Summary of ESPRESSIF SYSTEMS HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW ESP32-C6 WIFI 6 AND BLUETOOTH 5 LE RISC-V SOC FOR IOT DEVICES
Espressif announced the ESP32-C6, a single-core 32-bit RISC-V SoC up to 160 MHz featuring 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5 LE. It adds Wi-Fi 6 optimized for IoT with 20 MHz 802.11ax and backward-compatible 802.11b/g/n modes, plus peripherals, security features, and power modes. The chip is supported by ESP-IDF, ESP-Hosted, and ESP-AT firmware.
Parts used in the ESP32-C6:
- 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor (up to 160 MHz)
- 384 KB ROM
- 400 KB SRAM (including 16 KB cache)
- 8 KB SRAM in RTC
- SPI, Dual SPI, Quad SPI, QPI interfaces
- 2.4 GHz 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 radio (20 MHz bandwidth)
- 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 support (20/40 MHz)
- Bluetooth 5 LE radio (long-range, 2 Mbps PHY)
- Up to 22 GPIOs
- 2x 12-bit SAR ADCs (up to 6 channels)
- 3x SPI
- 2x UART
- 1x I2C
- 1x I2S
- Remote control peripheral (2 TX channels, 2 RX channels)
- 1x Temperature sensor
- LED PWM controller (up to 6 channels)
- Full-speed USB Serial/JTAG controller
- General DMA controller (3 TX channels, 3 RX channels)
- 1x TWAI controller (ISO 11898-1 compatible)
- Power Management Unit (five power modes)
- Security features: RSA-3072 secure boot, AES-128-XTS flash encryption, digital signature, HMAC peripheral, cryptographic accelerators
- Software support: ESP-IDF, ESP-Hosted, ESP-AT
Well, it seems Espressif Systems has not been resting on their oars as we have to see quite some interesting products from them lately.
Towards the end of last year, the company successfully launched their very first RISC-V wireless SoC with ESP32-C3 single-core 32-bit RISC-V SoC offering both 2.4GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity. Now they have announced another RISC-V processor with ESP32-C6 single-core 32-bit RISC-V SoC clocked @ up to 160 MHz with 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5 LE connectivity.
As noted by Espressif Systems, the ESP32-C6 is basically the same as the ESP32-C3 but with WiFi 6 radio.
“ESP32-C6 is unique in that it packs 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) radio that also supports the 802.11b/g/n standard for backward compatibility. This Wi-Fi 6 support is optimized for IoT devices, and the SoC supports a 20MHz bandwidth for 802.11ax mode and a 20/40MHz bandwidth for 802.11b/g/n mode. The 802.11ax mode supports a station interface, and it offers greater transmission efficiency and lower power consumption.”
Here are some of the key features and Specifications that we expect to see in the ESP32-C6 chip:
- 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor clocked at up to 160 MHz
- 384KB ROM
- 400KB SRAM (16 KB for cache)
- 8KB SRAM in RTC
- SPI, Dual SPI, Quad SPI, and QPI interfaces for external flash and/or PSRAM
- 2.4 GHz 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 with 20 MHz bandwidth
- 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFI 4 with 20/40MHz bandwidth, 1T1R mode with data rate up to 150 Mbps
- Bluetooth 5 LE radio with support for long-range operation and support for 2 Mbps of high throughput PHY.
- Up to 22x GPIOs
- 2x 12-bit SAR ADCs, up to 6 channels
- 3x SPI, 2x UART, 1x I2C, 1x I2S
- Remote control peripheral, with 2 transmit channels and 2 receive channels
- 1x Temperature sensor
- LED PWM controller, up to 6 channels
- Full-speed USB Serial/JTAG controller
- General DMA controller, with 3 transmit channels and 3 receive channels
- 1x TWAI controller compatible with ISO 11898-1
- Power Management Unit with five power modes
- Security Features: RSA-3072-based secure boot, AES-128-XTS-based flash encryption, digital signature, HMAC peripheral for identity protection, and cryptographic accelerators for improved performance
The processor will be supported by the company’s mature IoT Development Framework (ESP-IDF) as well as the ESP-Hosted and ESP-AT firmware for those who would want to control the new processor from an external host.
Read more: ESPRESSIF SYSTEMS HAS ANNOUNCED A NEW ESP32-C6 WIFI 6 AND BLUETOOTH 5 LE RISC-V SOC FOR IOT DEVICES
- What architecture does the ESP32-C6 use?
The ESP32-C6 uses a single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor. - Does the ESP32-C6 support Wi-Fi 6?
Yes, it includes 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 20 MHz bandwidth. - Is the ESP32-C6 backward compatible with older Wi-Fi standards?
Yes, it supports 802.11b/g/n for backward compatibility. - What Bluetooth features does the ESP32-C6 provide?
It provides Bluetooth 5 LE with long-range support and a 2 Mbps high throughput PHY. - How much on-chip RAM and ROM does the ESP32-C6 have?
It has 384 KB ROM and 400 KB SRAM (with 16 KB used for cache), plus 8 KB RTC SRAM. - What peripheral interfaces are available on the ESP32-C6?
Interfaces include SPI (including Dual/Quad/QPI), 3x SPI, 2x UART, 1x I2C, 1x I2S, USB Serial/JTAG, ADCs, PWM, TWAI, and DMA controllers. - What security features are included in the ESP32-C6?
Security features include RSA-3072 secure boot, AES-128-XTS flash encryption, digital signature, HMAC peripheral, and cryptographic accelerators. - Will existing Espressif frameworks support the ESP32-C6?
Yes, it will be supported by ESP-IDF, and by ESP-Hosted and ESP-AT firmware for external host control. - What is the maximum CPU clock speed of the ESP32-C6?
The CPU is clocked at up to 160 MHz. - What Wi-Fi bandwidth modes are supported?
802.11ax mode supports 20 MHz; 802.11b/g/n modes support 20/40 MHz bandwidth.
