NXP Semiconductors UM11579 User manual

UM11579
PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board
Rev. 1 — 25 February 2021 User manual
Document information
Information Content
Keywords PCA9957HN, SPI, Arduino port, EVK, LED, LED driver
Abstract The PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board is a daughter card equipped with
Arduino ports, designated for easy test and design of the PCA9957HN IC, 24-
channel SPI serial bus 32 mA/5.5 V constant current LED driver. The board
is fully compliant with IMXRT1050-EVKB, LPCXpresso55S69 (LPC55S69-
EVK) and i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK (8MMINILPD4-EVK) (8MMINID4-EVK),
including GUI software control. The board can be attached to any device
equipped with Arduino ports.

NXP Semiconductors UM11579
PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board
1 Revision History
Rev Date Description
v.1 02/25/2021 Initial version
Table 1. Revision history
NXP provides the enclosed product(s) under the following conditions:
This evaluation kit is intended for use of ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT OR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY. It is provided as a
sample IC pre-soldered to a printed circuit board to make it easier to access inputs, outputs, and supply terminals. This evaluation board
may be used with any development system or other source of I/O signals by simply connecting it to the host MCU or computer board via
off-the-shelf cables. This evaluation board is not a Reference Design and is not intended to represent a final design recommendation for
any particular application. Final device in an application will be heavily dependent on proper printed circuit board layout and heat sinking
design as well as attention to supply filtering, transient suppression, and I/O signal quality.
The goods provided may not be complete in terms of required design, marketing, and or manufacturing related protective considerations,
including product safety measures typically found in the end product incorporating the goods. Due to the open construction of the product,
it is the user's responsibility to take any and all appropriate precautions with regard to electrostatic discharge. In order to minimize risks
associated with the customers applications, adequate design and operating safeguards must be provided by the customer to minimize
inherent or procedural hazards. For any safety concerns, contact NXP sales and technical support services.
Should this evaluation kit not meet the specifications indicated in the kit, it may be returned within 30 days from the date of delivery and will
be replaced by a new kit.
NXP reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any products herein. NXP makes no warranty, representation or
guarantee regarding the suitability of its products for any particular purpose, nor does NXP assume any liability arising out of the
application or use of any product or circuit, and specifically disclaims any and all liability, including without limitation consequential or
incidental damages. “Typical” parameters can and do vary in different applications and actual performance may vary over time. All
operating parameters, including “Typical”, must be validated for each customer application by customer’s technical experts.
NXP does not convey any license under its patent rights nor the rights of others. NXP products are not designed, intended, or authorized
for use as components in systems intended for surgical implant into the body, or other applications intended to support or sustain life, or for
any other application in which the failure of the NXP product could create a situation where personal injury or death may occur.
Should the Buyer purchase or use NXP products for any such unintended or unauthorized application, the Buyer shall indemnify and hold
NXP and its officers, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, and distributors harmless against all claims, costs, damages, and expenses, and
reasonable attorney fees arising out of, directly or indirectly, any claim of personal injury or death associated with such unintended or
unauthorized use, even if such claim alleges NXP was negligent regarding the design or manufacture of the part.
Important Notice
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2 Introduction
This document describes the PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board. The evaluation board
is built around the PCA9957HN, a 24-channel SPI serial bus 32 mA, 5.5 V constant
current LED driver produced by NXP Semiconductors. The evaluation board serves
as a daughter card that can be connected through an Arduino port to various Arduino
compatible (including original Arduino Uno R3) EVK/mother boards for the purpose of
testing and measuring the characteristics of the PCA9957HN Device Under Test (DUT).
The PCA9957HN host device communicates through the Arduino port with the LED
driver via the high-speed SPI bus (up to 10 MHz clock frequency). The board is equipped
with a pair of Fuji connectors that supports a SPI daisy chain scalable architecture.
