June 10, 2025 • 18 mins
Unveiling NXP's Software & Tools: Insights from Field Experts
Welcome back to the EdgeVerse Techcast! In this special episode, hosts Kyle Dando and Bridgette Stone delve into NXP's software, tools, and real-world enablement. Kyle speaks with industry experts Flint Weller, Ayman Sydhom, Dana Azurin, John Russo, and Bill Strohm from NXP distributors about how NXP's resources like Linux distributions, Real-time Edge, and the Application Code Hub are streamlining development and driving customer success.
Get ready for invaluable insights and behind-the-scenes looks at how NXP is innovating.
Learn more about the distributors included in this episode:
Don't forget to like, subscribe, and leave us your topic suggestions!
00:00 Welcome to the EdgeVerse Techcast
00:27 Introduction to Today's Special Episode
00:56 Kyle's Solo Interviews with FAEs
02:11 Conversation with Flint Weller on NXP Application Processors
07:06 Insights from Ayman Sydhom on the i.MX 93 FRDM Board
09:54 Dana Azurin Discusses NXP Ecosystem for MPUs
12:50 John Russo on Improving Technical Support
15:45 Bill Strohm Highlights the Application Code Hub
18:04 Closing Remarks and Farewell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
Welcome, everyone back tothe EdgeVerse Techcast.
This is the spot.
If you're looking for information onNXP's software, tools and enablement.
It's meant for helping developers workingwith our devices, getting started quicker.
I'm Kyle Dando, one of your co-hosts, andtoday, Bridgette, I think we have a treat.
(00:38):
Yeah.
Hi everybody.
Welcome back to the EdgeVerse TechCast.
I'm Bridgette Stone, andtoday's episode is a little
different, but in the best way.
With over 30 years of experiencein the embedded industry, Kyle,
you bring deep experience and arespected voice to the conversation.
And this is my very niceway of calling you old.
I'm just kidding.
Of course!
(00:59):
I, I am a little old.
We actually had our Distributor FieldApplication Engineers visiting NXP last
week, and Kyle took the mic solo andsat down with a few of those experts.
They covered everything from realworld software enablement to how
our tools are making developmentfaster and more efficient for
our customers across industries.
(01:20):
It's a behind the scenes look at what'sresonating in the field, and we're
really excited to share it with you.
Yeah, Bridgette, it wassuch a treat for me.
As you mentioned, I havea lot of experience...
I actually worked 10 years at adistributor, one of the distributors that
I took the time to interview, but workingfor a distributor introduced me to the
(01:40):
complexity of supporting semiconductors.
Working at NXP now, it's even moreimportant that our listeners understand
the benefit and the partnership thatNXP has with our distribution partners.
And so I have a few conversations withsome of the best FAEs in the business,
and I think our listeners are gonnabe excited to hear what those people
(02:03):
see as the benefits of NXP, but moreimportant, I think the listeners are
gonna understand that there are valuableresources out there at NXP distribution
partners that they can take advantage of.
So let's jump into the first conversation.
It was with Flint Weller, and Flinthas a tremendous amount of experience
with NXP Application Processors.
From our prior episodes, it coveredour Linux and Yacto distribution
(02:28):
and also our Real-time edge supportfor our Application Processors.
Flint gives us great insightin what the field and what
the customer sees with this.
Hello Flint.
It's great to have you here.
Why don't you jump in and tell us alittle bit about yourself and your
experience with our Application Processors
Sure thing.
My name is Flint Waller.
I work for Avnet Electronics Distribution,and I support the Western half of
(02:53):
the Americas for Avnet and NXP.
I'm dedicated to supportingNXP Microprocessors.
You have experiencedworking with customers.
And the most important thingabout the devices once they
design them in is the software.
So can you talk about NXP's supportfor customers, the experience that
you've gotten back from customersabout how they can get software?
(03:15):
Absolutely.
Just having the hardware is not enough.
It's the software and the softwareecosystem that sells the product
. So NXP has everything, Linux orAndroid, but I mostly support Linux
and everything is based on Yactoproject and is available in GitHub.
So that's been wonderful.
(03:36):
The quality of NXP's Linuxdistribution compared to the
competition, there's no comparison.
NXP has the highest quality Linux and hasthe widest breadth of software support.
