Chapter 3
Getting started
3.1 Power measurement acquisition applications
The following two applications are available to acquire real-time power data from the board, both are publicly available on GitHub:
•
•
The BCU software is a command-line tool, designed to control boards/platforms that support remote control and power
measurement. It provides functions such as on/off key operation, board reset, setting boot mode, JTAG debug, and power
measurement through the USB debug port.
The PMT software is a GUI-based tool. It offers functionalities similar to the BCU, but thanks to the GUI, it also allows real-time
profiling of power rails (graphical monitoring of power, voltage, and current).
The sampling rate achieved on the BCU is higher than on the PMT due to the GUI processing on the latter.
• BCU is therefore provided for power acquisition where fine live monitoring is not the primary purpose, e.g. remote
acquisition, thanks to its higher sampling rate.
• PMT is therefore provided for live power monitoring activities during system design, debug phases, and also post-
processing analysis, thanks to its enhanced GUI.
Note that power acquisitions made using the BCU can be imported into the PMT for post-processing analysis to benefit from
the advantages of the two applications, higher sampling resolution of the BCU, and enhanced visibility of power rail activities of
the PMT.
This document only shows the power measurement functions for the 8MPLUSLPD4-PEVK platform. For more information on the
other functions of BCU and PMT, see the BCU release note in
and
i.MX Power Measurement Tool
3.2 EEPROM configuration and usage
3.2.1 Description
The 8MPLUSLPD4-PWR board embeds a 32-kb System ID EEPROM (U28), connected to the I2C debug interface. This
EEPROM is used to store the following useful board information:
• Board ID and revision
• SoC ID and revision
• PMIC ID and revision
• Number of measurable power rails on the board
• Board serial number (user-defined)
The PMT and BCU power measurement acquisition tools can detect the type of the board connected by reading the EEPROM.
If the connected board is used for the first time, ensure that the EEPROM is correctly programmed. EEPROMs
are programmed during the board-manufacturing process. You can reset the configuration if an error occurs. The
current manufacturing EEPROM configuration settings are listed in the "Data" column in
change in the case of 8MPLUSLPD4-PWR board revision updates).
NOTE
NXP Semiconductors
i.MX 8M Plus Power Measurement Board User's Guide, Rev. 0, 29 April 2021
User's Guide
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