Thus, users can create a stack of similar boards that share the same SPI bus. The Fuji
connectors are of the board-to-board type, allowing the user to attach the boards in a
vertical stack instead of connecting link cables between the boards. Three additional
digital lines in the SPI bus allow the mother board to control the DUT through the Arduino
port or the Fuji connectors.
Power is delivered from the mother board (EVK) through the Arduino port. The power
rails are shared with the Fuji connectors, so the DUT can be powered either from the
Arduino connectors or the Fuji connectors.
The board contains four RGB LEDs and twelve white LEDs allocated to all twenty-four
outputs of the PCA9957HN DUT. The board also contains jumpers and connectors that
allow users to connect external LEDs to PCA9957HN outputs.
Additionally, a Graphical User Interface (Windows platform) is provided to facilitate the
evaluation of the daughter board. The GUI is used in combination with the following NXP
evaluation boards: IMXRT1050 EVK Board, LPCXpresso55S69 Development Board, and
i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK Board.
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3 Finding Kit Resources and Information on the NXP Web Site
NXP Semiconductors provides online resources for this evaluation board and its
supported device(s) at http://www.nxp.com.
The information page for the PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board is at http://
www.nxp.com/PCA9957HN-ARD. The information page provides overview information,
documentation, software and tools, parametrics, ordering information and a Getting
Started tab. The Getting Started tab provides quick-reference information applicable
to using the PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board, including the downloadable assets
referenced in this document.
3.1 Collaborate in the NXP community
The NXP community is for sharing ideas and tips, ask and answer technical questions,
and receive input on just about any embedded design topic.
The NXP community is at http://community.nxp.com.
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4 Getting Ready
Working with the PCA9957HN-ARD requires the kit contents, additional hardware, and a
Windows PC workstation with installed software.
4.1 Kit contents
•Assembled and tested evaluation board in an anti-static bag
•Quick Start Guide
4.2 Assumptions
Familiarity with the SPI bus is helpful but not required.
4.3 Static handling requirements
CAUTION
This device is sensitive to ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD). Therefore care
should be taken during transport and handling. You must use a ground strap
or touch the PC case or other grounded source before unpacking or handling
the hardware.
4.4 Minimum system requirements
•PC with Windows 10 operating system
•One USB port (either 3.0 or 2.0 compatible)
•One of three EVKs boards mentioned in the previous section along with the associated
firmware and GUI software
•USB cable for power and data connection between the PC and the EVK board (not
included in the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board package)
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5 Getting to Know the Hardware
5.1 PCA9957HN-ARD features
•Combined Arduino port/Fuji connector for data and power
•Multiple board connection in stack architecture
•On-board LEDs for all 24 outputs of the DUT
•On-board jumpers for LED connection, and short tests
•On-board connectors for external LEDs
•Fully compliant with IMXRT1050 EVK board, including GUI (Windows 10)
•Fully compliant with LPCXpresso55S69 dev. board, including GUI (Windows 10)
•Compliant with i.MX Mini LPDDR4 EVK board, including GUI for Windows 10 (see
Note 1)
Note 1: i.MX Mini LPDDR4 EVK Boards require the use of an IMX8MMINI-IARD
interposer board between the EVK and PCA9957HN-ARDUINO daughter board (see
IMX8MMINI-IARD User Manual) here.
5.2 Block diagram
Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board. The block
diagram includes Arduino interface (J5, J6, J35, and J36 connectors) and the data
lines connected to the port. The blue lines in the drawing refer to the SPI bus and the
purple lines represents the control bus. The J46 and J47 connectors are Fuji conncetors
(see Section 5.8 "Fuji connectors"). J46 is the Fuji output connector (pin header) and is
located on the top layer of the board. J46 is intended to be mated with a similar Fuji input
connector (J47) on a board mounted directly on top of the first board. In this way, several
boards can be connected in a stack. The first board is powered and communicates
through the Arduino connector; the other attached boards draw power and communicate
through the Fuji connectors.