In your engagement with oursoftware team, it's very responsive.
They're constantly makingupdates, improvements
(03:58):
?Constantly.
Okay.
And the test quality is unmatched.
Yeah, I have no issues grabbingthe latest release from NXP.
If it comes out on Monday, I know I cangrab it on Tuesday and it will work.
All right.
Now the other interesting thingin our techcast, we've actually
covered the Real-time Edge, andwhen I brought that up, or I think
(04:20):
you brought it up, I perked up.
You have a lot more experience withcustomers enjoying the Real-time Edge.
Having applications for it.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah, so NXP presently offersI think three different
Linux distributions for i.MX.
It would be the standard Yacto project,there's a Debian flavored distribution
(04:41):
and there's Real-time edge, whichis a massive project with so many
sub-projects, such as the HarpoonProject, which makes use of the GL Health
Hypervisor, which allows you to run aclient RTOS or bare metal on an A-core.
Hmm.
So, being able to boot into Linuxon Core 0 of an A55, and then run
(05:04):
Zephyr or bare metal on Cores 1through, you know, 3 or whatever.
It's been phenomenal.
And really, NXP's competition can barelytouch the capabilities of Real-time Edge.
Additionally, you can make useof the preemptive Real-time
kernel from Linux Foundation.
Which is tested heavily by NXP.
(05:25):
It's highest qualitykernel I've come across.
With Zephyr being an RTOS, it's niceto run in a client container, but
now I'm finding some of my customerswould prefer to boot straight into
Zephyr, bypass Linux completely.
Mm-hmm.
And this has been a real gamechanger because I don't wanna say a
good, many of my customers are notexperienced with Linux, but they are
(05:49):
experienced with microcontrollers.
Now they want to make use of anMPU, like i.MX 8M plus, or 93.
But Linux is not somethingthey want to adopt.
They don't wanna staff up for it.
They don't wanna learn it.
Well, now they can bootstraight into Zephyr RTOS.
(06:10):
Which they love.
Hmm.
And so your, your boot up time is shorter.
Your, your Real-time capabilityis dramatically improved.
And for customers who are used to MCUsand an RTOS, it just comes natural to 'em.
So only thing I need to do is justdouble check that NXP has all the
Zephyr drivers for the same IP blocksavailable, and if not, when they would
(06:32):
be available and all my customer needs,and they can go and build and deploy and
what's wonderful things is now they canliterally maintain the same code base
between i.MX processors, i.MX RT, and MCX.
Yes, problem solving is alittle bit more centralized.
You don't have to solve toomany different ecosystems.
(06:55):
One code base instead of two.
Yeah, that's terrific.
So you can see from the feedback thatFlint gave that the information we're
sharing on this TechCast is real.
Customers are using our Linuxdistribution and our Real-time
edge is a, a real game changer.
So now the next FAE thatI engaged with was Ayman.
And Ayman is from Future Electronics andshared how he has been really excited
(07:20):
about the new FRDM i.MX 93 board.
Which Bridgette, you introducedjust a few episodes prior.
So let's hear what Ayman has to sayabout the i.MX 93 and how it's really
helped him support his customers.
Ayman, thanks for joining.
Why don't you give us some informationabout yourself and then jump into
the topics you wanna discuss.
My name is Aman Sydhom.
I am MPU MCU specialistworking for Future Electronics.
(07:44):
So what products do you coverfor NXP working at Future?
Yeah.
Actually I am supporting all theMCUs from, uh, NXP, like MCXN, the
cross over iMX RT microcontrollers.
I am supporting i.MX series.
i.MX 8, i.MX 9.
Especially now we are focusing on i.MX93 FRDM board, which has great board.
(08:10):
It's very, very great because it's fewstep, you can get it up and running.
You can use with Linux, Zephyr, Debian.
Recently last week I was able tobuild Debian and I can say with few
steps I was able to build Debian.
Debian is almost similar to Android.
(08:30):
Mm-hmm.
Which is, has a very great GUI interfaceand also built-in tools and applications.
So I was very happy thatit works from first time.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When you have to supportthe product, it's good that.
Yeah, actually, it, it wasthat I did that because the
customer was trying to, to do it.
He stuck.
(08:50):
They didn't know what is wrong.
