October 2025: Bootloader configuration update for FRDM-MCXA156 in the zephyr project. Updated the default MCU-Boot mode from 'overwrite only' to 'swap mode' and adjusted the flash programming size to 16 bytes to ensure proper bootloader alignment. These changes improve boot reliability on FRDM-MCXA156 and prepare the work for upstream review and hardware-wide compatibility.

Month: 2025-09. Focused on standardizing NXP board configurations, expanding ZMS support, and reducing flash footprint to enable faster iteration, smaller builds, and easier maintenance across Zephyr testing, Zephyr, and MCUBoot repos. Key features and bug fixes delivered this month are summarized below, with emphasis on business value and technical achievement. Key features delivered: - Memory Size Macro Refactor for NXP DTS (zephyr-testing): Introduced DT_SIZE_M() and DT_SIZE_K() macros for memory sizing to MB/KB, improving readability and cross-board consistency. Commits: 65d7c7c598a3486455d234e404e07f9055aac780. - Frequency Macro Refactor for NXP DTS (zephyr-testing): Migrated to DT_FREQ_M() and DT_FREQ_K() macros with freq.h to standardize frequency configuration across NXP boards. Commits: cd1b6c37f24f2afc29ae0adb77be8fc490460d22. - ZMS board configuration for FRDM-MCXN236 (zephyr): Added frdm_mcxn236.conf for ZMS samples/tests with specific flash write requirements (block size 128, main stack 2048). Commits: 22adf152dc7f3f1fe32dede0fa783f6cbd80a3eb. - MCXA DTS write-block-size fix (zephyr): Corrected the write-block-size for MCXA platforms to 16 bytes to align with the Flash ROM-API. Commits: 2a8d4d7338d37ff9d6f598e6522724427c294e60. - Bootloader configuration simplification for FRDM-MCXA156 (mcuboot): Removed FRDM-MCXA156 board config from Zephyr bootloader configuration to reduce flash write-program-size and simplify setup. Commits: 677f16020ab1313aa950c8a98bbc252196028616. Major bugs fixed: - MCXA DTS write-block-size adjustment ensures compatibility with Flash ROM-API and prevents misalignment issues across MCXA platforms. Commit: 2a8d4d7338d37ff9d6f598e6522724427c294e60. Overall impact and accomplishments: - Improved maintainability and readability through standardized memory and frequency macros, reducing onboarding time for new boards. - Enhanced ZMS support for FRDM-MCXN236, enabling newer demonstrations and tests. - Reduced flash write-program-size and build complexity via bootloader and config cleanups, contributing to smaller builds and faster release cycles. - Cross-repo coordination across zephyr-testing, zephyr, and mcuboot to harmonize board configurations and Flash usage. Technologies/skills demonstrated: - C macro usage and macro-driven configuration (DT_SIZE_*/DT_FREQ_*) in device tree sources. - DTS and board configuration management for NXP MCUXpresso/NXP platforms. - FRDM FRDM-MCXN236 ZMS integration and configuration management. - Bootloader configuration management and flash footprint optimization. - LittleFS/flash-usage cleanup as part of maintainability efforts (implicit in the FRDM-MCXA156 cleanup).

2025-08 Monthly summary focused on hardware compatibility and robustness improvements in the zephyr-testing repo. Implemented JEDEC-ID validation for flash_mcux_flexspi to verify that the configured flash module matches the JEDEC ID from the device-tree, improving hardware compatibility and reducing misconfigurations. Fixed EVKC Rev C board configuration to use 16MB w25q128jw flash module (instead of 8MB is25wp064), resolving initialization failures and distinguishing newer boards from older revisions.

June 2025 monthly summary focusing on delivering robust bootloader and flash-memory handling across AmbiqZephyr and MCUBoot repos, with expanded test coverage and safer update workflows.

May 2025 delivered cross-board debugging and deployment improvements for AmbiqZephyr across mimxrt1064_evk, mimxrt1160_evk, and mimxrt1060_evk, enhanced documentation for the MIMXRT1064-EVK, expanded LittleFS test coverage to two additional boards, and refined flashing configurations to streamline sysbuild MCU-boot workflows. This work improves OTA reliability, reduces onboarding time, and strengthens test coverage across supported boards.

April 2025 monthly summary for AmbiqMicro/ambiqzephyr and zephyrproject-rtos/mcuboot focusing on stability, maintainability, and expanded MCU support. Key actions included stack-size hardening for NVS samples, broader MCUX ACMP support across mimxrt1170 revisions, deduplication of MIMXRT1170 EVK configs, memory management improvements for is25wp064, and documentation/quality enhancements to ISR usage and boot configuration descriptions. These changes reduce runtime risk, simplify maintenance, and improve developer experience and board-definition integrity.

March 2025 – zephyrproject-rtos/mcuboot: Bootloader upgrade configuration for the frdm-mcxn236 board added to mcuboot to align upgrade behavior with hardware constraints/design choices. No major bugs fixed this month. Impact: provides a hardware-aware, reliable upgrade path for frdm-mcxn236, reducing upgrade risk and improving consistency across devices. Technologies/skills demonstrated: board-level bootloader configuration, Zephyr boot process, Git/version control, cross-team collaboration.

Month: 2024-12 — Focused on delivering a robust bootloader upgrade pathway for frdm-mcxa156 in the mcuboot repository. Implemented an upgrade-only boot mode by configuring CONFIG_BOOT_UPGRADE_ONLY=y and disabling MCUBoot swap behavior, ensuring reliable firmware upgrades on this hardware. This work included a board configuration update committed as 84416fd2cf94b7860ee32c59649036fcf593db82, and lays the groundwork for safer deployment flows with reduced downtime.

November 2024 across kholia/zephyr and zephyrproject-rtos/mcuboot delivered targeted, high-impact fixes and improvements that broaden hardware compatibility, shorten CI feedback loops, and harden boot processes. The work emphasizes cross-platform build stability, streamlined CI/build automation, bootloader reliability, and test coverage enhancements with concrete commit-level changes and measurable business value.