NXP EdgeVerse Techcast

How DigiKey & NXP FRDM Boards Accelerate Embedded Prototyping (with Matt Mielke)

Co-hosts Kyle Dando and Bridgette Stone welcome Matt Mielke, an Applications Engineer at DigiKey to discuss how DigiKey supports embedded developers using NXP's FRDM evaluation board ecosystem from initial MCU evaluation through working prototypes. Matt explains DigiKey's role beyond distribution, including technical support escalation, published project content, and the DigiKey Tech Forum as a key resource for getting questions answered. He highlights why engineers choose DigiKey—large in-stock selection, fast shipping, and a website with detailed part resources—and describes common FRDM use cases across industries, with strong student adoption. The episode covers popular expansion options (Arduino, Click, Pmod), example demos using FRDM boards, typical firmware help requests, and new enablement topics like wireless sensing/localization, BLE channel sounding, UWB, and moving development to VS Code with Zephyr tools.

Episode Resources:

• forum.digikey.com
• NXP.com/FRDM
• FRDM Training Hub

00:00 Welcome and Episode Focus

01:20 Meet DigiKey's Matt Mielke

02:15 Inside DigiKey and Apps Engineering

04:55 Why Engineers Choose DigiKey

06:04 Tech Forum Support Resource

07:47 Who Uses FRDM Boards

09:57 Expanding with Shields and Clicks

13:06 Common Firmware Help Requests

14:22 New Tech and VS Code Shift

15:56 Wrap Up and Next Steps

Reliable Drone Communications: Beyond Wi‑Fi with NXP's LA9310 Software-Defined Modem | EdgeVerse Techcast

EdgeVerse Techcast hosts Bridgette Stone and Kyle Dando discuss why professional drones need more reliable communication than typical Wi‑Fi or Bluetooth can provide, especially for fast-moving, long-range, interference-prone, and beyond-visual-line-of-sight operation. Wireless expert Wim Rouwet (NXP) explains how drone links differ between control and video, how use cases drive requirements, and why options range from Wi‑Fi for ground tasks to sub‑GHz control, UWB for precision landing, private 5G, and mesh networking for swarms. He covers safety considerations like FCC rules, fail-safes such as GPS "return to home," and gradual degradation of video quality. The episode highlights NXP's LA9310 software-defined modem, its DSP-based flexibility for custom waveforms and bands, available tools and open-source enablement, and how similar challenges extend to robotics.

Episode Resources:

• LA9310 Programmable Baseband Processor | NXP Semiconductors
• Drone Block Diagram (Interactive)
• Lime Microsystems | Home

00:00 Welcome and Topic Tease

01:53 Meet Wireless Expert Wim

03:31 Why Drone Links Are Hard

07:16 Hobby vs Pro Drone Needs

08:51 Safety and Fail Safe Design

11:37 Why Not Just Wi Fi

13:32 LA9310 Software Defined Modem

15:44 Ecosystem Partners and Open Source

17:04 Flexibility Bands and Swarms

18:34 Communication Stack PHY to MAC

21:57 Tools Enablement and AI Help

24:38 Beyond Drones Robotics Too

26:42 Key Takeaways and Wrap Up

EV Charging Goes Beyond Power: Plug-and-Charge, V2G, Security & NXP EasyEVSE Platforms | EdgeVerse Techcast

In this EdgeVerse Techcast episode, host Kyle Dando and co-host Bridgette Stone welcome Susanne "Susie" Zach, NXP's EV charging segment lead, to discuss how EV charging stations are becoming more intelligent, connected, and integrated with the energy ecosystem. Susie highlights key market trends including Plug-and-Charge authentication and growing interest in bi-directional charging and vehicle-to-grid capabilities, alongside rising requirements for cybersecurity, remote management, and interoperability. The conversation covers customer design challenges such as integrating power electronics, communications, cloud connectivity, metrology, compliance, and security while accelerating time to market. Susie explains NXP's system-level portfolio and EdgeLock security approach, and walks through three EasyEVSE development platforms—entry-level MCU, advanced MCU, and i.MX 93 Linux-based—plus where developers can get started.

Episode Resources:

• www.nxp.com/evse
• Deep Dive Video on EasyEVSE Development Platforms
• App Code Hub: EVSE Example Projects

00:00 Welcome to EdgeVerse

00:31 EV Charging Curiosity

01:40 Market Trends Today

03:29 Design Challenges Ahead

05:15 NXP System Approach

07:06 EasyEVSE Platforms

09:56 Choosing the Right Fit

10:44 How to Get Started

12:21 Wrap Up and Links

Piggy Bank vs. Fort Knox: Scalable Embedded Security with NXP's Wendy Warne

In this EdgeVerse Techcast episode, the hosts explore why security is now foundational to connected edge devices and product life cycles, and how developers should right-size protection instead of defaulting to the most advanced architecture. NXP Field Application Engineer Wendy Warne explains how customer conversations start by identifying where requirements come from, what the system is, what must be protected, and what the impact of compromise would be—illustrated with a child's piggy bank versus Fort Knox. She outlines NXP's scalable security tiers (Basic, Essential, Advanced, High), clarifies hardware root of trust using immutable boot ROM verification, and describes the EdgeLock Secure Enclave as an isolated security system managing functions like secure boot, lifecycle, debug control, keys, and crypto. Wendy also highlights onboarding resources including MCUXpresso SEC Tool and example code for features like secure firmware update, tamper detection, and debug authentication.