So I build it, I give them theexact instructions from which I got
already from NXP, and it was great.
Step-by-step.
They were very happy that theywere able to power the i.MX
93 FRDM Board with Debian.
Yeah.
Well, and to reiterate,they need your support.
(09:13):
So when a, when a listener is looking atthe i.MX and they have questions and they
need that, uh, handholding or experience.
That's where Future can step in.
Yeah.
And say, "I have the boardthat you're looking at.
I've gone to classes in Humid and Hot,Austin, Texas, and I can help you."
Yeah.
Actually, uh, to be honest,attending the classes, the
(09:34):
hands-on, , labs you guys provided.
Helping me, helping mea lot, to be honest.
To be able to help our customer.
Especially when they haveproblems during the getting start.
So Ayman.
Yes, the i.MX 93 FRDMboard definitely is great.
You as a great technical resourcefor customers, were able to gather
all the information required to getthat customer started right away.
(09:57):
How terrific.
Alright, my next conversation waswith a local friend, someone who
I've worked with for quite a while.
It's Dana Azurin.
Dana will share how she's used theNXP ecosystem for MPUs to solve
some of her customers issues.
Dana, why don't you jump inand start sharing with us
all that you know about NXP.
(10:17):
Sure, my name is Dana Azurin.
I work with Arrow Electronics as aSenior Field Applications engineer,
and I support the Austin, Texas market.
What's one of the things, whenyou go to customers and talk about
the i.MX devices, it's a commonthread with all the customers.
What do they say about the i.MX products?
Um, overall, most of the customerswithin that product line are
(10:39):
looking at the modules, likeSOM partners that you guys have.
They like that NXP has a variety ofpartners to choose from in terms of,
uh, options for Country of origin,Pricing, Capabilities, Resourcing,
and that type of information isusually what they're looking for.
Now, as a microcontrollerguy talking to the MPU lady.
(11:02):
Is it form factor too?
Yeah.
Form factor, size does make adifference depending on the application.
Mm-hmm.
But more of those otherfeatures are the real critical
Yeah.
It's really the capability
Okay.
Of what's being pulled out and thesupport from the software side.
Okay.
Excellent.
Now working with NXP, what's somethingthat we could improve and support
(11:23):
you as you answer the customer'squestions, and then more importantly,
something that maybe customers arefinding that we should improve on?
Software's always gonna come into play.
Having good support for our customerquestions that we put into the TIC
is gonna be always key to beingable to support applications and
projects that we're working on.
Okay.
And the TIC for thelisteners, what's that?
(11:44):
That's NXP's customer support line.
So when you go online and putin a ticket for a customer or
support request, that's the TIC.
Okay.
And I'm leading the witness.
But there's a team of engineersthat address those tickets?
Yeah.
They try to communicate itwith regional resources.
Yeah.
So everybody's aware of an issue thatyou find on a Friday night, so it's
(12:06):
not just you standing by yourself.
You have some supportfrom those resources.
Yeah, the engineering support throughthe NXP ticket request is key in
order to keep our customers going.
Whether that's a softwarequestion or not, but software is
usually key for MPU applications.
Okay.
So just continue to bolster that andimprove the support on the software
side of things, would be the number onearea that would make your life easier?
(12:29):
Yeah, of course.
Okay.
Yeah.
So from that conversation, you can seeDana knows that our NXP Application
Processors have a great amount ofsupport by the customers, but she
still requires incredible response bythe NXP team to make sure that those
customers don't get stuck trying tosolve technical issues with the products.
So we'll communicate that back to thefactory, but great insight from Dana.
(12:54):
And the next one's a treat.
So my next interviews withsomeone who I've known for
over 20 years, uh, John Russo.
So John is gonna talk to us.
One of the most important parts ofsupporting customers technically,
and that is getting improvedtechnical support, not only from your
distributor, but from the supplier.
John, thanks for joining.
(13:15):
Welcome to the techcast.
Why don't you get startedby introducing yourself?
I'm John Russo.
I work with Avnet and I'vebeen an FAE since 1995.
All right.
Well, what's one thing that you thinkthe customers would like to see improved?
You're the problem solver.
You go out to the customers.
What's the kind of common feedback thatthey'd like to see NXP provide for them?
