Just a few days ago, we noted ESP32-H2 802.15.4 & BLE RISC-V SoC had shown up in the source code, and tried to derive specs and a block diagram from the info seeing it was similar to ESP32-C3, but swapping the WiFi radio for an 802.15.4 radio.
We don’t need to guess anymore, as Espressif Systems has just announced ESP32-H2 RISC-V WiSoC with support for Zigbee 3.x, Thread 1.x through the 802.15.4 radio, as well as Bluetooth LE 5.2.
So overall it’s very close to what we discussed from the information in the source code with ESP32-H2 highlights including:
- CPU – 32-bit RISC-V core (at up to 96 MHz)
- RAM – 256 KB SRAM
- Storage – External flash support
- Wireless connectivity
- IEEE 802.15.4 radio with Zigbee 3.x and Thread 1.x support, Matter protocol
- Bluetooth 5.2 (LE) radio designed in-house, with support for direct connection, Bluetooth Mesh, Bluetooth LE Audio
- Future support for Matter protocol (previously Project CHIP) using either radio
- Peripherals – 26x programmable GPIOs with support for ADC, SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, RMT, GDMA, and PWM
- Security – ECC-based secure boot, AES-128/256-XTS-based flash encryption, digital signature, HMAC peripheral for identity protection, cryptographic accelerators
- Integrated DC-DC converter for ultra-low-power, energy-efficient operation.
ESP32-H2 will be supported through Espressif’s IoT Development Framework (ESP-IDF), and you can check out the software development progress on Github.
That’s about all we know at this stage, no information about availability, modules, or development boards. ESP32-H2 is the first wireless SoC from the company that does not use WiFI, and it will specifically target low-power Smart Home applications.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