Episode Resources:

• http://www.nxp.com/security
• http://www.nxp.com/cra
• http://www.nxp.com/edgelock

00:00 Security Is Foundational

01:38 Meet Wendy Warne NXP FAE

02:32 Defining Real Requirements

03:56 Piggy Bank vs Fort Knox

07:05 Scalable Security Tiers

10:21 Hardware Root of Trust

13:00 EdgeLock Secure Enclave

14:32 Tools and Onboarding

16:25 Examples and Resources

17:34 Key Takeaways and Wrap

AI Acceleration Week Finale: Gateworks + NXP Bring 40 TOPS Edge AI to Mission-Critical Systems (Featuring "Ari")

In the 3rd and final episode of AI Acceleration Week on the EdgeVerse Techcast, co-hosts Kyle Dando and Bridgette Stone are joined by Hailey Terrones from Gateworks to discuss how industrial AI is moving beyond cloud demos into real-world, mission-critical edge systems. They explain the Gateworks–NXP partnership and how Gateworks turns NXP silicon like the i.MX 95 (with EdgeLock security) into deployment-ready, USA-made industrial SBCs that speed time to market and support long lifecycles and customization. The episode highlights AI acceleration at the edge using the NXP Ara240 discrete NPU (40 TOPS) as an M.2 module to offload inference, improve latency, power efficiency, privacy, and future-proof upgrades for robotics, automation, drones, smart energy, and critical infrastructure. A humorous segment features "Ari," an AI agent, answering audience-style questions in real time.

Episode Resources:

• GW16168 USA-Made M.2 AI Accelerator | NXP Ara240 DNPU
• GW11062-1 NXP Ara240 DNPU + i.MX95 SBC Development Kit (Includes GW16168, iMX95 Catalina SBC, JTAG Programmer, power supply and accessory cables)
• Gateworks Ara240 DNPU AI Accelerator Software Wiki

00:00 Welcome to EdgeVerse

01:18 Meet GateWorks

02:00 Introducing Ari Agent

02:29 GateWorks NXP Partnership

03:48 Edge AI With Ara240

04:36 Q&A Game Setup

05:36 Why Choose i.MX 95 SBC

08:22 Why Add Ara240 DNPU

12:30 Real World Use Cases

13:29 How to Get Started

14:11 Wrap Up and Subscribe

AI Acceleration Week (Ep. 2): Functional Safety + Edge AI with Ara 240 and F&S Elektroniksystem

In the second episode of EdgeVerse Techcast's AI Acceleration Week, co-hosts Bridgette Stone and Kyle speak with Andreas "Andy" Kopitz of F&S Elektroniksystem about how developers can start building edge AI products using NXP's Ara 240 alongside the i.MX 95, especially for robotics and autonomous systems. Andy explains that customers increasingly want functional safety, Linux, ROS 2, multiple high-resolution camera streams, and real-time AI decision-making on compact platforms, creating a gap in AI performance that Ara 240 helps close. He describes how pairing i.MX 95 for system control, security, connectivity, HMI, and safety architecture with Ara 240 for AI acceleration enables demanding applications, and how F&S supports developers with complete platforms, an Ara 240 M.2 module, Linux/Yocto BSPs, and functional-safety approaches using hypervisor and safety supervisor layers with direct engineering support.

Episode Resources:

• F&S M.2 Edge AI Ara 240 SMARC (Video)
• M2 Ara2 Edge AI Product Page
• www.nxp.com/Ara240

00:00 Welcome to AI Week

01:05 Meet Andy from F&S

01:59 Hobbies and Banter

03:21 Austin Meeting Insights

04:11 Customer Demands and Gaps

06:35 Ara 240 Closes the Gap

08:14 Why F&S Was Chosen

09:38 F&S i.MX95 plus Ara Platform

11:12 Software and Linux Safety

13:11 Robotics with ROS2 and Safety

14:45 Getting Started Resources

16:17 Wrap Up and Next Episode

AI Acceleration Week Kickoff: Edge AI Trends, Multimodal & Generative AI, and NXP DNPUs with Ravi Annavajjala

Edge Verse Techcast kicks off AI Acceleration Week with the first of three episodes exploring technologies shaping the future of edge AI. Hosts Bridgette and Kyle welcome Ravi Annavajjala, former CEO of Kinara and now leader of NXP's NPU product line. Ravi explains key edge AI trends, including the shift from cloud-centric AI to distributed intelligence driven by latency, privacy, bandwidth, and real-time responsiveness. The episode also covers the evolution from vision-only AI to multimodal systems combining voice, video, sensors, and context. Ravi discusses why edge inferencing matters for robotics, industrial automation, and automotive, and introduces NXP's discrete neural processing units (DNPUs) as dedicated accelerators for advanced inference workloads like generative and multimodal AI. The episode also highlights NXP's eIQ software environment and ecosystem partners enabling developers to move from prototyping to production.

