NXP Semiconductors
UM11623
PCA9959HN-ARD evaluation board
2 Introduction
This document describes the PCA9959HN-ARD evaluation board. The evaluation board
is built around the PCA9959HN, a 24-channel SPI serial bus 63 mA / 5.5 V constant
current LED driver produced by NXP Semiconductors. The evaluation board serves
as a daughter card that can be connected through an Arduino port to various Arduino
compatible (including original Arduino Uno R3) EVK / motherboards for testing and
measuring the characteristics of the PCA9959HN Device Under Test (DUT).
The PCA9959HN-ARD daughter card communicates through the Arduino port with the
host device via the high-speed SPI bus (up to 10 MHz clock frequency). The board
is equipped with a pair of Fuji connectors that supports a SPI daisy chain scalable
architecture. Thus, users can create a stack of similar boards that share SPI bus. The
Fuji connectors are of the board-to-board type, allowing the user to attach the boards in
a vertical stack instead of connecting link cables between the boards. Alongside the SPI
bus, three additional digital lines allow the mother board to control the DUT through the
Arduino port or the Fuji connectors.
Power is delivered from the mother board (EVK) through the Arduino port. The power
rails are shared with the Fuji connectors, so the DUT can be powered either from the
Arduino connectors or the Fuji connectors.
The board contains four RGB LEDs and 12 white LEDs allocated to all 24 outputs of the
PCA9959HN DUT. The board also contains jumpers and connectors that allow users to
disconnect the onboard LEDs, to perform short tests, and to connect external LEDs to
PCA9959HN outputs.
Additionally, a Graphical User Interface (Windows platform) is provided to facilitate the
evaluation of the daughter board. The GUI is used in combination with the following NXP
evaluation boards: IMXRT1050 EVK board, LPCXpresso55S69 development board, and
i.MX 8M Mini LPDDR4 EVK board.
3 Finding kit resources and information on the NXP web site
NXP Semiconductors provides online resources for this evaluation board and its
.
The information page for the PCA9959HN-ARD evaluation board is at
. The information page provides overview information,
documentation, software and tools, parametrics, ordering information and a
Getting
Started
tab. The
Getting Started
tab provides quick-reference information applicable
to using the PCA9959HN-ARD evaluation board, including the downloadable assets
referenced in this document.
3.1 Collaborate in the NXP community
The NXP community is for sharing ideas and tips, ask and answer technical questions,
and receive input on just about any embedded design topic.
The NXP community is at
4 Getting ready
Working with the PCA9959HN-ARD requires the kit contents, additional hardware, and a
Windows PC workstation with installed software.
UM11623
All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
© NXP B.V. 2021. All rights reserved.
User manual
Rev. 1 — 21 May 2021
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