diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/Makefile b/platforms/lpc17xx/Makefile
index 172df5a..8975de9 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/Makefile
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/Makefile
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ ifeq ($(TEST_NAME),)
 TEST_NAME = kern1
 endif
 
-
-
 CC = arm-none-eabi-gcc
 LN = arm-none-eabi-gcc
 AS = arm-none-eabi-gcc
@@ -18,7 +16,7 @@ CFLAGS := $(CFLAGS) -O3 -Os -g3 -Wall -c -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb
 AFLAGS := $(AFLAGS) -O3 -Os -g3 -Wall -c -fmessage-length=0 -fno-builtin -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb
 LFLAGS := $(LFLAGS) -O3 -Os -Wall -mcpu=cortex-m3 -mthumb -Wl,-Map=system.map  -Tsystem.ld 
 
-CDEFS := $(CDEFS) -DATOMTHREADS_TEST='"$(TEST_NAME)"'
+CDEFS := $(CDEFS) -DATOMTHREADS_TEST='"$(TEST_NAME)"' -DBOARD_MBED_LP1768
 ADEFS := $(ADEFS) -D__thumb2__ -DARM_RDI_MONITOR 
 
 LLIBS := $(LLIBS) 
@@ -39,7 +37,8 @@ ASMS := $(ASMS) \
 
 
 INCLUDES := $(INCLUDES) \
-			-I./CMSISv2p00_LPC17xx/inc \
+			-I$(ATOMTHREADS)/platforms/lpc17xx/CMSISv2p00_LPC17xx/inc \
+			-I$(ATOMTHREADS)/platforms/lpc17xx \
 			-I$(ATOMTHREADS)
 
 include $(ATOMTHREADS)/ports/cortex_m/Makefile
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/README b/platforms/lpc17xx/README
index d8055a3..8f69ee8 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/README
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/README
@@ -11,7 +11,14 @@ NXP LPC17xx Platform
 The "lpc17xx" platform contains sources for building the Atomthreads test 
 suite for the NXP LPC17xx microcontroller.
 
-The build was tested on the "mbed NXP LPC1768" board (http://www.mbed.org) 
-and the sources were compiled on Ubuntu 12.0.4 with the GNU ARM tool chain 
-using Newlib.
+The build was tested on the "mbed NXP LPC1768" board (http://www.mbed.org)
+but it should work on any LPC17xx development board where UART0 can be used 
+to monitor the output of the test. 
+
+The NXP LPC17xx microcontrollers use the ARM Cortex M3 processor core. The 
+source code in this example uses the ARM CMSIS Cortex-M Access Library V2.01 
+to initialize the platform and Newlib as the runtime library. Also it uses a 
+driver provided by NXP for the UART. The CMSIS library and the UART driver 
+are provided as source with the sample and Newlib is expected to be installed 
+together with the GNU ARM tool chain.
 
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.c b/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.c
index 3a0202f..fca71ec 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.c
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.c
@@ -143,6 +143,19 @@ void LPC17xx_UART_PutString (uint8_t *str)
 #endif
 }
 
+/**
+  * @brief  Write a buffer to UART0.
+  *
+  * @param  buffer: buffer to be written
+  * @retval None 
+  */
+void LPC17xx_UART_WriteBuffer (uint8_t *buffer, uint32_t len)
+{
+	while (len-- != 0) {
+		LPC17xx_UART_PutChar(*buffer++);
+	}
+
+}
 /**
   * @brief  Print formatted string. This function takes variable length arguments.
   *
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.h b/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.h
index 9e7f045..400a089 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.h
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/drivers/lpc17xx_uart.h
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
 void    LPC17xx_UART_PutChar (uint8_t);
 uint8_t LPC17xx_UART_GetChar (void);
 void  	LPC17xx_UART_Init(uint32_t baudrate);
-//void  	LPC17xx_UART_Printf (const uint8_t *format, ...);
 void LPC17xx_UART_PutString (uint8_t *str) ;
+void LPC17xx_UART_WriteBuffer (uint8_t *buffer, uint32_t len) ;
 
