The NuMicro ICP Programmer Nu-Link is a high-performance In-Circuit Programmer and Debugger (ICP/ICD) designed for Nuvoton NuMicro microcontrollers, including Arm® Cortex®-M0 and Cortex-M4 series devices. Officially supported by Nuvoton, this tool provides seamless programming and real-time debugging via popular IDEs, making it ideal for development, testing, and production programming.

Key Features:

• Nu-Link Programmer & Debugger: Combines programming and on-chip debugging in one unit
• Supports M0/M4 Series: Fully compatible with Nuvoton NuMicro Cortex-M0 and M4 microcontrollers
• In-Circuit Programming (ICP): Flash and configure devices without removing them from the board
• Real-Time Debugging: Step through code, watch variables, and set breakpoints
• Integrated USB Interface: Connects directly to a PC via USB for power and data
• IDE Support: Works with Nuvoton’s official IDE and tools (NuWriter, NuLink utilities, Keil µVision, etc.)

Specifications:

• Model: Nu-Link (ICP Programmer / Emulator)
• Supported MCU Families:
  • NuMicro M0 Series
  • NuMicro M4 Series
• Interface: USB for host connection; SWD/SWV or debug connector to target MCU
• Programming Mode: In-Circuit Programming (ICP) / In-Circuit Debugging (ICD)
• Power: Bus-powered via USB or optional target power sensing
• Compatible Software: Nuvoton IDE/Tools, Keil µVision, IAR Embedded Workbench (depending on setup)
• Operating Systems: Windows (standard support; check specific toolchain requirements)

Applications:

• Firmware development and testing for Nuvoton microcontrollers
• In-Circuit Programming of production boards
• Debugging embedded applications on M0/M4 MCUs
• Educational and professional development environments
• Rapid prototyping and embedded system development

Features:

• In-Circuit programming target chip
• Online/offline programming mode
• Backup flash data of target chip (If the target chip is not flash protected)
• Backup offline flash data of Nu-Link dongle (if offline data has been unprotected)
• Write software serials number (SN) to target chip
• Limit the maximum programming count
• Data encryption for online/offline programming
• Batch mode for online/offline programming

Preparing for ICP Programming Tool

System Requirements

The hardware and software requirements for installing the ICP Programming Tool system are as follows:

• PC/AT compatible machine with Pentium or higher CPU
• XVGA(1024*768) color monitor
• At least 512M RAM for best performance
• At least 20M free disk space
• Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

Hardware Installation

• Step 1: Plug USB cable into the USB port of the ICP Programming Tool board.
• Step 2: Connect the ICP Programming Tool board with ICE interface of DEV board.

Software Installation

• Please run the installer package to install the software

Software

NuMicro_ICP_Programming_Tool

This chapter describes operation modes of the ICP Programming Tool and Nu-Link dongle.

ICP Programming Tool Modes

• The ICP tool supports “online” and “offline” programming mode.

Online Programming Mode

• If the “Offline programming mode” option in Figure 4-14 is unchecked, ICP
• Programming Tool will program in online programming mode.
• Click the “Start” button to start to program target device immediately.
• The target device must be connected to Nu-Link.

Offline Programming Mode

• If the “Offline programming mode” option is checked, the ICP
• Programming Tool will program in offline programming mode.
• Click the “Start” button to save the file data into Nu-Link at first, no matter a target device is connected to Nu-Link or not.