FRDM-KE15Z

Overview

The FRDM-KE15Z is a development board for NXP Kinetis KE1xZ 32-bit MCU-based platforms. The FRDM-KE15Z contains a robust TSI module with up to 50 channels which makes this board highly flexible for touch keys. Offers options for serial communication, flash programming, and run-control debugging.

Hardware

MKE15Z256VLL7 MCU (up to 72 MHz, 256 KB flash memory, 32 KB RAM)
OpenSDA Debug Circuit with a virtual serial port
Touch electrodes in the self-capacitive mode
Compatible with FRDM-TOUCH, FRDM-MC-LVBLDC, and Arduino® boards
User Components such as Reset; RGB LED and two user buttons
6-axis FXOS8700CQ digital accelerometer and magnetometer

For more information about the KE1xZ SoC and the FRDM-KE15Z board, see these NXP reference documents:

Supported Features

The frdm_ke15z board supports the hardware features listed below.

on-chip / on-board: Feature integrated in the SoC / present on the board.
2 / 2: Number of instances that are enabled / disabled.
Click on the label to see the first instance of this feature in the board/SoC DTS files.
vnd,foo: Compatible string for the Devicetree binding matching the feature.
Click on the link to view the binding documentation.

frdm_ke15z

/

mke15z7

Type	Location	Description	Compatible
CPU	on-chip	ARM Cortex-M0+ CPU1	`arm,cortex-m0+`
ADC	on-chip	NXP ADC121	`nxp,adc12`
Clock control	on-chip	NXP Kinetis SCG (System Clock Generator) IP node1	`nxp,kinetis-scg`
	on-chip	Generic fixed-rate clock provider3	`fixed-clock`
	on-chip	Generic fixed factor clock provider4	`fixed-factor-clock`
	on-chip	NXP Kinetis PCC (Peripheral Clock Controller) IP node1	`nxp,kinetis-pcc`
Comparator	on-chip	NXP Kinetis ACMP (Analog CoMParator)1	`nxp,kinetis-acmp`
Counter	on-chip	NXP LPTMR1	`nxp,lptmr`
DMA	on-chip	NXP MCUX EDMA controller1	`nxp,mcux-edma`
Flash controller	on-chip	NXP Kinetis Flash Memory Module E (FTFE)1	`nxp,kinetis-ftfe`
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	A group of GPIOs that share an interrupt2	`nxp,gpio-cluster`
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	Kinetis GPIO2 8	`nxp,kinetis-gpio`
I2C	on-chip	NXP LPI2C controller2	`nxp,lpi2c`
Input	on-board	Group of GPIO-bound input keys1	`gpio-keys`
Interrupt controller	on-chip	ARMv6-M NVIC (Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller) controller1	`arm,v6m-nvic`
LED	on-board	Group of GPIO-controlled LEDs1	`gpio-leds`
Miscellaneous	on-chip	NXP FlexIO controller1	`nxp,flexio`
MTD	on-chip	Flash node1	`soc-nv-flash`
Pin control	on-chip	NXP PORT Pin Controller5	`nxp,port-pinmux`
Pin control	on-chip	NXP PORT Pin Controller1	`nxp,port-pinctrl`
PWM	on-chip	Kinetis PWT PWM Capture1	`nxp,kinetis-pwt`
RTC	on-chip	NXP Real Time Clock (RTC)1	`nxp,rtc`
Serial controller	on-chip	NXP LPUART1 2	`nxp,lpuart`
SPI	on-chip	NXP LPSPI controller2	`nxp,lpspi`
Timer	on-chip	ARMv6-M System Tick1	`arm,armv6m-systick`
Timer	on-chip	NXP FlexTimer Module (FTM)3	`nxp,ftm`
Watchdog	on-chip	NXP watchdog (WDOG32)1	`nxp,wdog32`

System Clock

The KE15 SoC is configured to run at 48 MHz using the FIRC.

Serial Port

The KE15 SoC has three UARTs. UART1 is configured for the console.

Programming and Debugging

The frdm_ke15z board supports the runners and associated west commands listed below.

	flash	debug	attach	debugserver	rtt
jlink	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
linkserver	✅ (default)	✅ (default)	✅	✅

Build and flash applications as usual (see Building an Application and Run an Application for more details).

Configuring a Debug Probe

A debug probe is used for both flashing and debugging the board. This board is configured by default to use Linkserver.

Early versions of this board have an outdated version of the OpenSDA bootloader and require an update. Please see the DAPLink Bootloader Update page for instructions to update from the CMSIS-DAP bootloader to the DAPLink bootloader.

Option 1: Linkserver

Install the LinkServer Debug Host Tools and make sure they are in your search path. LinkServer works with the default CMSIS-DAP firmware included in the on-board debugger.

Linkserver is the default for this board, west flash and west debug will call the linkserver runner.

Option 2: OpenSDA J-Link Onboard Debug Probe 

Install the J-Link Debug Host Tools and make sure they are in your search path.

Follow the instructions in OpenSDA J-Link Onboard Debug Probe to program the OpenSDA J-Link Firmware for FRDM-KE15Z. Use the -r jlink option with west to use the jlink runner.

west flash -r jlink

Configuring a Console

Regardless of your choice in debug probe, we will use the OpenSDA microcontroller as a usb-to-serial adapter for the serial console.

Connect a USB cable from your PC to J5.

Use the following settings with your serial terminal of choice (minicom, putty, etc.):

Speed: 115200
Data: 8 bits
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1

Flashing

Here is an example for the Hello World application.

# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b frdm_ke15z samples/hello_world
west flash

Open a serial terminal, reset the board (press the SW1 button), and you should see the following message in the terminal:

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.6.0-3478-gb923667860b1 ***
Hello World! frdm_ke15z/mke15z7

Debugging

Here is an example for the Hello World application.

# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b frdm_ke15z samples/hello_world
west debug

Open a serial terminal, step through the application in your debugger, and you should see the following message in the terminal:

***** Booting Zephyr OS v3.6.0-xxx-gxxxxxxxxxxxx *****
Hello World! frdm_ke15z

Support Resources for Zephyr

NXP Zephyr Downstream Software Development Kit
MCUXpresso for VS Code, wiki documentation and Zephyr lab guides
NXP Zephyr Knowledge Hub
NXP’s Zephyr landing page (including training resources)
NXP Support Community forum for Zephyr