Figure 1. PCA9957HN-ARD block diagram
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5.3 LED section
The PCA9957HN features twenty-four LED drivers (PWM controlled, current sink
sources). Different LEDs are allocated to each output. The LEDs can be disconnected
from the load with jumpers. Moreover, the RGB LED D16 has jumpers connected
in parallel for short testing. The jumpers J76 to J81 allow the user to redirect the
corresponding output lines of D16 and D17 RGB LEDs from the on-board LEDs to the
RGB LED external connectors (J21 and J26). Using the connectors, the user can easily
attach external LEDs for testing.
In the same manner, the corresponding line of white LEDs D14 and D15 can be
redirected with J82 and J83 jumpers to white LED external connectors J23 and J25.
5.4 Power distribution
The power supply is provided from the EVK mother board for the first card, and through
the Fuji connectors for all additional cards. There are two power rails: 3.3 V and 5 V.
The main power consumption is from the 5 V power rail. The necessary current for one
daughter board when all LEDs are turned on is 730 mA. Due to current limitations, the
number of boards installed in the stack is limited. The limitation depends on the type of
EVK being used and the current rating of the Arduino/Fuji connectors (approx. 4.5 A).
The current limitation as a function of the EVK is as follows:
•IMXRT1050 EVK:
–EVK powered from USB: limited by the current rating of the USB connector – max. 3
boards;
–EVK powered from power barrel connector (J2): limited by power rating of Arduino /
Fuji connectors – max. 5 boards;
•LPCXpresso55S69 EVK: limited by the current rating of the USB connector – max. 3
boards;
•i.MX LPDDR4 EVK: limited by the current delivered by the EVK power supply – max. 3
boards;
The on-board LED D2 is a 3.3 V rail indicator, and D3 is a 5 V rail indicator.
5.5 Control bus
The SPI bus contains three additional control lines (purple color in Figure 1): OE (Output
Enable), RESET, and I MAX. OE and RESET are routed to the OE and RESET inputs of
the DUT, directly from Arduino port for the first (or base daughter board) and through Fuji
connectors for the additional boards (pin 5, and pin 7).
The I MAX line controls the switch U4. When U4 is open, the resistor R83 is connected
between the REXT input of the PCA9957HN (pin 39) and ground. R83 sets the maximum
current delivered at the outputs of the DUT at 20 mA. When U4 is closed, R79 is
paralleled with R81 and the resulting maximum current increases to 30 mA. For more
details regarding control lines, see the PCA9957 datasheet Table 1 and Table 2.
5.6 SPI bus
The SPI bus has a daisy chain architecture. When a single daughter board (inserted
in the Arduino port) is used, the MISO line (J36, pin 4) goes from the Arduino port to
the DUT SDI input (U2, pin 6). The signal is turned back from SDO (U2, pin 4) through
the switch U5 (closed) to the MISO input of the Arduino port (J36, pin 5). U5 is closed
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because the control input is pulled up (high state) through R89. When a secondary
board is inserted into the Fuji output connector, the U5 control input located on the first
board is pulled down to ground through pin 3 of J46 and J47 of the next board. When
the switch U5 (first board) is open, the signal path of the SPI is: MOSI (Arduino port)
– SDI input (U2, first board) – SDO output (U2, first board) – pin 6 (J46 first board) –
pin 6 (J47 second board) – SDI (U2, second board) – SDO (U2, second board) – U5
(second board which is closed) – pin 8 (J47, second board – pin 8 (J46, first board) –
MISO (Arduino port). The daisy chain loop is then closed through both DUT's on the two
inter-connected daughter boards. The SPI clock and chip select lines are sent directly to
the DUT (U2) on the first card, and through the Fuji connectors to the secondary card.
For SPI characteristics and data format, see the PCA9957 datasheet Table 1 and Table
2, which details the pin map of the Arduino port and the Fuji connectors.
