The ConnectCore 8X system-on-module contains an ultra-low power ARM Cortex-M0+ (NXP Kinetis KL17: MKL17Z64VDA4) Micro Controller Assist chip. The MCA is connected to the i.MX8QXP CPU through the I2C0 port.

The MCA provides the following functionality through a multi-function device driver (MFD):

  • Core functionality

    • System-on-module reset logic

    • NVRAM

    • 32.768 kHz output

    • 1.2 V voltage reference

  • Multi-function drivers

    • ADC channels

    • GPIOs

    • Power button

    • Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

    • Real time clock (RTC)

    • Watchdog timer

Firmware version

Your ConnectCore 8X system-on-module ships from factory with a pre-programmed firmware on the MCA. Digi, however, ships fixes and updates of the MCA firmware on the support web site. We recommend you to verify the current firmware version of the MCA and check for the availability of a more recent version on Digi support web site.

Check the current MCA firmware version

Verify the current MCA firmware on your SOM by reading it on the U-Boot banner:

U-Boot dub-2018.03-r2.2+g2854efc (Sep 13 2019 - 20:07:29 +0000)

CPU:   Freescale i.MX8QXP revB A35 at 1000 MHz at 37C
DRAM:  2 GiB
MCA:   HW_VER=1  FW_VER=0.16
MMC:   FSL_SDHC: 0, FSL_SDHC: 1
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Model: Digi International ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro Board.
ConnectCore 8X SOM variant 0x02: Industrial QuadXPlus 1.0GHz, 16GB eMMC, 2GB LPDDR4, -40/+85C, Wireless, Bluetooth
Board: ConnectCore 8X SBC Pro, version 1, ID 135
Boot:  MMC0

BuildInfo:
 - SCFW 494c97f3, SECO-FW d7523fe8, IMX-MKIMAGE abd6ce55, ATF 727cf89
 - U-Boot dub-2018.03-r2.2+g2854efc

Net:   eth0: ethernet@5b040000
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
=>

In Linux, you can check the MCA firmware version by running the sysinfo command.

Check the latest MCA firmware version available

Go to the ConnectCore 8X software product page on the Digi web site to check for the latest available MCA firmware version.

See MCA management application for instructions about updating the MCA firmware.

Functionality

See the following topics for more information on the MCA functionality: