RTWWest, MCUXpresso SDK and Kconfig
West fundamentals and NXP ecosystem
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Objectives
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- Theoretical course
- PDF course material (in English) supplemented by a printed version.
- The trainer answers trainees' questions during the training and provide technical and pedagogical assistance.
- Practical activities
- Practical activities represent from 40% to 50% of course duration.
- Code examples, exercises and solutions
- One PC (Linux ou Windows) for the practical activities with, if appropriate, a target board.
- One PC for two trainees when there are more than 6 trainees.
- For onsite trainings:
- An installation and test manual is provided to allow preinstallation of the needed software.
- The trainer come with target boards if needed during the practical activities (and bring them back at the end of the course).
- Downloadable preconfigured virtual machine for post-course practical activities
- At the start of each session the trainer will interact with the trainees to ensure the course fits their expectations and correct if needed
- C Language knowledge (see for example our L2 training course)
- Familiarity with Git and command-line tools
- Any embedded systems engineer or technician with the above prerequisites.
- The prerequisites indicated above are assessed before the training by the technical supervision of the traineein his company, or by the trainee himself in the exceptional case of an individual trainee.
- Trainee progress is assessed in two different ways, depending on the course:
- For courses lending themselves to practical exercises, the results of the exercises are checked by the trainer while, if necessary, helping trainees to carry them out by providing additional details.
- Quizzes are offered at the end of sections that do not include practical exercises to verifythat the trainees have assimilated the points presented
- At the end of the training, each trainee receives a certificate attesting that they have successfully completed the course.
- In the event of a problem, discovered during the course, due to a lack of prerequisites by the trainee a different or additional training is offered to them, generally to reinforce their prerequisites,in agreement with their company manager if applicable.
Course Outline
- SDK structure and components
- Toolchains, CMake and Ninja integration
- Application structure and examples
- Overview
- Application components and structure
- Application
- Application
- Modules
- West workspace
- Why West? Problems solved
- West as a meta-tool: repository + commands
- Alternatives (git submodules, repo) and limitations
- West
- West structure
- Using west
- West manifest
- West commands
- West topologies
- Anatomy of west.yml
- Specific commands and common extensions
- Init, update, list, config
- Build, debug, attach, flash
- Other common commands
- Extending West with custom commands
| Exercise: | Exercise: Getting started with West and MCUXpresso SDK | |
| Exercise: | Exercise: Create a custom workspace manifest while importing only required projects | |
- Setting up host tools (Git, Python, CMake, Ninja)
- Integrating LinkServer, Jlink and other debuggers
- Debugging workflow with GDB
- VSCode integration (tasks, debug sessions)
- MCUXpresso for VSCode
| Exercise: | Exercise: Build, flash and debug using command line and customize IDE | |
- Overview of the configuration tool suite (Pins, Clocks, Peripherals, Device settings)
- How Config Tools integrate with MCUXpresso SDK and West builds
- Generating initialization code (pin_mux.c/h, clock_config.c/h, peripheral setup)
- Using the graphical interface to configure GPIO, UART, and system clocks
- Exporting configuration files and re-integrating them into applications
- Limitations and best practices when combining with Kconfig/prj.conf
| Exercise: | Exercise: Customize existing boards | |
- Custom manifests for minimal projects
- Writing custom West commands
- Modifying in-tree applications (LED blinky)
- Freestanding applications outside the SDK
| Exercise: | Exercise: Extend west commands | |
| Exercise: | Exercise: Create a custom freestanding application | |
- Adding FreeRTOS using West
- Multicore projects with Sysbuild
- SPDX analysis and compliance check
- Memory footprint and Puncover analysis
| Exercise: | Exercise: Extend the workflow with FreeRTOS and advanced tools | |
| Exercise: | Exercise: Using west memory analysis features | |
- Configuration phase in West/CMake
- Kconfig framework:
- Enabling/disabling global features
- Tuning and conditional compilation
- Default values and symbol dependencies
- Role of prj.conf and fragments
- Interactive configuration (menuconfig, guiconfig)
- Generated config files: .config, mcux_config.h
- Writing new Kconfig entries (symbols, menus, defaults)
- Limitations and best practices
- MCUXpresso SDK specifics (custom prefixes, no CONFIG_ macros)
| Exercise: | Exercise: Customize prj.conf | |
| Exercise: | Exercise: Create and use custom kconfig options | |
- Board Architecture Overview
- Structure and components of a board port
- Creating a New Board Definition
- Configuring custom boards
- Board debuggers
- Linker Script
- Integrating the custom Board into the SDK
| Exercise: | Exercise: Write a custom board | |
- Why to use modules?
- Module structure
- Out-of-tree module
- Module’s YAML
- Module CMakeLists.txt
| Exercise: | Exercise: Create a custom library module | |
More
To book a training session or for more information, please contact us on info@ac6-training.com.
Registrations are accepted till one week before the start date for scheduled classes. For late registrations, please consult us.
You can also fill and send us the registration form
This course can be provided either remotely, in our Paris training center or worldwide on your premises.
Scheduled classes are confirmed as soon as there is two confirmed bookings. Bookings are accepted until 1 week before the course start.
Last update of course schedule: 30 September 2025
Booking one of our trainings is subject to our General Terms of Sales