ESP32

Low-cost, low-power SoC microcontrollers with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

ESP32 is a series of low-cost, low-power system on a chip microcontrollers with integrated Wi-Fi and dual-mode Bluetooth. The ESP32 series employs either a Tensilica Xtensa LX6 microprocessor in both dual-core and single-core variations, an Xtensa LX7 dual-core microprocessor, or a single-core RISC-V microprocessor and includes built-in antenna switches, RF balun, power amplifier, low-noise receive amplifier, filters, and power-management modules. ESP32 is created and developed by Espressif Systems, a Chinese company based in Shanghai, and is manufactured by TSMC using their 40 nm process.^[2] It is a successor to the ESP8266 microcontroller.

Features

ESP32 function block diagram.

ESP32 Die shot, most of the chip is used by a power distribution network

Features of the ESP32 include the following:^[3]

• Processors:
  • CPU: Xtensa dual-core (or single-core) 32-bit LX6 microprocessor, operating at 160 or 240 MHz and performing at up to 600 DMIPS
  • Ultra low power (ULP) co-processor
• Memory: 520 KiB RAM, 448 KiB ROM
• Wireless connectivity:
  • Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth: v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE (shares the radio with Wi-Fi)
• Peripheral interfaces:
  • 34 × programmable GPIOs
  • 12-bit SAR ADC up to 18 channels
  • 2 × 8-bit DACs
  • 10 × touch sensors (capacitive sensing GPIOs)
  • 4 × SPI
  • 2 × I²S interfaces
  • 2 × I²C interfaces
  • 3 × UART
  • SD/SDIO/CE-ATA/MMC/eMMC host controller
  • SDIO/SPI slave controller
  • Ethernet MAC interface with dedicated DMA and planned IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol support^[4]
  • CAN bus 2.0
  • Infrared remote controller (TX/RX, up to 8 channels)
  • Pulse counter (capable of full quadrature decoding)
  • Motor PWM
  • LED PWM (up to 16 channels)
  • Ultra low power analog pre-amplifier
• Security:
  • IEEE 802.11 standard security features all supported, including WPA, WPA2, WPA3 (depending on version)^[5] and WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI)
  • Secure boot
  • Flash encryption
  • 1024-bit OTP, up to 768-bit for customers
  • Cryptographic hardware acceleration: AES, SHA-2, RSA, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), random number generator (RNG)
• Power management:
  • Internal low-dropout regulator
  • Individual power domain for RTC
  • 5 μA deep sleep current
  • Wake up from GPIO interrupt, timer, ADC measurements, capacitive touch sensor interrupt

ESP32-xx family

Since the release of the original ESP32, a number of variants have been introduced and announced. They form the ESP32 family of microcontrollers. These chips have different CPUs and capabilities, but all share the same SDK and are largely code-compatible. Additionally, the original ESP32 was revised (see ESP32 ECO V3, for example). See also https://gist.github.com/sekcompsci/2bf39e715d5fe47579fa184fa819f421

ESP32

• Xtensa single-/dual-core 32-bit LX6 microprocessor(s)
• Supports single-precision Floating Point Unit (FPU)
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth: v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE (shares the radio with Wi-Fi)
• 34 × programmable GPIOs
• 12-bit SAR ADC up to 18 channels
• 2 x 8-bit DAC

ESP32-S2

• Single-core Xtensa LX7 CPU, up to 240 MHz
• NO Floating Point Unit (no FPU)^[6]
• 320 KiB SRAM, 128 KiB ROM, and 16 KiB RTC SRAM
• Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)^[7]
• No Bluetooth
• 43 programmable GPIOs^[7]
• 2 × 13-bit SAR ADCs, up to 20 channels
• USB OTG