(13:37):
Well, I think more technical support like.
More than just opening tickets.
That's why Avnet hired a lotof direct support people.
You know, you have anAutomotive specialist.
I have a Microcontroller specialistand a Microprocessor specialist.
Mm-hmm.
You know that that's gonna help alot because, you know, the customers
get stuck and they call me and, youknow, I'm more of a hardware guy,
(14:01):
not a C guy, so I, I, I don't debugc code, so I need someone to help.
Yeah.
Well for the listeners, if youhave an NXP question, I think the
quickest way to get a response isto work with the distributor, right?
Yeah,
yeah.
Like we have direct support guys.
Yeah.
We have guys.
That's all they do.
You guys are here for the whole week.
Yep.
You're talking to our developmentengineers, our system engineers.
(14:24):
So you're getting that training.
But what the thing I took from theconversations we had is the customers
and even the FAEs want use cases.
They want to have "Why NXP?"
Right?
But then they want kind of likethe second level, which is like,
okay, like "What's your uniquebenefit." And then a, 20 minutes.
(14:44):
I have the patience, right, but I needyou to teach me to do something that,
right, that's not trivial, right?
Like, I wouldn't be lookingfor this if it was trivial.
I'm an engineer.
I need you to very clearly statehow to put this into my product.
So that's something we could work on.
I think maybe like training videos,you know, or, or online classes.
You know, maybe have a, a trainingcenter or something like that where
(15:06):
people can sign up for online classesand you could take 'em through the
basics and then maybe have a moreadvanced class to get deeper into things.
Okay.
We'll take that feedback.
That's really, really good.
And something that my team worksspecifically on is with the tools.
That's usually wherepeople trip up, right?
Is they've selected a part and now theyhave to configure it, do the software,
(15:27):
and they are trying to get started.
Right.
yeah.
And So you can see from that conversationwith John, him and I are our close
friends, but even when you're friends andyou're out there supporting customers,
you need to have top tech support.
You need excellent training thatJohn outlined, and NXPs always
working to improve ourselves.
And so that'll be somethingwe work on moving forward.
(15:50):
All right.
The last guest was a treat isBill Strohm, who I've engaged
with over the last five years.
And he'll introduce himself, butBridgette, you won't believe it.
He actually was very excited totalk about the Application Code Hub.
So let's drop in on thatconversation I had with Bill.
Bill, welcome.
Thanks for joining.
Why don't you kick it offby, uh, introducing yourself.
(16:11):
Bill Strom, I'm a fAE for Arrowand I support the West Coast.
Alright what is one positive thingthat you tend to hear the most when
you talk to customers about NXP?
Application Code Hub over the lastyear has been a game changer that you
know, within your tools and, you know,even external to your, to tools, you
(16:32):
can go to GitHub directly and get tohundreds of examples that will take,
you know, this board for this market.
You know, here's what I want to do andI can get a customer 80 plus percent
of the way to fully functioning code.
And all they have to dois add their secret sauce.
The hard part has already been solved.
(16:53):
Now it's just a matter of, oh, thisis what they're gonna do differently.
That's been a game changerover the last year.
So you've seen that work at the customer?
Yeah.
If you've shown the App Code Hub.
That's great.
Uh, Bridgette, my co-host, she alwayssays that App Code Hub is my buzzword.
Yeah.
That I tend to say it more thanI should, but it's good to hear.
No, no, no.
It is what is needed to get in, in frontof Well, you get in front of a customer
(17:18):
and it's like, oh, here's your FRDM board.
Here's the applicationthat you're gonna want.
Here's the example onApplication Code Hub.
I jokingly say I can get pretty muchany example in an Application Code
Hub up and running on the board thatI brought in 15 minutes and I tell
the customer, yeah, you're gonnado it, it's gonna take you an hour.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But then it'll take 'em 15 minutesthe second time they do it.
(17:40):
And then you gain all the credibility.
Yeah, I do.
When I was in FAE in the Bay area, yeah.
Your favorite suppliers are theones that make you look good.
Exactly.
With things like the Application Code Hub.
So as you can see Bridgette withthat conversation with Bill the
Application Code Hub is everythingyou and I keep talking about.
