GD32VW553-UNIFI is an inexpensive wireless IoT module based on GigaDevice GD32VW553 RISC-V microcontroller featuring 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE connectivity, and offered with a PCB antenna or IPEX antenna connector.
The GD32VW553 MCU integrates 320KB SRAM and 4096KB on-chip flash, and supports link rates of up to 114.7 Mbps over WiFi and 2 Mbps over Bluetooth LE. The UNIFI module exposes 18 GPIOs from the microcontroller and is available in two different temperature ranges: -40 to +85°C or -40 to +105°C.
GD32VW553-UNIFI specifications:
- SoC – GigaDevice GD32VW553
- CPU – 32-bit RISC-V processor up to 160 MHz with RV32I/M/A/F/D/C/P/B instruction extensions
- Memory – 320KB (288 KB + 32KB shared) SRAM
- Storage – 4096 KB flash
- Wireless
- WiFi
- 802.11b/g/n/ax compatible
- 802.11i (WPA, WPA2, WPA3). Open, shared key, and pair-wise key authentication services
- Single antenna 1×1 stream in 20MHz channels
- upport of 802.11ax MCS up to MCS9 with a Max PHY rate of 114.7Mbps
- Bluetooth
- Low Energy 5.2
- 2Mbps PHY for BLE high-speed
- Long-Range modes @ 125 kbps, 500 kbps
- 2.4 GHz radio shared between WiFi and Bluetooth
- WiFi
- I/Os – 2x 8 through holes and 22 castellated holes
- Up to 18x GPIOs
- PWM, UART, I2C, SPI
- Analog – ADC
- Antenna
- Onboard PCB antenna for GD32VW553-UNIFI-IMH6/7
- IPEX connector for GD32VW553-UNIFI-EMH6/7
- Supply Voltaghe – 3.0 to 3.6V DC
- Dimensions – 24 x 16 x 2.2 mm
- Temperature Range
- -40 ~ 85°C for grade 6
- -40 ~ 105°C for grade 7
There’s plenty of documentation about the GD32VW553 MCU, modules, and software on the GD32MCU website. Some software tools include the GD-Link Utility Programmer, the Embedded Builder development environment (IDE) to configure peripherals graphically, generate C code, compile projects, and debug, a GD32VW553 Wi-Fi & BLE SDK, the GD32 Embedded AI framework, and others. Alternatively, developers can use the SEGGER Embedded Studio IDE for free or commercial use.
The GD32VW553-UNIFI is not the only module based on the GigaDevice RISC-V microcontroller, and there are two others: GD32VW553-MINI (20x GPIO) and GD32VW553-MD1 (28x GPIO). They have different form factors and numbers of I/Os. I covered the UNIFI module in this post, since it’s the only one I can find for sale.
The GD32VW553-UNIFI WiFI 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 LE module can be purchased on AliExpress for $2.13 plus shipping, and even lower for 30-piece orders. I could not find a breakout board or development board for the UNIFI module, but the GD32VW553K-START evaluation board features a GD32VW553-MD1 module and is listed on the SEGGER website. I could not find it on AliExpress, but it’s listed on Braemac (previously Symmetry Electronics) for 40 dollars.
So overall, it’s about the same price as the cheapest ESP32-C6 modules, and the hardware and software ecosystem is not quite as broad as for Espressif chips and modules, so it’s difficult to find a clear benefit of using the GD32VW553 or an equivalent ESP32-C6 part. The only difference I can see is the presence of FPU (F single-precision and D double-precision) and DSP/SIMD (P) extensions in the RISC-V core of the Gigadevice chip, which the ESP32-C6 part lacks, and may be useful for specific use cases.
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.
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