This project is used to build NXP Platform Accelerator for the i.MX RT1170 Evaluation Kit with a display panel RK055HDMIPI4MA0.

NXP Platform Accelerator is a VEE (Virtual Execution Environment) that provides a hardware abstraction to develop applications in high-level programming languages such as Java.

NXP Platform Accelerator is built upon MicroEJ technology.

The BSP is based on the following versions:

• MCUXpresso SDK 2.15.100 for i.MX RT1170 Evaluation Kit
• FreeRTOS version 10.5.1

The architecture version is 8.3.0.

This VEE Port provides the following Foundation Libraries:

This VEE Port is compatible with MicroEJ SDK6 or higher.

• A PC with Windows 10 or higher or Linux (tested on Debian 11),
  • Note for Mac users: this documentation does not cover MacOS use; however, it is supported by the MicroEJ tools. If you are interested in Mac support, please contact MicroEJ.
• An internet connection to use the MicroEJ Central Repository,
• An i.MX RT1170 Evaluation Kit board (can be ordered here) and RK055HDMIPI4MA0 display panel (can be ordered here)
• Optionally: a J-Link Debugger probe to flash the software.
• Optionally: a MicroSD card to use the file system

The MICROEJ SDK allows to build the VEE Port and the high-level applications. It can be used to run the i.MX RT1170 Evaluation Kit simulator.

• Install a Java Development Kit (JDK). The MICROEJ SDK requires a JDK (Java Development Kit) 11 or higher. You can download a JDK at Java SE 11.
• Install MICROEJ SDK 6 by following the SDK 6 Installation Documentation. You can use your preferred IDE to work with the MICROEJ SDK.

This release has been tested with a JDK 11 and 17.

You can choose to install MCUXpresso SDK tools manually or with the installer tool.

Install the MCUXpresso Installer tool with the following documentation: link.

Open it and install the following tools that are used during compilation/debugging:

• MCUXpresso SDK Developer (installs CMake, Ninja, West, and ARM GNU Toolchain)
• LinkServer
• SEGGER J-Link (if optional J-Link is used)

Also, install the following tools manually:

• Make, in version 3.81 or higher.
• On Ubuntu 22.04 or lower, CMake must be installed manually to get the latest version (3.27 or higher needed).

The MCUXpresso installer tool provides a convenient way to install these tools, but they can also be installed independently. In the case of a standalone installation, the following versions need to be installed:

• CMake version 3.27 or higher
• Make version 3.81 or higher
• ARM GNU Toolchain version 13.2.1 or higher
• LinkServer version 1.6.133 or higher

Whatever procedure is used for the installation, the following environment variables must be configured:

• ARMGCC_DIR: the installation directory of ARM GNU Toolchain, for example C:\Program Files (x86)\Arm GNU Toolchain arm-none-eabi\13.2 Rel1
• If you use LinkServer to flash your device, add to PATH the installation directory of LinkServer, for example C:\NXP\LinkServer_24.12.21.

Note: On Windows, editing the User variables may not work —Preferably edit System variables.

Clone the repository with the following commands:

mkdir nxpvee-mimxrt1170-prj
cd nxpvee-mimxrt1170-prj
west init -m https://github.com/nxp-mcuxpresso/nxp-vee-imxrt1170-evk .
west update

The following repositories will be created:

.west nxpvee-mimxrt1170-evk

Note: On Windows, your path to the repository folder should be as short as possible

Note: Your path should not contain a whitespace or special character

Launch your IDE chosen during MicroEJ installation step and open the project folder (nxpvee-mimxrt1170-evk). The following screenshots show Visual Studio Code, but similar results can be obtained with another IDE.

Then wait for your IDE to finish loading the project, as indicated in the message in the status bar:

Once loaded, you should see the following files and folders:

And the Gradle view should look like this:

Four MicroEJ applications are included in this release.

• The HelloWorld application displays "Hello World" periodically. More details in this README.
• The SimpleGFX application displays three moving rectangles using the MicroUI API. The coordinates of the rectangles are calculated in C native functions. More details in this README.
• The AnimatedMascot application draws an animated Android Vectordrawable image. It uses the RT1170's GCNanoLite-V GPU as an accelerator. More details in this README.
• The AiSample Application runs an inference of sample images on a CifarNet quantized TensorFlow Lite model. You can find the AI library API in the MicroEJ Developer Repository. To run this demo, AI must be enabled (see AI paragraph). More details in this README.