Episode Resources:

• www.nxp.com/ara240
• www.nxp.com/eiq
• www.nxp.com/ai

00:00 AI Acceleration Week Intro

01:35 Meet Ravi Annavajjala

02:50 Big Trends in Edge AI

04:18 Why Edge Beats Cloud

05:27 Kinara Joins NXP

06:50 What Is a DNPU

08:10 Top Edge AI Applications

08:40 Tools and Ecosystem Support

10:30 Bonus AI Tennis Referee

11:46 Key Takeaways and Next Episodes

Why NXP Distribution FAEs Matter: Faster Designs, Better Support

Kyle Dando and Bridgette Stone explain the role of NXP's distribution field application engineers (DFAEs) and why NXP invests in annual distributor FAE training, recently held in Austin. They describe how distributors like Avnet, Arrow, Digi-Key, Future, and Mouser provide sales, inventory and pricing management, customer credit, and critical technical support, with DFAEs often serving as the first technical contact and a bridge to NXP subject matter experts.

The episode recaps the four-day Americas training attended by over 100 engineers, featuring lectures and breakout sessions across pillars such as motor control, AI/ML, Security, wireless, and automotive. Plus hands-on training with Visual Studio Code, Configuration Tools, SEC Provisioning, and Zephyr development. They emphasize the "train-the-trainer" model and share an example of an FAE quickly connecting a new PMIC to a customer's secure lock project.

Episode Resources:

• Avnet Engineering Support
• Arrow Engineering Support
• Future Electronics Engineering Support
• Digi-Key Engineering Support
• Mouser Engineering Support

00:00 Welcome to EdgeVerse

00:31 What DFAEs Do

02:01 Distributor Roles Explained

03:44 Inside FAE Training

04:43 Why Use Distribution

07:20 Cool Tech Highlights

09:02 How Training Helps You

09:37 Real World Success Story

11:11 Workshops and Next Steps

11:29 Wrap Up and Call to Action

NXP eIQ Explained: From Edge AI Deployment to Agentic AI Autonomy

Bridgette Stone and Kyle Dando host Ted Kao to break down NXP's eIQ (Edge Intelligence) AI/ML development environment for NXP MCUs and application processors, aimed at simplifying the path from models to efficient on-device deployment. Ted outlines key components like the eIQ AI Toolkit, support for inference runtimes including TensorFlow Lite, ONNX Runtime, Arm, and ExecuTorch, plus integrations with MCUXpresso and Yocto. He explains two entry paths—bring your own model (eIQ Toolkit/Neutron SDK/AI Hub) and bring your own data (Time Series Studio with AutoML for time-series use cases)—and mentions hardware testing via FRDM boards and a planned remote board farm. The episode highlights newer additions such as the eIQ Agentic AI Framework, eIQ AI Hub, and Gen AI Flow, and points listeners to nxp.com/ai and nxp.com/eIQ to get started.

Episode Resources:

• www.nxp.com/ai
• www.nxp.com/eiq

00:00 Welcome to EdgeVerse

00:28 Why Edge AI Matters

01:45 Meet Ted Kao

02:31 What eIQ Is

04:24 Inside the eIQ Ecosystem

05:37 Two Paths to Start 07:01 Bring Your Own Data

08:24 Testing on Real Hardware

09:00 New Tools and Agentic AI

11:28 Getting Started Resources

12:33 Wrap Up and Subscribe

Kickstart Your Next Design Faster with NXP's Block Diagram Designer | EdgeVerse Techcast

In this EdgeVerse Techcast episode, co-hosts Kyle Dando and Bridgette Stone welcome Rebecca Phillips from NXP's digital online experience team to introduce NXP's new Block Diagram Designer, a web-based tool that helps engineers move from concept to design faster by turning the "blank page" into a structured, component-based block diagram. Rebecca explains how engineers can start from reusable application templates or a blank canvas, get assistance choosing compatible components using built-in design rules, and export designs to industry-standard EDA tools like Eagle, Altium, and Autodesk to speed handoff into implementation. The tool is powered by technical documentation and design files organized as "CUBOS," covering NXP and required non-NXP parts, with datasheets and related resources linked in one place.

Episode Resources:

• www.nxp.com/block-diagram-designer
• Create a new Diagram

00:00 Welcome to EdgeVerse

01:10 Meet Rebecca Phillips

01:54 FIRST Robotics Tangent

03:01 What Is Block Diagram Designer

04:35 NXP Customer Journey

06:20 Top Three Features

08:29 Inside the CUBOS Data

11:39 Future AI Assistant

12:34 How to Get Started

13:29 Wrap Up and Subscribe