ESP32-S3

• Dual-core Xtensa LX7 CPU, up to 240 MHz,^[8] and supporting single-precision FPU
  • Added instructions to accelerate machine learning applications
• 512 KiB SRAM, 384 KiB ROM, and 16 KiB RTC SRAM
• Capable of connecting to external PSRAM and Flash via Quad SPI or Octal SPI, and share the same 32 MiB address space
• Ultra-low power RISC-V (RV32IMC) coprocessor clocked at 17.5 MHz approximately
• Ultra-low power FSM coprocessor similar to previous ESP32 and ESP32-S2
• Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n)^[9]
• Bluetooth 5 (LE)
• 45 programmable GPIOs
• No integrated Ethernet MAC
• 2 × 12-bit SAR ADCs, up to 20 channels
• USB OTG

ESP32-C2

• 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor that operates at up to 120 MHz, implementing RV32IMC ISA ^[10]
• State-of-the-art power and RF performance
• 576 KB ROM, 272 KB SRAM (16 KB for cache) on the chip
• 14 programmable GPIOs: SPI, UART, I2C, LED PWM controller, General DMA controller (GDMA), SAR ADC, Temperature sensor

ESP32-C3

NodeMCU board with an ESP32-C3-32S

• Single-core 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 160 MHz^[11]
• 400 KiB SRAM, 384 KiB ROM, and 8 KiB RTC SRAM
• Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)^[12]
• Bluetooth 5 (LE)^[12]
• 22 / 16 programmable GPIOs
• 2 ADC-12bit
• Pin compatible with ESP8266

ESP32-C6

• High performance 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 160 MHz,^[13] implementing RV32IMAC
• Low power 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 20 MHz, implementing RV32IMAC
• 512 KiB SRAM and 320 KiB ROM
• IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) on 2.4 GHz, supporting 20 MHz bandwidth in 11ax mode, 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth in 11b/g/n mode
• IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread + Zigbee)
• Bluetooth 5.3 (LE)
• 30 (QFN40) / 22 (QFN32) programmable GPIOs

ESP32-H2

• Single-core 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 96 MHz
• 256 KB SRAM
• IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread + Zigbee)
• Bluetooth 5.3 (LE)
• No Wi-Fi support.
• 19 programmable GPIOs^[14]

Announced

ESP32-C5

• Single-core 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 240 MHz^[15]
• 384 KB SRAM and 320 KB ROM
• IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) on 2.4 and 5 GHz, supporting 20 MHz bandwidth in 11ax mode, 20 or 40 MHz bandwidth in 11b/g/n mode
• IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread + Zigbee)^[16]
• Bluetooth 5 (LE)
• > 20 programmable GPIOs

ESP32-P4

• High performance dual-core 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 400 MHz
  • Implementing RV32IMAFC_Zicsr_Zifencei and custom AI/vector instructions.
  • Supports single-precision Floating Point Unit (FPU).
• Low performance single-core 32-bit RISC-V CPU, up to 40 MHz
  • Implementing RV32IMAC_Zicsr_Zifencei ISA extensions.
• 768 KiB SRAM on high-performance core system.
• 8 KiB TCM on high-performance core system.
• 32 KiB SRAM on low-power subsystem.
• Support PSRAM.
• Integrated hardware accelerators for various media encoding protocols, including H.264.
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are not implemented.
  • If a wireless connection is required, it can be easily connected to the ESP32-C/S/H series.
• More than 50 programmable GPIOs^[17]

QFN packaged chip and module

ESP32 is housed in quad-flat no-leads (QFN) packages of varying sizes with 49 pads. Specifically, 48 connection pads along the sides and one large thermal pad (connected to ground) on the bottom.

Chips

The ESP32 system on a chip integrated circuit is packaged in both 6 mm × 6 mm and 5 mm × 5 mm sized QFN packages.

In 2020, chips ESP32-D0WDQ6 and ESP32-D0WD also got a V3 version (ESP32 ECO V3), which fixes some of the bugs^[18] and introduces improvements over the previous versions.

Modules

The ESP32 PICO system in package modules combine an ESP32 silicon chip, crystal oscillator, flash memory chip, filter capacitors, and RF matching links into a single 7 mm × 7 mm sized QFN package.

