MCX E Series is a series from NXP’s extensive MCX product portfolio that emphasizes reliability and safety. With the launch of this series, NXP further enriches its 5V compatible MCU product line, providing a consistent development experience for designs ranging from 3V to 5V, helping engineers build highly reliable systems in complex environments.
As the environments for edge applications become increasingly harsh, the resilience required from microcontrollers has also escalated. The MCX E Series was born out of this need, based on the Arm Cortex-M4F core, specifically designed to achieve stable control in scenarios with extreme electrical and thermal conditions.
MCX E24 is the first product in this series, offering the performance, safety, and reliability required for industrial automation, smart appliances, and energy control. It is not only suitable for current edge applications but also provides a solid foundation for future expansions.
MCX E Addresses the Challenges of Edge Computing
As the deployment range of edge devices expands, designers need to consider various harsh application environments. Developers face increasing challenges:
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Electromagnetic interference (EMI) may affect system stability
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Extreme temperatures and all-weather operation require devices to have higher tolerance
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The more connected devices, the broader the potential attack surface and higher the security risks
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Integrating functional safety, information security, and high performance in resource-constrained edge devices increases development complexity
As a leading supplier in the MCU field, NXP deeply understands the evolving technical demands of edge computing. The MCX E Series is designed to address these challenges, combining robust 5V supply support, industrial-grade temperature support, built-in safety diagnostics, and security configuration options, helping developers build reliable and secure systems without sacrificing performance.
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Achieving High Performance and Precision in Critical Applications
The MCX E24 series is built on the MCX E Series foundation, integrating enhanced noise immunity, high-precision mixed-signal processing, functional safety design, and advanced embedded security, all within a scalable 5V MCU platform. Whether for smart HVAC systems or industrial robots, the MCX E24 serves as a reliable edge control node, providing stable and reliable performance in harsh environments.
The MCX E24 features a 112MHz Arm Cortex-M4 processor, supporting floating-point operations and DSP extensions, equipped with up to 2MB of Flash and 256kB of ECC-protected SRAM, and includes EEPROM emulation. Its powerful memory architecture is supported by a range of real-time performance features: 8 FlexTimer modules for PWM generation and motor control; two 12-bit ADCs with a sampling rate of up to 1Msps; and an integrated DAC with an analog comparator.
Block diagram of the MCX E24 series
The components of the MCX E24 series form a tightly coupled control system suitable for closed-loop applications with high responsiveness requirements. Combined with NXP’s Real-Time Control Embedded Software Library (RTCESL), developers can efficiently implement advanced control algorithms such as Field-Oriented Control (FOC). According to internal test results from NXP on the FRDM-MCXE247 development platform, the CPU usage is below 21% at a 10kHz update frequency.
Industrial-Grade Durability and Functional Safety Assurance
From the architecture design phase, adaptability to complex electrical environments has been considered, widely supporting operation in a voltage range of 2.7V to 5.5V, allowing direct connection to 5V sensors and actuators, significantly enhancing noise immunity in industrial applications. The device’s rated operating temperature is -40°C to 125°C, meeting all-weather operation requirements and complying with a lifecycle standard of up to 10 years.
In many application scenarios, safety is key to preventing accidents caused by misoperation, faults, or damage. For example, in devices with moving parts, the electrical system must have fault tolerance or predictable failure mechanisms. For such safety-critical scenarios, the MCX E24 provides a comprehensive functional safety architecture designed to build IEC61508 compliant systems, supporting up to SIL 2 level.
Hardware diagnostic features include program flow monitoring, clock and power monitoring, ECC protection for Flash / SRAM / registers, watchdog timers, CRC engines, and fault logging. Additionally, NXP provides a supportingSafeAssure documentation suite, which includes IEC60730 Class B appliance compliance pre-certification libraries and IEC61508 software frameworks.
Built-in Data Security Features to Safeguard Connected Edges
Edge scenarios face increasingly severe security challenges. The MCX E24 series integrates NXP’sEdgeLock Essentials data security mechanism, with each chip configured with a unique and unchangeable device identity at the factory, and includes a secure bootloader and debug authentication mechanism. Furthermore, the MCX E24 supports pre-programmed Flash programming, allowing firmware to be securely written during manufacturing via a serial interface without the need for debug interfaces or secure environments.
At the same time, the MCX E24 integrates the EdgeLock Accelerator (CSEc) to offload symmetric encryption workloads, supporting AES-CBC, ECB, and CMAC modes for secure key storage and data integrity protection. With this series of security features, designers can be confident that the MCX E devices are trustworthy from the first boot to the end of their lifecycle.
Empowering Developers for Success
As an important part of NXP’s MCX microcontroller product portfolio, the MCX E Series fully supportsMCUXpresso Developer Experience. This ecosystem includes:
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Support for multiple IDEs, including Visual Studio Code, MCUXpresso IDE, IAR, and Keil
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SDKs integrating peripheral drivers, middleware, and RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr)
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Security configuration tools (MCUXpresso SEC and SPSDK)
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Application code center providing advanced examples and demos
Whether accustomed to graphical interface operations or using CI/CD automation processes, this toolchain can flexibly adapt to your development style.
FRDM-MCXE247: Rapid Development, Easy to Get Started
To accelerate application development, NXP will also launch theFRDM-MCXE247 development board. The FRDM-MCXE247 is a compact, cost-effective hardware platform with the following features:
* USB Type-C power and debug interface
* 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet PHY
* 3 CAN FD transceivers
* Onboard sensors and 8MB external flash memory
* Support for Arduino, Pmod, and mikroBUS add-on boards
FRDM-MCXE247 Development Board
Out of the box, developers can quickly understand use cases such as motor control, industrial networking, and secure boot through application code centers and software resources on GitHub, as well as application notes provided on NXP’s official website. To immediately experience the high precision of the MCX E Series, developers can deploy a ready-to-use sensorless permanent magnet synchronous motor demo integrated with the Real-Time Control Embedded Software Library (RTCESL). RTCESL provides a range of algorithms directly applicable to real-time control systems, widely used in NXP’s motor control reference designs.
Industrial-Grade Capabilities to Support Edge System Expansion
The MCX E Series injects industrial-grade robustness, embedded security, and secure connectivity capabilities into theMCX MCU product portfolio. It complements other series focused on mainstream performance, ultra-low power, and wireless connectivity, helping embedded designers select suitable controllers for different nodes in edge architectures without sacrificing software reuse or reducing development efficiency.
More products are coming soon! Stay tuned for the upcoming MCX E31.
Looking ahead, NXP will continue to push the boundaries of technology, providing more advanced and complete MCU solutions to help engineers lead the wave of innovation.
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Learn more about the MCX E24 series and start your development journey now, click here>>
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Experience the powerful features of the MCX E Series now, quickly build prototypes using the FRDM-MCXE247 development board, click here>>
Author of this article
Raphael Apfeldorfer, Product Marketing Manager for NXP Semiconductor’s Industrial Edge MCX product team. He is a technical marketing expert and currently serves as the marketing manager for NXP Semiconductor’s Industrial Edge MCX product line. He has a rich background in wireless communications and the semiconductor industry, with extensive experience in application engineering and marketing, holding a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Supelec and Georgia Tech.
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