NXP Semiconductors FRDMKW36UG User manual

1 Introduction
This guide describes the hardware for the FRDM-KW36 Freedom
development board. The FRDM-KW36 Freedom development board is highly
configurable, low-power, and cost-effective evaluation board for application
prototyping and demonstration of the KW36A/35A and KW36Z/35Z family of
devices. This evaluation board offers easy-to-use mass-storage-device mode
flash programmer, a virtual serial port, and standard programming and run-
control capabilities.
The KW36 is an ultra-low-power, highly integrated single-chip device that enables Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) or Generic FSK
(at 250, 500 and 1000 kbps) for portable, low-power embedded systems.
The KW36 integrates a radio transceiver operating in the 2.36 GHz to 2.48 GHz range supporting a range of GFSK, an Arm
Cortex-M0+ CPU, up to 512 KB Flash and up to 64 KB SRAM, Bluetooth LE Link Layer hardware and peripherals optimized to
meet the requirements of the target applications.
2 Overview and description
The FRDM-KW36 development board is an evaluation environment supporting KW35Z/36Z/35A/36A (KW36) Wireless
Microcontrollers (MCU). The KW36 integrates a radio transceiver operating in the 2.4 GHz band (supporting a range of GFSK
and Bluetooth LE) and an Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU into a single package. NXP supports the KW36 with tools and software that
include hardware evaluation and development boards, software development IDE, applications, drivers, and a custom PHY with
a Bluetooth LE Link Layer. The FRDM-KW36 development board consists of the KW36A device with a 32 MHz reference crystal
oscillator, RF circuitry (including antenna), 4-Mbit external serial flash, CAN and LIN transceivers and supporting circuitry in the
popular Freedom board form-factor. The board is a standalone PCB and supports application development with NXP’s Bluetooth
LE and Generic FSK libraries.
2.1 Overview
Figure 1 shows a high-level block diagram of the FRDM-KW36 board features.
Contents
1 Introduction............................................ 1
2 Overview and description...................... 1
3 Functional description............................6
4 Headers and jumpers.......................... 22
5 References.......................................... 26
6 Revision history................................... 27
FRDMKW36UG
FRDM-KW36 Freedom Development Board User’s Guide
Rev. 4 — 01/2020 User's Guide

Figure 1. FRDM-KW36 block diagram
2.2 Feature description
The FRDM-KW36 development board is based on NXP Freedom development platform. It is the most diverse reference design
containing the KW36A device and all necessary I/O connections for use as a stand-alone board, or connected in an application.
Figure 2 shows the FRDM-KW36 development board.
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Figure 2. FRDM-KW36 Freedom development board
The FRDM KW36 development board includes these features:
• NXP ultra-low-power KW36A Wireless MCU supporting Bluetooth LE and Generic FSK.
• Compliant Bluetooth 5 LE.
• Reference design area with small-footprint, low-cost RF node:
— Single-ended input/output port.
— Low count of external components.
— Programmable output power from -30 dBm to +3.5 dBm at the SMA connector, when using DCDC Bypass or
operating the DCDC in Buck mode.
— Receiver sensitivity is -100 dBm, typical (@1 % PER for 20-byte payload packet) for GFSK applications (250 kbps,
BT=0.5, h=0.5), at the SMA connector.
— Receiver sensitivity is -95 dBm (for Bluetooth LE applications) at the SMA connector.
• Integrated PCB inverted F-type antenna and SMA RF port (requires moving C55 to C57)
• Selectable power sources.
• DC-DC converter with Buck, and Bypass operation modes.
• 32 MHz reference oscillator for RF operation.
• 32.768 kHz reference oscillator mainly used for RTC operation and RF low power operation.
• 2.4 GHz frequency operation (ISM and MBAN).
• 4-Mbit (512 kB) external serial flash memory for Over-The-Air Programming (OTAP) support
• NXP FXOS8700CQ Digital Sensor, 3D Accelerometer (±2g/±4g/±8g) + 3D Magnetometer
• Thermistor circuit to test KW36 ADC module.
• Coin cell connector compatible with a CR2032 coin cell. CAN/LIN transceivers are not functional when using coin cell.
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• Integrated Open-Standard Serial and Debug Adapter (OpenSDA).
• Cortex 10-pin (0.05") SWD debug port for target MCU.
• Cortex 10-pin (0.05") JTAG port for OpenSDA updates.
• One RGB LED indicator.
• One red LED indicator.
• Two push-button switches.
• NXP TJA1057 high-speed CAN transceiver.
• NXP TJA1027 LIN 2.2A/SAE J2602 transceiver.