To run an application in simulation mode, go to the Gradle view, expand the tasks of the chosen demo project, then double-click on the microej > runOnSimulator task:

Here is the AnimatedMascot application running in simulation:

The runOnSimulator task also builds the VEE Port declared as dependency if required.

There are two revisions of the i.MX RT1170 EVK: MIMXRT1170-EVKB and MIMXRT1170-EVK.

Depending on the revision of your evaluation kit, follow the corresponding hardware setup:

• MIMXRT1170-EVKB
• MIMXRT1170-EVK

• Check that the dip switches (SW1) are set to OFF, OFF, ON, and OFF.
• Connect a micro-USB cable to J86 to power the board.
• You can connect a 5V power supply to J43 if you need to use the display

The USB connection is used as a serial console for the SoC, as a CMSIS-DAP debugger, and as a power input for the board.

The MicroEJ VEE Port uses the virtual UART from the i.MX RT1170 EVKB USB port. A COM port is automatically mounted when the board is plugged into a computer using a USB cable. All board logs are available through this COM port.

The COM port uses the following parameters:

The i.MX RT1170 EVKB can either be flashed and connected to a debugger through the USB port J11 or the JTAG connector J1:

• To use the USB for flashing and debugging, jumper JP5 should be removed.
• To use the JTAG for flashing and debugging with an external probe, jumper JP5 should be connected.

Once your setup is done, you can continue this Readme at the Build and Deploy using MicroEJ SDK 6 section.

• Check that the dip switches (SW1) are set to OFF, OFF, ON, and OFF.
• Connect the micro-USB cable to J11 to power the board.
• You can connect a 5V power supply to J43 if you need to use the display

The USB connection is used as a serial console for the SoC, as a CMSIS-DAP debugger, and as a power input for the board.

The MicroEJ VEE Port uses the virtual UART from the i.MX RT1170 EVKB USB port. A COM port is automatically mounted when the board is plugged into a computer using a USB cable. All board logs are available through this COM port.

The COM port uses the following parameters:

The i.MX RT1170 EVK can either be flashed and connected to a debugger through the USB port J11 or the JTAG connector J1:

• To use the USB for flashing and debugging, jumpers J6 and J7 should be connected.
• To use the JTAG for flashing and debugging with an external probe, jumpers J6 and J7 should be removed.

Once your setup is done, you can continue this Readme at the Build and Deploy using MicroEJ SDK 6 section.

There are two different ways to build and deploy an executable on target:

• Using MicroEJ SDK 6: this method allows to build and deploy an executable in one click using gradle tasks.
• Using MCUXpresso for VSCode: this method allows to debug on target in addition to build and deploy.

To configure the board, change the CHOSEN_BOARD variable in set_project_env.bat or set_project_env.sh:

• Set it to evk for i.MX RT1170 EVK
• Set it to evkb for i.MX RT1170 EVKB

To configure the debug or release mode, change the CHOSEN_MODE variable in set_project_env.bat or set_project_env.sh:

• Set it to 0 for debug mode
• Set it to 1 for release mode

To configure the debug probe, change the CHOSEN_PROBE variable in set_project_env.bat or set_project_env.sh:

• Set it to flash for a J-Link probe
• Set it to flash_cmsisdap for board internal probe

Compilation flags are located in CMakePresets.json. To enable any desired features, please edit the file.

For changes in this file to take effect, the script clean.bat or clean.sh must be called.

To build and deploy your executable on your board, go to the Gradle view, expand the tasks of the chosen demo project, then double-click on the microej > runOnDevice task:

If you don't have a MicroEJ license, you will get an error message telling you to get one. Please follow the instructions from MicroEJ to get an evaluation license. To switch to a production license, please get in touch with your NXP representative.

This task calls:

• build.bat or build.sh to build the BSP,
• run.bat or run.sh script to flash the program on the target without opening a debug session.

MCUXpresso for VSCode is a plugin on VSCode IDE that builds and deploys firmware on NXP targets. It also provides the configuration to launch a debug session.