Yes, Application Code Hub is definitelyone of our favorite topics to cover,
(18:01):
and I'm glad you were able to sitface-to-face with our distributors to
talk about what an important tool thisis for all of our developers out there.
I appreciate you taking the reinson this episode and taking time
to sit down one-on-one with thetechnical experts at our distributors.
It was great to havethem as special guests.
And for the listeners out there,don't forget to Like, Subscribe
(18:22):
and drop us a note if you have aspecific topic you want us to cover.
And thanks to those FAEsfor taking the time.
We hope you enjoyed those conversations.
And until next time.
Keep pushing the boundaries.
Keep tackling those challengesand in the end, we'll catch you
on the next EdgeVerse Techcast.
Welcome, everyone back tothe EdgeVerse Techcast.
This is the spot.
If you're looking for information onNXP's software, tools and enablement.
It's meant for helping developers workingwith our devices, getting started quicker.
I'm Kyle Dando, one of your co-hosts, andtoday, Bridgette, I think we have a treat.
(00:38):
Yeah.
Hi everybody.
Welcome back to the EdgeVerse TechCast.
I'm Bridgette Stone, andtoday's episode is a little
different, but in the best way.
With over 30 years of experiencein the embedded industry, Kyle,
you bring deep experience and arespected voice to the conversation.
And this is my very niceway of calling you old.
I'm just kidding.
Of course!
(00:59):
I, I am a little old.
We actually had our Distributor FieldApplication Engineers visiting NXP last
week, and Kyle took the mic solo andsat down with a few of those experts.
They covered everything from realworld software enablement to how
our tools are making developmentfaster and more efficient for
our customers across industries.
(01:20):
It's a behind the scenes look at what'sresonating in the field, and we're
really excited to share it with you.
Yeah, Bridgette, it wassuch a treat for me.
As you mentioned, I havea lot of experience...
I actually worked 10 years at adistributor, one of the distributors that
I took the time to interview, but workingfor a distributor introduced me to the
(01:40):
complexity of supporting semiconductors.
Working at NXP now, it's even moreimportant that our listeners understand
the benefit and the partnership thatNXP has with our distribution partners.
And so I have a few conversations withsome of the best FAEs in the business,
and I think our listeners are gonnabe excited to hear what those people
(02:03):
see as the benefits of NXP, but moreimportant, I think the listeners are
gonna understand that there are valuableresources out there at NXP distribution
partners that they can take advantage of.
So let's jump into the first conversation.
It was with Flint Weller, and Flinthas a tremendous amount of experience
with NXP Application Processors.
From our prior episodes, it coveredour Linux and Yacto distribution
(02:28):
and also our Real-time edge supportfor our Application Processors.
Flint gives us great insightin what the field and what
the customer sees with this.
Hello Flint.
It's great to have you here.
Why don't you jump in and tell us alittle bit about yourself and your
experience with our Application Processors
Sure thing.
My name is Flint Waller.
I work for Avnet Electronics Distribution,and I support the Western half of
(02:53):
the Americas for Avnet and NXP.
I'm dedicated to supportingNXP Microprocessors.
You have experiencedworking with customers.
And the most important thingabout the devices once they
design them in is the software.
So can you talk about NXP's supportfor customers, the experience that
you've gotten back from customersabout how they can get software?
(03:15):
Absolutely.
Just having the hardware is not enough.
It's the software and the softwareecosystem that sells the product
. So NXP has everything, Linux orAndroid, but I mostly support Linux
and everything is based on Yactoproject and is available in GitHub.
So that's been wonderful.
(03:36):
The quality of NXP's Linuxdistribution compared to the
competition, there's no comparison.
NXP has the highest quality Linux and hasthe widest breadth of software support.
In your engagement with oursoftware team, it's very responsive.
They're constantly makingupdates, improvements
(03:58):
?Constantly.
Okay.
And the test quality is unmatched.
Yeah, I have no issues grabbingthe latest release from NXP.
If it comes out on Monday, I know I cangrab it on Tuesday and it will work.
All right.
Now the other interesting thingin our techcast, we've actually
covered the Real-time Edge, andwhen I brought that up, or I think
(04:20):
you brought it up, I perked up.
You have a lot more experience withcustomers enjoying the Real-time Edge.
Having applications for it.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah, so NXP presently offersI think three different
Linux distributions for i.MX.