Figure 3 shows the main board features and Input/Output headers for the FRDM-KW36 board:
Figure 3. FRDM-KW36 component placement
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2.3 OpenSDA serial and debug
The FRDM-KW36 development board includes OpenSDA v2.2- a serial and debug adapter circuit that includes an open-source
hardware design, an open-source bootloader, and debug interface software. It bridges serial and debug communications between
a USB host and an embedded target processor as shown in Figure 4. The hardware circuit is based on an NXP Kinetis K20 family
MCU (MK20DX128VFM5) with 128 KB of embedded flash and an integrated USB controller. OpenSDAv2.2 comes preloaded
with the DAPLink bootloader - an open-source Mass Storage Device (MSD) bootloader and the CMSIS-DAP Interface firmware,
which provides a MSD flash programming interface, a virtual serial port interface, and a CMSIS-DAP debug protocol interface.
For more information on the OpenSDAv2.2 software, see mbed.org, https://github.com/mbedmicro/DAPLink.
Figure 4. OpenSDAv2.2 high-level block diagram
OpenSDAv2.2 is managed by a Kinetis K20 MCU built on the Arm Cortex-M4 core. The OpenSDAv2.2 circuit includes a status
LED (D1) and a pushbutton (SW1). The pushbutton asserts the Reset signal to the KW36 target MCU. It can also be used to
place the OpenSDAv2.2 circuit into bootloader mode. UART and GPIO signals provide an interface to either the SWD debug port
or the K20. The OpenSDAv2.2 circuit receives power when the USB connector J11 is plugged into a USB host.
2.3.1 Virtual serial port
A serial port connection is available between the OpenSDAv2.2 MCU and pins PTC6 and PTC7 of the KW36.
To enable the Virtual COM, Debug, and MSD features, mbed drivers must be installed. Download the drivers at
https://developer.mbed.org/handbook/Windows-serial-configuration.
NOTE
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3 Functional description
The four-layer board provides the KW36 with its required RF circuitry, 32 MHz reference oscillator crystal, and power supply with
a DC-DC converter including Bypass and Buck modes. The layout for this base-level functionality can be used as a reference
layout for your target board.
3.1 RF circuit
The FRDM-KW36 RF circuit provides an RF interface for users to begin application development. A minimum matching network
to the MCU antenna pin is provided through C50, C51 and L2 to match the printed F-antenna to a 50 Ω controlled line.
The RF matching is different depending of the RF output power targeted. In case of the maximum RF output power
is lower than +3.5 dBm, 2 components is recommended.
NOTE
This is the default mounting components on the FRDM-KW36.
In case of maximum RF output power is between +3.5 dBm and +5 dBm, it’s recommended to use 3 components for the RF
matching.
Maximum RF output power <=+3.5 dBm 2 components RF matching
C50=0.8 pF, L2=4.7 nH, C51=DNP
Refer to Figure 5.
+3.5 dBm < Maximum RF output power < +5 dBm 3 components RF matching
C50=0.6 pF, L2=4.7 nH, C51=0.3 pF
Refer to Figure 6.
An optional SMA is located at J21. This is enabled by rotating the 10-pF capacitor in C55 to the location of C57. Figure 5 and
Figure 6 show the RF circuit in details.
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Figure 5. FRDM-KW36 RF circuit - 2 components
Figure 6. FRDM-KW36 RF circuit - 3 components
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3.1.1 RF path with matching components
RF matching needs to be adjusted to be able to reach sensitivity performances on the FRDM-KW36 board Rev B and Rev B1.
Original component values are L2 = 5.1 nH & C50=0.7 pF.
Measurements are done using the SMA connector. Therefore, the C57 capacitor is mounted and the C55 capacitor is not
mounted.
Figure 7. Matching components
Matching components must be: L2 = 4.7 nH & C50 = 0.6 pF. The following tables show the tested components to achieve proper
sensitivity performance.
• L2 = 4.7 nH
Description Mfr. name Mfr. part number
IND -- 0.0047 mH @ 500 MHz 300 mA
+/-0.1 nH 0402
MURATA LQP15MN4N7B02
• C50 = 0. 6 pF
Description Mfr. name Mfr. part number
CAP CER 0.6 pF 50 V 0.1 pF C0G 0402 MURATA GRM1555C1HR60BA01D
3.1.1.1 Current hardware: FRDM-KW36 Rev. B & B1 results
Figure 8 and Figure 9 show the results when using L2 = 5.1 nH & C50 = 0.7 pF.
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Figure 8. S11 diagram (Rx mode)
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Figure 9. S11 diagram (Tx mode)
Results:
• Rx r eturn loss: -13.6 dB (2.4 GHz) < S11 < -6.5 dB (2.48 GHz)
• Tx r eturn loss: -9.08 dBm (2.48 GHz) < S11 < -21.7 dB (2.4 GHz)
RF matching is not set correctly on this PCB revision. Sensitivity is around -94 dBm instead of -95 dBm.
3.1.1.2 Modified hardware: FRDM-KW36 Rev. B & B1 results
Figure 10 and Figure 11 show the results when using L2 = 4.7 nH & C50 = 0.6 pF.
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