Note 2: For IMXRT1050 EVK, the SPI lines on the EVK board are not linked to the
Arduino connector. Before using the EVK, the user must populate the DNP zero-ohm
resistors R278 to R281 (see the EVK schematic diagram file SPF-30168_A1.pdf,
available at www.nxp.com.
5.7 Arduino port
The connectors J5, J6, J35, and J36 are the mated pin headers of Arduino Uno R3
connectors, having the same electrical function and being placed on the board so that the
daughter board can be directly inserted in the Arduino port. The daughter board circuit
uses only seven signal lines. Table 2 shows the Arduino connector pins and how they are
used in the circuit (see also the SPF-46841.pdf schematic file).
Note 3: A4 / SDA common line for J2 – 5 and J4 – 9. A5 / SCL common line for J2 – 6 and J4 – 10.
Ref Des # Arduino label PCA9957HN-ARD function
1 NC Not used
2 IOREF Not used
3 RESET Not used
4 3.3V Power supply
5 5V Not used
6 GND Power supply return
7 GND Power supply return
J6 (Power)
8 Vin Not used
1 A0 Not used
2 A1 Not used
3 A2 Not used
4 A3 Not used
5 A4 / SDA (Note 2) Not used
J35 (analog, digital, I2C)
6 A5 / SCL (Note 2) Not used
1 D0 / RX Not used
2 D1 / TX Not used
J5 (digital, UART, PWM)
3 D2 REXT SELECT (SW_EN)
Table 2. The pin chart of Arduino connectors and their usage
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Note 3: A4 / SDA common line for J2 – 5 and J4 – 9. A5 / SCL common line for J2 – 6 and J4 – 10.
Ref Des # Arduino label PCA9957HN-ARD function
4 D3 / PWM Not used
5 D4 Not used
6 D5 / PWM Not used
7 D6 / PWM Not used
8 D7 Not used
1 D8 RESET (RESET_B_D8)
2 D9 / PWM OUTPUT ENABLE (OE_B_D9)
3 D10 / SS / PWM SPI – SELECT (SPI_C0_D10)
4 D11 / MOSI / PWM SPI – MOSI (SPI_MOSI_D11)
5 D12 / MISO SPI – MISO (SPI_MISO_D12)
6 D13 / SCK SPI – CLOCK (SPI_CLK)
7 GND Power supply return
8 AREF Not used
9 A4 / SDA (Note 2) Not used
J36 (mixed)
10 A5 / SCL (Note 2) Not used
Table 2. The pin chart of Arduino connectors and their usage...continued
5.8 Fuji connectors
Fuji connectors J46 and J47 allow several PCA9957HN-ARD daughter boards to be
configured in a stack architecture. The connector J46 is the Fuji output pin header placed
on top of the layout. Fuji connector J46 is the pin receptacle located on the bottom of the
layout. When two boards are connected, J47 of the secondary board is inserted into Fuji
output connector (J46) of the primary (base) daughter board. Table 3 shows the pin map
of Fuji connectors and the function of the pins.
J46 Fuji output connector (top) J47 Fuji input connector (top)
1 3.3 V rail distribution 1 3.3 V rail distribution
2 5 V rail distribution 2 5 V rail distribution
3 Input control of switch U5 3 Connected to GND. Close the switch U5 of the previous board
4 I MAX (R EXT) control distribution 4 I MAX (R EXT) control distribution
5 RESET distribution 5 RESET distribution
6 SDO (U2) distribution to next board SDI (U2) 6 SDO (U2) from previous board
7 OE distribution 7 OE distribution
8 SDO (U2) from last Board to SPI-MISO 8 SDO (U2) from next board (SDO bridge)
9 SPI – CS distribution 9 SPI – CS distribution
10 SPI – CLOCK distribution 10 SPI – CLOCK distribution
11 GND 11 GND
12 GND 12 GND
Table 3. The pin chart of Fuji connectors and their functions
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5.9 Not populated components
In the schematic diagram / board layout some components are not soldered on the
board. Crystal X1 is one of the main DNP (Do Not Populate) components. X1 is missing
because the project is designed to accommodate two DUTs from the same LED driver
series (PCA9957, and PCA9959). However, only one of the DUTs—PCA9959—needs
a crystal oscillator to work properly. Since the PCA9957HN does not require an external
oscillator, the X1 crystal and the associated passive components were not soldered on
the board. The capacitors C3 and C4 also are not necessary in the circuit, therefore they
are not populated.