It would be the standard Yacto project,there's a Debian flavored distribution
(04:41):
and there's Real-time edge, whichis a massive project with so many
sub-projects, such as the HarpoonProject, which makes use of the GL Health
Hypervisor, which allows you to run aclient RTOS or bare metal on an A-core.
Hmm.
So, being able to boot into Linuxon Core 0 of an A55, and then run
(05:04):
Zephyr or bare metal on Cores 1through, you know, 3 or whatever.
It's been phenomenal.
And really, NXP's competition can barelytouch the capabilities of Real-time Edge.
Additionally, you can make useof the preemptive Real-time
kernel from Linux Foundation.
Which is tested heavily by NXP.
(05:25):
It's highest qualitykernel I've come across.
With Zephyr being an RTOS, it's niceto run in a client container, but
now I'm finding some of my customerswould prefer to boot straight into
Zephyr, bypass Linux completely.
Mm-hmm.
And this has been a real gamechanger because I don't wanna say a
good, many of my customers are notexperienced with Linux, but they are
(05:49):
experienced with microcontrollers.
Now they want to make use of anMPU, like i.MX 8M plus, or 93.
But Linux is not somethingthey want to adopt.
They don't wanna staff up for it.
They don't wanna learn it.
Well, now they can bootstraight into Zephyr RTOS.
(06:10):
Which they love.
Hmm.
And so your, your boot up time is shorter.
Your, your Real-time capabilityis dramatically improved.
And for customers who are used to MCUsand an RTOS, it just comes natural to 'em.
So only thing I need to do is justdouble check that NXP has all the
Zephyr drivers for the same IP blocksavailable, and if not, when they would
(06:32):
be available and all my customer needs,and they can go and build and deploy and
what's wonderful things is now they canliterally maintain the same code base
between i.MX processors, i.MX RT, and MCX.
Yes, problem solving is alittle bit more centralized.
You don't have to solve toomany different ecosystems.
(06:55):
One code base instead of two.
Yeah, that's terrific.
So you can see from the feedback thatFlint gave that the information we're
sharing on this TechCast is real.
Customers are using our Linuxdistribution and our Real-time
edge is a, a real game changer.
So now the next FAE thatI engaged with was Ayman.
And Ayman is from Future Electronics andshared how he has been really excited
(07:20):
about the new FRDM i.MX 93 board.
Which Bridgette, you introducedjust a few episodes prior.
So let's hear what Ayman has to sayabout the i.MX 93 and how it's really
helped him support his customers.
Ayman, thanks for joining.
Why don't you give us some informationabout yourself and then jump into
the topics you wanna discuss.
My name is Aman Sydhom.
I am MPU MCU specialistworking for Future Electronics.
(07:44):
So what products do you coverfor NXP working at Future?
Yeah.
Actually I am supporting all theMCUs from, uh, NXP, like MCXN, the
cross over iMX RT microcontrollers.
I am supporting i.MX series.
i.MX 8, i.MX 9.
Especially now we are focusing on i.MX93 FRDM board, which has great board.
(08:10):
It's very, very great because it's fewstep, you can get it up and running.
You can use with Linux, Zephyr, Debian.
Recently last week I was able tobuild Debian and I can say with few
steps I was able to build Debian.
Debian is almost similar to Android.
(08:30):
Mm-hmm.
Which is, has a very great GUI interfaceand also built-in tools and applications.
So I was very happy thatit works from first time.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When you have to supportthe product, it's good that.
Yeah, actually, it, it wasthat I did that because the
customer was trying to, to do it.
He stuck.
(08:50):
They didn't know what is wrong.
So I build it, I give them theexact instructions from which I got
already from NXP, and it was great.
Step-by-step.
They were very happy that theywere able to power the i.MX
93 FRDM Board with Debian.
Yeah.
Well, and to reiterate,they need your support.
(09:13):
So when a, when a listener is looking atthe i.MX and they have questions and they
need that, uh, handholding or experience.
That's where Future can step in.
Yeah.
And say, "I have the boardthat you're looking at.
I've gone to classes in Humid and Hot,Austin, Texas, and I can help you."
Yeah.
Actually, uh, to be honest,attending the classes, the
(09:34):
hands-on, , labs you guys provided.
