC804 Cortex-M0+ along for the ride, the board supports its native LinkServer firmware plus an alternative which turns it into the functional equivalent of a Segger J-Link.
The new power measurement feature, which comes along with the ability to power external hardware at 1.8V or 3.3V, offers 350mA and 50mA measurement modes with a 20µA to 200nA resolution and down to one per cent accuracy depending on the range being measured.
"The Pro is to me a replacement of the LPC-Link2," Styger concludes, "with the addition of the LPC804 plus the ability to measure current/power/energy and voltage. Plus I like the ability to debug and measure the same time. I still have the LPC-Link2 probe in use, but I think I will it replace over time with the more capable MCU-Link Pro. Especially for the labs where we use power/energy measurement, the MCU-Link Pro will be my choice. For any other project or where J-Link support is not needed, the MCU-Link (non-Pro) will do it too."
Styger's full review is available on the MCU On Eclipse website, while more information on the MCU-Link Pro is available on the NXP website where it can be ordered for $39.99.