5.10 Board layout and component placement
Figure 2 shows the top silkscreen of the board and Figure 3 shows a PCA9957HN-
ARD daughter card, top side (up) and bottom side (down). The pictures allow users to
quickly find the location of the the board components involved in test and measurement
evaluations. The main elements of the board are called out in the picture. The Arduino
port connectors (J5, J6, J35, J36) are located on the bottom side of the board.
Figure 2. The PCA9957HN-ARD silkscreen (top view)
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Figure 3. The PCA9957HN-ARD board picture, top view (up) and bottom view (down)
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6 Installing and Configuring Software Tools
PCA9957HN_ARD evaluation board is designed and built as a daughter board able to
work in conjunction with a mother board equipped with an Arduino port. The board was
built to be fully compatible with the following NXP Evaluation (EVK) boards:
•IMXRT1050 EVK Board;
•LPCXpresso55S69 Development Board;
•i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK Board;
Each of the above evaluation/development boards is supported by firmware that can
be downloaded from the NXP site (www.nxp.com/). Before beginning to use a paired
EVK – PCA9957HN-ARD configuration, the EVK motherboard must be programmed
with the corresponding firmware package. Additionally, a GUI application (Windows 10)
is available for download from the NXP site, allowing rapid testing and operation of the
PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board in conjunction with the EVK. The GUI application
is common for all three EVKs and for the PCA9xxx LED Controller development card
family, manufactured by NXP (PCA9957, PCA9959, and PCA9955B ICs). For details
regarding installation of the EVK firmware and GUI host software on PC, download
EVK_Firmware_And_GUI_Install_Guide_For_Arduino_Boards.pdf instruction file from
NXP site (www.nxp.com). Once the software is installed, the first step is to select the
correct EVK from the graphical interface. The board can then be controlled from the GUI
interface. See Section 7 "Configuring the Hardware" and Section 8 "GUI Description" for
more details on using the GUI software to operate the PCA9957HN-ARD.
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7 Configuring the Hardware
7.1 Using the PCA9957HN-ARD with an IMXRT1050 EVK board
Figure 4 shows the required hardware for operation of the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter
board with IMXRT1050 EVK.
•One IMXRT1050 EVK board
•One PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board
•One USB-A/USB Micro-B cable
•A PC with Windows 10 operating system
The IMXRT1050 EVK mother board can be powered by one of the following three
methods:
•Connecting an external 5 VDC power supply to the barrel power connector (J2) on the
board
•Connecting a USB cable from the PC to the the Micro-B USB connector (J9) on the
board
•Connecting a USB cable from the PC to the USB connector (J28) on the board. When
the PC is connected in this fashion, the USB port can simultaneously act as a debug
interface. Therefore, by using a single USB cable connected to J28, the EVK can be
powered and at the same time linked to the PC for data exchange.
Be aware that older USB ports (USB 1.1) might not be able to deliver the 500 mA current
needed before establishing communication. If the PC has USB 1.1 or earlier ports, an
external power supply must be connected to J2 on the IMXRT1050 EVK.
From J1 on the EVK board (see Figure 4) the user can select the power configuration for
the mother board. For further details, download the IMXRT1050 EVK Board Hardware
User Guide (IMXRT1050EVKHUG.pdf) available here.