Helping me, helping mea lot, to be honest.
To be able to help our customer.
Especially when they haveproblems during the getting start.
So Ayman.
Yes, the i.MX 93 FRDMboard definitely is great.
You as a great technical resourcefor customers, were able to gather
all the information required to getthat customer started right away.
(09:57):
How terrific.
Alright, my next conversation waswith a local friend, someone who
I've worked with for quite a while.
It's Dana Azurin.
Dana will share how she's used theNXP ecosystem for MPUs to solve
some of her customers issues.
Dana, why don't you jump inand start sharing with us
all that you know about NXP.
(10:17):
Sure, my name is Dana Azurin.
I work with Arrow Electronics as aSenior Field Applications engineer,
and I support the Austin, Texas market.
What's one of the things, whenyou go to customers and talk about
the i.MX devices, it's a commonthread with all the customers.
What do they say about the i.MX products?
Um, overall, most of the customerswithin that product line are
(10:39):
looking at the modules, likeSOM partners that you guys have.
They like that NXP has a variety ofpartners to choose from in terms of,
uh, options for Country of origin,Pricing, Capabilities, Resourcing,
and that type of information isusually what they're looking for.
Now, as a microcontrollerguy talking to the MPU lady.
(11:02):
Is it form factor too?
Yeah.
Form factor, size does make adifference depending on the application.
Mm-hmm.
But more of those otherfeatures are the real critical
Yeah.
It's really the capability
Okay.
Of what's being pulled out and thesupport from the software side.
Okay.
Excellent.
Now working with NXP, what's somethingthat we could improve and support
(11:23):
you as you answer the customer'squestions, and then more importantly,
something that maybe customers arefinding that we should improve on?
Software's always gonna come into play.
Having good support for our customerquestions that we put into the TIC
is gonna be always key to beingable to support applications and
projects that we're working on.
Okay.
And the TIC for thelisteners, what's that?
(11:44):
That's NXP's customer support line.
So when you go online and putin a ticket for a customer or
support request, that's the TIC.
Okay.
And I'm leading the witness.
But there's a team of engineersthat address those tickets?
Yeah.
They try to communicate itwith regional resources.
Yeah.
So everybody's aware of an issue thatyou find on a Friday night, so it's
(12:06):
not just you standing by yourself.
You have some supportfrom those resources.
Yeah, the engineering support throughthe NXP ticket request is key in
order to keep our customers going.
Whether that's a softwarequestion or not, but software is
usually key for MPU applications.
Okay.
So just continue to bolster that andimprove the support on the software
side of things, would be the number onearea that would make your life easier?
(12:29):
Yeah, of course.
Okay.
Yeah.
So from that conversation, you can seeDana knows that our NXP Application
Processors have a great amount ofsupport by the customers, but she
still requires incredible response bythe NXP team to make sure that those
customers don't get stuck trying tosolve technical issues with the products.
So we'll communicate that back to thefactory, but great insight from Dana.
(12:54):
And the next one's a treat.
So my next interviews withsomeone who I've known for
over 20 years, uh, John Russo.
So John is gonna talk to us.
One of the most important parts ofsupporting customers technically,
and that is getting improvedtechnical support, not only from your
distributor, but from the supplier.
John, thanks for joining.
(13:15):
Welcome to the techcast.
Why don't you get startedby introducing yourself?
I'm John Russo.
I work with Avnet and I'vebeen an FAE since 1995.
All right.
Well, what's one thing that you thinkthe customers would like to see improved?
You're the problem solver.
You go out to the customers.
What's the kind of common feedback thatthey'd like to see NXP provide for them?
(13:37):
Well, I think more technical support like.
More than just opening tickets.
That's why Avnet hired a lotof direct support people.
You know, you have anAutomotive specialist.
I have a Microcontroller specialistand a Microprocessor specialist.
Mm-hmm.
You know that that's gonna help alot because, you know, the customers
get stuck and they call me and, youknow, I'm more of a hardware guy,
(14:01):
not a C guy, so I, I, I don't debugc code, so I need someone to help.
Yeah.
Well for the listeners, if youhave an NXP question, I think the
quickest way to get a response isto work with the distributor, right?
Yeah,
yeah.
Like we have direct support guys.
