Building on the momentum of its Industry 4.0 software-configurable analog input family (NAFE1 and NAFE7 families), NXP launches the NAFE33352, the first product in our next-generation analog input and output (AIO) product family designed to deliver precision and flexibility to industrial measurement and control applications.
The NAFE3 AIO family addresses key Industry 4.0 trends by offering advanced capabilities tailored to smart factories. It also represents NXP’s continued commitment and investment in system solutions for factory automation applications.
Enabling Machine Learning Driven Factory Automation and Process Control Systems
In these systems, the main controller uses embedded or remote I/O modules to receive sensor inputs and provide outputs to the actuators. With high sampling rates (576 kSPS for input and 200 kSPS for output) and best-in-class precision and accuracy (24-bit, +/-0.005% for input and 18-bit, +/-0.0025% for output), the NAFE333352 is ideal for machine learning industrial applications requiring fast and accurate data processing.
Flexible and Cost-Effective Design
The NAFE33352’s highly integrated and most flexible software-configurable architecture reduces product size and cost while enhancing R&D and manufacturing efficiency. As the inputs and outputs can be digitally configured by software without manual intervention, allowing for quick changes, the NAFE3 family helps to solve the key Industry 4.0 challenge: how to adapt factories quickly and efficiently to meet shifting market demands.
Discover how Analog Front Ends are transforming industrial automation.
Dive deeper into the NAFE333352 benefits.
NAFE33352 Software Configurable Input and Output Analog Front End supports Industry 4.0 applications
Precision Measurement and Control by Design
As the first in the AIO family, the NAFE33352 device offers exceptional input and output flexibility with comprehensive voltage and current input/output ranges spanning ±12.5 V and ±25 mA, respectively. This broad input range enables precise signal processing across diverse industrial applications, supporting accurate data acquisition, monitoring, and control.
The NAFE33352 device includes one analog input/output (AIO) and two analog inputs. Future variants of the NAFE3 family will include 1x AIO version and 1x AO version that are pin-to-pin and firmware compatible. The NAFE33352’s highly integrated and innovative system architecture in just 6 mm x 6mm package includes a precision 18-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a 24-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a low-drift voltage reference, low-offset drift buffers, and high-voltage and high-precision amplifiers with a 70 V input-protection circuit for EMC and miswiring scenarios, enabling true software configurable universal analog inputs and outputs. Variants with a lower resolution 16/14-bit DAC and a 16-bit ADC will also be available.
NAFE33352 Analog Front End Block Diagram
For a better viewing experience, download the block diagram.
The NAFE3 family helps to design the high-speed and highly precise and accurate analog control loops. 14/16/18 bit DAC, 16/24 bit ADC, and amplifiers provide a best-in-class feature set such as high resolution, monotonicity, fast settling time, and low noise to address the demands of the next generation high precision analog loop control systems.
Diagnostics for Predictive Maintenance
The NAFE33352 family incorporates advanced diagnostics circuitry for both output and input stages. For open circuit and short-circuit detection, the output stage includes built-in diagnostic and protection circuitry. The input stage includes advanced diagnostic circuits enabling anomaly detection and facilitating predictive maintenance and functional safety. These diagnostic features enable production efficiency by minimizing downtime and ensuring reliability in smart factory operations.
NAFE33352 Facilitates Diverse Applications
The NAFE3 family brings key features for programmable logic controller (PLC), remote I/O, temperature measurement and industrial weigh-scale applications.
The NAFE33352 has the right mix of inputs and outputs (2:1) with software configurability on shared terminals. These features, along with integrated diagnostic functions for functional safety implementation, makes the NAFE33352 an excellent choice for multifunction PLC applications, such as slice I/O modules and remote I/Os.
The device’s precise, low-drift DAC source is ideal for single-channel or multichannel isolated temperature measurement systems. Additionally, the NAFE33352 supports industrial weight scale and load cell applications with excitation currents of up to 25 mA or voltages of up to 12.5 V, while its AC excitation eliminates offsets for enhanced accuracy.
NAFE33352 is an excellent choice for multifunction PLC applications, such as slice I/O modules and remote I/Os
Speed Up Design of Fully Software Configurable AIO Modules
KITNAFE33352-EVB enables the quick evaluation of NXP’s Analog Front End NAFE33352. This solution is unique as it illustrates a complete system design of analog input and output modules. It speeds up your system design with readily available LPC54S018 MCUXpresso SDK drivers and a GUI for evaluation.
It’s an EMC-compliant and fully tested hardware solution, so engineers can quickly adopt this design. It consists of tested power supply circuitry to generate NAFE’s voltage supplies (+/-15 V, 3.3 V), digital isolators to protect the MCU from any kind of analog signals, and switches to leverage the software configurability of NAFE33352. All the necessary signals are routed to headers to connect with LPC54S018 EVB.
The accuracy (+/-0.005% for input and +/-0.0025% for output, after user calibration) and precision (24-bit for input and 18-bit for output) requirements have been fully tested for this design.
Speed Up Design of Fully Software Configurable Analog Input and Output Modules Using the KITNAFE33352-EVB evaluation kit
The KITNAFE33352-EVB solution has a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to configure NAFE33352 and execute several applications, including load cell, voltage, current, and RTD (temperature sensing), for additional quick evaluation. The GUI facilitates the rapid evaluation and experimentation of various sensors with configuration parameters to attain optimal performance.
The KITNAFE33352-EVB solution has a graphical user interface allows users to configure NAFE33352 and execute several applications
For a better viewing experience, download the block diagram.
Overall, the complete KITNAFE33352-EVB solution will definitely speed up the hardware and software development of fully software-configurable analog input and output modules.
The NAFE33352 evaluation possibilities will be soon expanded by the NAFE33352-UIOM which is a software configurable input and output AFE Arduino® shield board. The shield board supports quick evaluation and plug-and-play compatibility with NXP's FRDM-MCX development boards. Users can quickly perform voltage, current and temperature measurements (RTD and thermocouple) using example code available on NXP’s Application Code Hub reducing development time.
Longer term availability is crucial for industrial applications and the NAFE33352 and the NAFE3 family of devices will be part of the NXP Product Longevity program.
Wrapping Up and Looking Forward
The NAFE33352 is the newest member of the Analog Front End portfolio and is available now. The AIO-AFE is ideal for PLCs, process control, I/O modules, and weigh-scale applications. Engineers can evaluate the NXP’s analog input and output front-end family either by using the KITNAFE33352-EVB (available now) or by using the NAFE33352-UIOM (available soon) which is part of NXP’s FRDM development platform, offering compatibility with NXP microcontrollers. Stay tuned for updates on these innovative solutions.