 #endif // __LPC17xx_UART_H_
 
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/main.c b/platforms/lpc17xx/main.c
index 755f965..04d053f 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/main.c
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/main.c
@@ -27,31 +27,34 @@
  * POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
  */
 
-
+#include <stdio.h>
 #include "LPC17xx.h"
 #include "drivers/lpc17xx_uart.h"
-#include <stdio.h>
 #include "modules.h"
 #include "atom.h"
 #include "tests/atomtests.h"
 
-// for mbed  board
-#define LED1_GPIO                       (1 << 18)
-#define LED2_GPIO                       (1 << 20)
-#define LED3_GPIO                       (1 << 21)
-#define LED4_GPIO                       (1 << 23)
-
-#define LED_GET(led)                    (LPC_GPIO1->FIOSET & led)
-#define LED_SET(led, on)                { if (on) LPC_GPIO1->FIOSET = led ; else LPC_GPIO1->FIOCLR = led ; }
-#define LED_TOGGLE(led)                 LED_SET(led, !LED_GET(led))
 
 
 #ifndef ATOMTHREADS_TEST
 #define ATOMTHREADS_TEST                "kern1"
 #endif
 
-#define TEST_STACK_BYTE_SIZE            1024
-#define IDLE_STACK_BYTE_SIZE            512
+// for mbed  board
+#define MBED_LED1_GPIO                      (1 << 18)
+#define MBED_LED2_GPIO                      (1 << 20)
+#define MBED_LED3_GPIO                      (1 << 21)
+#define MBED_LED4_GPIO                      (1 << 23)
+
+#define MBED_LED_GET(led)                   (LPC_GPIO1->FIOSET & led)
+#define MBED_LED_SET(led, on)               { if (on) LPC_GPIO1->FIOSET = led ; else LPC_GPIO1->FIOCLR = led ; }
+#define MBED_LED_TOGGLE(led)                MBED_LED_SET(led, !MBED_LED_GET(led))
+#define MBED_LED_COUNT(count)               MBED_LED_SET(MBED_LED1_GPIO, count & 1) ; MBED_LED_SET(MBED_LED2_GPIO, count & 2) ; \
+                                            MBED_LED_SET(MBED_LED3_GPIO, count & 4) ; MBED_LED_SET(MBED_LED4_GPIO, count & 8) ;
+
+
+#define TEST_STACK_BYTE_SIZE                512
+#define IDLE_STACK_BYTE_SIZE                128
 
 static unsigned char	test_stack[TEST_STACK_BYTE_SIZE] ;
 static unsigned char	idle_stack[IDLE_STACK_BYTE_SIZE] ;
@@ -68,7 +71,6 @@ void
 test_thread (uint32_t param)
 {
     uint32_t failures ;
-    static volatile unsigned int i ;
     CRITICAL_STORE ;
 
     failures = test_start ()  ;
@@ -79,18 +81,28 @@ test_thread (uint32_t param)
     CRITICAL_END() ;
 
 	while(1) {
-        LED_TOGGLE(LED1_GPIO) ;
-        for (i=0; i<1000000; i++) ;
+#ifdef BOARD_MBED_LP1768
+        MBED_LED_TOGGLE(MBED_LED1_GPIO) ;
+#endif
+        atomTimerDelay (65) ;
 	}
 
 }
 
-int main(void) {
+/**
+ * \b main
+ *
+ * Initialize atomthreads and start a test_thread to run the Atomthreads test suite. 
+ *
+ */
+int 
+main(void)
+{
 	