Yeah.
We have guys.
That's all they do.
You guys are here for the whole week.
Yep.
You're talking to our developmentengineers, our system engineers.
(14:24):
So you're getting that training.
But what the thing I took from theconversations we had is the customers
and even the FAEs want use cases.
They want to have "Why NXP?"
Right?
But then they want kind of likethe second level, which is like,
okay, like "What's your uniquebenefit." And then a, 20 minutes.
(14:44):
I have the patience, right, but I needyou to teach me to do something that,
right, that's not trivial, right?
Like, I wouldn't be lookingfor this if it was trivial.
I'm an engineer.
I need you to very clearly statehow to put this into my product.
So that's something we could work on.
I think maybe like training videos,you know, or, or online classes.
You know, maybe have a, a trainingcenter or something like that where
(15:06):
people can sign up for online classesand you could take 'em through the
basics and then maybe have a moreadvanced class to get deeper into things.
Okay.
We'll take that feedback.
That's really, really good.
And something that my team worksspecifically on is with the tools.
That's usually wherepeople trip up, right?
Is they've selected a part and now theyhave to configure it, do the software,
(15:27):
and they are trying to get started.
Right.
yeah.
And So you can see from that conversationwith John, him and I are our close
friends, but even when you're friends andyou're out there supporting customers,
you need to have top tech support.
You need excellent training thatJohn outlined, and NXPs always
working to improve ourselves.
And so that'll be somethingwe work on moving forward.
(15:50):
All right.
The last guest was a treat isBill Strohm, who I've engaged
with over the last five years.
And he'll introduce himself, butBridgette, you won't believe it.
He actually was very excited totalk about the Application Code Hub.
So let's drop in on thatconversation I had with Bill.
Bill, welcome.
Thanks for joining.
Why don't you kick it offby, uh, introducing yourself.
(16:11):
Bill Strom, I'm a fAE for Arrowand I support the West Coast.
Alright what is one positive thingthat you tend to hear the most when
you talk to customers about NXP?
Application Code Hub over the lastyear has been a game changer that you
know, within your tools and, you know,even external to your, to tools, you
(16:32):
can go to GitHub directly and get tohundreds of examples that will take,
you know, this board for this market.
You know, here's what I want to do andI can get a customer 80 plus percent
of the way to fully functioning code.
And all they have to dois add their secret sauce.
The hard part has already been solved.
(16:53):
Now it's just a matter of, oh, thisis what they're gonna do differently.
That's been a game changerover the last year.
So you've seen that work at the customer?
Yeah.
If you've shown the App Code Hub.
That's great.
Uh, Bridgette, my co-host, she alwayssays that App Code Hub is my buzzword.
Yeah.
That I tend to say it more thanI should, but it's good to hear.
No, no, no.
It is what is needed to get in, in frontof Well, you get in front of a customer
(17:18):
and it's like, oh, here's your FRDM board.
Here's the applicationthat you're gonna want.
Here's the example onApplication Code Hub.
I jokingly say I can get pretty muchany example in an Application Code
Hub up and running on the board thatI brought in 15 minutes and I tell
the customer, yeah, you're gonnado it, it's gonna take you an hour.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But then it'll take 'em 15 minutesthe second time they do it.
(17:40):
And then you gain all the credibility.
Yeah, I do.
When I was in FAE in the Bay area, yeah.
Your favorite suppliers are theones that make you look good.
Exactly.
With things like the Application Code Hub.
So as you can see Bridgette withthat conversation with Bill the
Application Code Hub is everythingyou and I keep talking about.
Yes, Application Code Hub is definitelyone of our favorite topics to cover,
(18:01):
and I'm glad you were able to sitface-to-face with our distributors to
talk about what an important tool thisis for all of our developers out there.
I appreciate you taking the reinson this episode and taking time
to sit down one-on-one with thetechnical experts at our distributors.
It was great to havethem as special guests.
And for the listeners out there,don't forget to Like, Subscribe
(18:22):
and drop us a note if you have aspecific topic you want us to cover.
And thanks to those FAEsfor taking the time.
We hope you enjoyed those conversations.
And until next time.
Keep pushing the boundaries.
Keep tackling those challengesand in the end, we'll catch you
on the next EdgeVerse Techcast.
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