The first released PICO was the ESP32-PICO-D4 with 2 CPUs at 240MHz, 4MiB internal flash, a 40MHz oscillator and 34 GPIOs.^[19]

Later, in 2020, the ESP32-PICO-V3 and ESP32-PICO-V3-02 modules were introduced both based on the ESP32 ECO V3 wafer.^{[20] [21]}

In 2022 the ESP32-S3-PICO-1 module was introduced with USB OTG and internal PSRAM.^[22]

Printed circuit boards

Surface-mount module boards

ESP32 based surface-mount printed circuit board modules directly contain the ESP32 SoC and are designed to be easily integrated onto other circuit boards. Meandered inverted-F antenna designs are used for the PCB trace antennas on the modules listed below. In addition to flash memory, some modules include pseudostatic RAM (pSRAM).

Development and other boards

SparkFun Thing Plus - ESP32 WROOM

Development & break-out boards extend wiring and may add functionality, often building upon ESP32 module boards and making them easier to use for development purposes (especially with breadboards).

† ESP32 SoC incorporated directly onto development board; no module board used.

Programming

Programming languages, frameworks, platforms, and environments used for ESP32 programming:

• ESP-IDF^[65][66] – Espressif’s official IoT Development Framework for the ESP32, ESP32-S, ESP32-C and ESP32-H series of SoCs.
• Arduino-ESP32^[67] – Arduino core for the ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3 and ESP32-C3.
• Espruino – JavaScript SDK and firmware closely emulating Node.js
• MicroPython (and CircuitPython) – lean implementation of Python 3 for microcontrollers
• Mongoose OS – an operating system for connected products on microcontrollers; programmable with JavaScript or C. A recommended platform by Espressif Systems,^[68] AWS IoT,^[69] and Google Cloud IoT.^[70]
• mruby for the ESP32
• NodeMCU – Lua-based firmware
• PlatformIO^[71]
• Rust^[72][73]
• Visual Studio Code with the officially supported Espressif Integrated Development Framework (ESP-IDF) Extension^[74]
• Zerynth – Python for IoT and microcontrollers, including the ESP32
• Matlab
• Matlab Simulink

Reception and use

Commercial, industrial and academic uses of ESP32:

Use in commercial devices

• Alibaba Group's IoT LED wristband, used by participants at the group's 2017 annual gathering. Each wristband operated as a "pixel", receiving commands for coordinated LED light control, allowing formation of a "live and wireless" screen.^[75]
• DingTalk's M1, a biometric attendance-tracking system.^[76]
• LIFX Mini, a series of remotely controllable, LED based light bulbs.^[77]
• Pium, a home fragrance and aromatherapy device.^[78]
• HardKernel's Odroid Go, an ESP32 based handheld gaming device kit made to commemorate Odroid's 10th anniversary.^[79]
• Playdate, a handheld video game console jointly developed by Panic Inc. and Teenage Engineering.
• Octopus Energy Mini, an ESP32-C6 based real-time energy monitor.^[80]

Use in industrial devices

• TECHBASE's Moduino X series X1 and X2 modules are ESP32-WROVER / ESP32-WROVER-B based computers for industrial automation and monitoring, supporting digital inputs/outputs, analog inputs, and various computer networking interfaces.^[81]
• NORVI IIOT Industrial Devices with ESP32-WROVER / ESP32-WROVER-B SOC for industrial automation and monitoring with digital inputs, analog inputs, relay outputs and multiple communications interfaces. Supports LoRa and Nb-IoT as expansion modules.^[82]

Academic uses

• ESP32 devices are utilized in educational settings ^[83] and academic research projects. For example, these devices have been used to develop a smart home system designed to monitor and control the charging of electric vehicles, considering the current consumption of other electrical appliances and the contracted power capacity. ^[84]

See also

• Internet of things

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External links

• Espressif ESP32 Overview
• Espressif ESP32 Resources
• Espressif ESP-IDF Programming Guide
• Espressif ESP32 Forums