Figure 4. PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board and IMXRT1050 EVK board, before starting
Once the hardware is available and assuming the PC USB port can deliver the required
power for the EVK, follow the steps below to install and operate the boards:
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1. On the IMXRT1050 EVK board, populate R278, R279, R280, R281 with zero-ohm
resistors (0402 package) to link the SPI lines to the Arduino connector (see Note 2 in
Section 5.6 "SPI bus").
2. Using jumper J1, select the suitable power configuration for the EVK.
•To select USB J28 as the power supply, place a jumper in the 5–6 position on
jumper J1.
•To select an external power supply connected to the barrel power connector J2,
place a jumper in position 1–2 on jumper J1.
3. Insert the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter card into the Arduino connector on the EVK.
(See Figure 4.)
4. Using USB connector J28, connect the EVK board to a USB port on the computer.
5. Install the IMXRT1050 target firmware. (Download the firmware from the NXP site
here and read the EVK_Firmware_And_GUI_Install_Guide_For_Arduino_Boards.pdf
instruction file.)
6. Install the GUI application on the PC. (See the instruction file called out in the
previous step.)
7. Open the GUI application to operate the device from the PC. For details regarding
GUI operation, see Section 8 "GUI Description".
Figure 5. The assembly PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board / IMXXRT1050 EVK board
operation
7.2 Using the PCA9957HN-ARD with an LPCXpresso55S69 development
board
Figure 6 shows the necessary hardware involved when using the PCA9957HN-ARD
board with an LPCXpresso55S69 board. This configuration consists of:
•One LPCXpresso55S69 development board
•One PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board
•One USB-A/USB Micro-B cable
•A PC with Windows 10 operating system
The LPCXpresso55S69 development board is equipped with four USB Micro-B
connectors: P5, P6, P9 and P10. The board can be powered through any USB port.
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However, using the P6 USB connector to connect the board to the PC simplifies
the start-up operation because P6 is designated for debugging and the USB cable
thus accomplishes two tasks at the same time: powering the board and serving as a
data link between the EVK board and PC. For more details regarding power-up and
operation of the LPCXpresso55S69 development board, see the LPCXpresso55S69/
LPCXpresso55S28 Development Board User Manual here.
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Figure 6. PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board and LPCXpresso55S69 mother board before
starting
The following steps describe how to assemble, power up, program, and operate the
configuration shown in Figure 6
1. Insert the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter card to P16 – P19 connectors located on
LPCXpresso55S69 development board (see the marked pins of P16 – P19, Figure 6);
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2. Connect the development board using port P6 USB port of PC.
3. Install the LPCXpresso55S69 target firmware (download from the NXP site here and
read the EVK_Firmware_And_GUI_Install_Guide_For_Arduino_Boards.pdf instruction
file);
4. Install GUI application on PC (see the instruction file called out in the previous step).
5. Open the GUI application to operate the device from the PC. For details regarding
GUI operation see Section 8 "GUI Description".
Figure 7 shows the two boards in operation.
Figure 7. PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board / LPCXpresso55S69 mother board operation
7.3 Using the PCA9957HN-ARD with an I.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board
When an i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board is used with the PCA9957HN-ARD board,
a specially designed EVK daughter board—the IMX8MMINI-IARD board—must be
mounted as an interposer between the i.MX 8M Mini EVK board and the PCA9557HN-
ARD. This is because the i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 uses a 2 x 20-pin expansion connector
(J1003) instead of an Arduino connector.
Connector J1003 on the i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board is a multipurpose port
containing digital I/O lines, including specialized I2C and SPI buses. The IMX8MMINI-
IARD interposer serves as a signal-to-signal bridge between the Arduino connector
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pins on the PCA9957HD-ARD board and the 2 x 20 connector pins on the i.MX 8M Mini
LPCCR4 EVK board.