You need to produce the object files of the MicroEJ Application and deploy them into the BSP, but you will delegate the build of the Executable to MCUXpresso. To do so, follow these steps:

• Open the file configuration/common.properties located in your application folder and change the property deploy.bsp.microejscript to false
• Open the Gradle view, expand the tasks of your application, and double-click on the microej > buildExecutable task.

The following MicroEJ object files will be deployed in the BSP:

• The MicroEJ application (microejapp.o) will be deployed in bsp/vee/lib.
• The MicroEJ library (microejruntime.a) will be deployed in bsp/vee/lib.
• The MicroEJ header files (*.h) will be deployed in bsp/vee/inc.

Open the project with VSCode (from where the .vscode is located). Install MCUXpresso for VSCode plugin.

Open the Command Palette (CTRL + SHIFT + p) and run CMake: Select Configure Preset to select the build mode you wish to use.

By default, you can select the flexspi_nor_sdram_debug_evkb variant.

You can also select a preset by using the Projects section from the "MCUXpresso for VS code" view and setting the appropriate build as default.

Open the Command Palette (CTRL + SHIFT + p) and run CMake: Configure.

Compilation flags are located in CMakePresets.json. To enable any desired features, please edit the file (and reload preset & re-configure if needed).

After a change in this file, a Pristine build must be made (see Build the Project step).

Open the Command Palette (CTRL + SHIFT + p) and run CMake: Build.

You can connect VS Code to the board using the Serial Link USB or a SEGGER J-Link probe. Follow the Board Setup step for more information on how to connect the different debuggers.

Debug sessions can be started by pressing the F5 key.

It is also possible to build and debug the project via the MCUXpresso plugin:

Right-click on the project, then:

• Build Selected or Pristine Build/Rebuild Selected to compile.
• Debug to debug (it can take some time before launching). In this case, the name of the selected preset must contain debug and not release.

Once the firmware is flashed, you should see the application running on the target.

Note: In case of connection issues to the target, reset the debug probe selection via the MCUXpresso plugin:

• Select the MCUXpresso plugin in the activity bar.
• Right-click on the project name and select Reset Probe Selection.
• Start the debug again.

For information on multi-sandbox, please visit MicroEJ website.

By default, the VEE Port is built in mono-sandbox. Multi-sandbox can be enabled by editing com.microej.runtime.capability property of configuration.properties file and change its value to multi.

AI can be enabled or disabled by changing ENABLE_AI value in CMakePresets.json. Set it to 1 to enable it and 0 to disable it. Call clean.bat or clean.sh after changing this value.

For information about System View, please visit SEGGER website or MicroEJ documentation.

Follow these steps to run a System View live analysis:

• Set ENABLE_SYSTEM_VIEW CMake variable to 1 in CMakePresets.json.
• Call clean.bat or clean.sh.
• Set FLASH_CMD to flash in set_project_env.bat or set_project_env.sh.
• Execute runOnDevice gradle task. Use a J-Link probe to flash your target.
• Open System View PC application
• Go to Target > Start Recording
• Select the following Recorder Configuration:
  • J-Link Connection = USB
  • Target Connection = MIMXRT1176XXXA_M7
  • Target Interface = SWD
  • Interface Speed (kHz) = 4000
  • RTT Control Block Detection = Auto
• Click Ok

If you have an issue, please have a look at the Troubleshooting section in MicroEJ documentation.

By default, this VEE Port uses the 1G ethernet port.

It can also be configured to use the second 100M port instead. To do this, follow these instructions:

• Set BOARD_NETWORK_USE_100M_ENET_PORT to 1 in board.h
• If you are using a MIMXRT1170-EVKB, remove the resistor R136. This is done to avoid issues with the MDC pin of the port.

On Windows, fetching the source code may trigger the following fatal error: error: unable to create file [...]: Filename too long.

To avoid this, git configuration needs to be updated to handle long file names:

Start Git Bash as Administrator.

Run the following command: git config --system core.longpaths true

If you get the error PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied, please consider the following procedure :

rm .west
cd nxpvee-mimxrt1170-evk
west init -l
cd ..
west update

If you get the following error during the BSP build, please remove the cmake cache by running the script clean.bat or clean.sh.

"Failed to build the firmware"
ninja: error: loading 'build.ninja': The system cannot find the file specified.
make: *** [remake] Error 1

Due to a known bug, the RSA key size for the SECURITY Foundation Library is limited to 2048 bits, larger keys will cause errors.