-    static volatile unsigned int i ;
-
-    // mbed board
-    LPC_GPIO1->FIODIR |= LED1_GPIO | LED2_GPIO | LED3_GPIO | LED4_GPIO ;
+#ifdef BOARD_MBED_LP1768
+    LPC_GPIO1->FIODIR |= MBED_LED1_GPIO | MBED_LED2_GPIO | MBED_LED3_GPIO | MBED_LED4_GPIO ;
+    MBED_LED_SET(MBED_LED1_GPIO | MBED_LED2_GPIO | MBED_LED3_GPIO | MBED_LED4_GPIO, 1);
+#endif
 
     dbg_format_msg ("\r\nLPC17xx SystemCoreClock =  %d\r\n",SystemCoreClock) ;
 
@@ -99,18 +111,12 @@ int main(void) {
     dbg_format_msg ("Atomthreads starting %s... \r\n", ATOMTHREADS_TEST) ;
 
     atomOSInit(&idle_stack[0], IDLE_STACK_BYTE_SIZE, TRUE) ;
-    atomThreadCreate ((ATOM_TCB *)&test_tcb, TEST_THREAD_PRIO, test_thread, 0, &test_stack[0], TEST_STACK_BYTE_SIZE, TRUE);
+    atomThreadCreate ((ATOM_TCB *)&test_tcb, TEST_THREAD_PRIO, test_thread, 0, 
+            &test_stack[0], TEST_STACK_BYTE_SIZE, TRUE);
     atomOSStart() ;
 
+    while(1) ;
 
-
-	while(1) {
-
-        LED_TOGGLE(LED1_GPIO) ;
-        for (i=0; i<1000000; i++) ;
-
-
-	}
 	return 0 ;
 }
 
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/modules.c b/platforms/lpc17xx/modules.c
index 7901bcd..95b55cf 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/modules.c
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/modules.c
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ dbg_format_msg (char *format, ...)
 
     va_start (args, format) ;
     //CRITICAL_START() ;
-	vsnprintf ((char*)msg, 256, (char*)format, args) ;
+    
+	vsniprintf ((char*)msg, 256, (char*)format, args) ;
     LPC17xx_UART_PutString (msg) ;
     //CRITICAL_END() ;
 
diff --git a/platforms/lpc17xx/startup.c b/platforms/lpc17xx/startup.c
index 87a90a5..14d104f 100644
--- a/platforms/lpc17xx/startup.c
+++ b/platforms/lpc17xx/startup.c
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ WEAK void IntDefault_Handler(void);
 //*****************************************************************************
 
 extern int main(void);
+extern void low_level_init(void);
+
 //*****************************************************************************
 //
 // External declaration for the pointer to the stack top from the Linker Script
diff --git a/ports/cortex_m/atomport.h b/ports/cortex_m/atomport.h
index 1a4cfd9..bc77588 100644
--- a/ports/cortex_m/atomport.h
+++ b/ports/cortex_m/atomport.h
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@
  * If stddef.h is available on the platform it is simplest to include it
  * from this header, otherwise define below.
  */
+#ifndef NULL
 #define NULL					((void *)(0))
+#endif
 
 /* Size of each stack entry / stack alignment size (e.g. 32 bits) */
 #define STACK_ALIGN_SIZE        sizeof(unsigned int)
@@ -56,7 +58,9 @@
  * Most of these are available from types.h on this platform, which is
  * included above.
  */
+#ifndef POINTER
 #define POINTER                void *
+#endif
 
 /* *
  *
diff --git a/ports/cortex_m/types.h b/ports/cortex_m/types.h
index e6f927d..ba0b9ee 100644
--- a/ports/cortex_m/types.h
+++ b/ports/cortex_m/types.h
@@ -51,9 +51,15 @@ typedef char				        int8_t ;
 #endif
 
 /* IO definitions (access restrictions to peripheral registers) */
+#ifndef __I
 #define     __I     volatile           /*!< defines 'read only' permissions                 */
+#endif
+#ifndef __O
 #define     __O     volatile             /*!< defines 'write only' permissions                */
+#endif
+#ifndef __IO
 #define     __IO    volatile             /*!< defines 'read / write' permissions              */
+#endif
 
 #endif /* __TYPES_H__ */