Figure 8 shows how these three boards are connected. This configuration consists of:
•One i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board
•One PCA9957HN-ARD board
•One IMX8MMINI-IARD interposer board
•One USB-C cable
•One USB Micro-B cable
To power-up and operate the setup, the USB-C cable for power must be connected to
PORT 2 of the EVK board. The power switch SW101 on the EVK board must be set to
the ON position to power-up the setup. Data communication is achieved by routing a
USB Micro-B cable from a USB port on the PC to the debug port (J901) on the EVK.
Attach the daughter board by plugging the PCA9957HN-ARD board into the Arduino
connector of the IMX8MMINI-IARD interposer and then plugging the IMX8MMINI-IARD
interposer into the expansion connector (J1003) located on the i.MX8MMINI EVK board.
(See Figure 8 for the location of all referenced connectors and switches.)
For more details regarding the power-up and operation of the setup assembly, see i.MX
8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK Board Hardware User's Guide (IMX8MMEVKHUG.pdf), available
here, and IMX8MMINI-IARD User Manual (UM46675.pdf) documents, available here.
Figure 8. The assembly PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board, IMX8MMINI-IARD interposer
board, and i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK before starting
Follow the below steps to install, program and operate the setup assembly consisting of
the PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board, IMX8MMINI-IARD interposer board, and i.MX 8M
Mini LPDDR4 EVK board:
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NXP Semiconductors UM11579
PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board
1. Insert the PCA9957HN-ARD onto the IMX8MMINI-IARD interposer board Arduino
connectors (located on the top side).
2. Attach IMX8MMINI-IARD connector J1 (located on the bottom of the board) into
J1003 expansion board located on the top side of i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK (see
Figure 8).
3. Power-up the EVK board using an USB Type C cable attached to Port 2.
4. Connect the EVK to the PC using a USB Micro-B cable attached to J901 debug port.
5. Place SW101 in the ON position to power-up the boards.
6. Install the MIMXRT1050 target firmware (download the
EVK_Firmware_And_GUI_Install_Guide_For_Arduino_Boards.pdf instruction file
here).
7. Install the GUI application on the PC (see the instruction file referenced in the above
step).
8. Open the GUI application to operate the device from the PC. For details regarding
GUI operation, see Section 8 "GUI Description".
Figure 9. PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board / i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board operation
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NXP Semiconductors UM11579
PCA9957HN-ARD evaluation board
8 GUI Description
A GUI application is available for the three EVK boards from NXP Semiconductors. The
application is common for all EVKs/development boards.
This section describes the GUI application and how the user can control the
PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board from the graphical interface: First, install
the GUI package and software package downloaded from the NXP site (here)
on the PC (Windows 10). For more installation details, download and read
EVK_Firmware_And_GUI_Install_Guide_For_Arduino_Boards.pdf instruction file from
the NXP site (here). Once installation is complete, assure that one of the three supported
EVKs with the attached PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board is connected to the PC and
powered-on. Open the NXP_GUI(PCA995x) GUI application. An interface will appear as
is shown in Figure 10
8.1 Settings
Figure 10. Graphical user interface — Settings tab activated
The GUI application starts with the Settings tab (marked with red arrow). The blue region
at the top contains indicators that display the status of each of the LEDs located on the
PCA9957HN-ARD daughter board (marked with the red arrow.) To the left of the LED
indicators are two read-only flags (also marked with a red arrow) mapped to the MODE2
register (#01h). The FAULT flag indicates that the PCA9957HN-ARD's internal controller
has detected an LED output error (no load, short). The OVERTEMP flag indicates that
the PCA997HD-ARD die temperature exceeds its specified limit. (See the “LED error
detection” and “Overtemperature protection” sections in PCA9957 datasheet.)
Below the LED indicators are three sections: General Setting on the right, Device
Setting in the middle, and Board Setting on the left.
Board Setting parameters are:
• Select EVK displays a list of EVKs. Selecting a wrong EVK board causes the
connection to fail and a pop-up window with the message: “Unable to Connect with
EVK” appears on the screen.
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