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ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

espressif.com

51–60 of 95 posts

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#51
post #22

What's the industry's consensus on Espressif modules? As a layman they look like an insane deal. With western manufacturers $3.5 doesn't even get you a firm handshake whereas Espressif gives you a fully intergrated module with everything already on board. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/espressif-systems...

Given that Espressif was one of the few companies not to fail during the supply chain crunch I wouldn't hesitate to use them. Unlike the Raspberry PI Foundation.

The pico (rp2040) never really had issues and it's more of a direct competitor to the esp32 than a standard pi.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the amount of RAM available more than the CPU. Surely you can get a very stripped down version of Linux running, but I doubt a version of Linux that you can use to do something useful. Surely the day that even on these sort of low cost microcontrollers can run Linux is not far...

It has an external PSRAM interface. You can easily get 64MB PSRAM chips which is plenty for Linux.

It's about virtual memory controllers. Linux needs one. The chips at this size don't always have the minimum hardware features to even boot Linux.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#53

Meanwhile, we still can't buy many STM32s. An H7 project of mine has been on hold for 1.5 years. It's time I learn to program for Espressif.

Have you considered the RP2040 for it? I switched many of my projects (they have low computation needs) to that and it worked well.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that Espressif was one of the few companies not to fail during the supply chain crunch I wouldn't hesitate to use them. Unlike the Raspberry PI Foundation.

The pico (rp2040) never really had issues and it's more of a direct competitor to the esp32 than a standard pi.

True, but at this point their reputation is kind of burned for me. I'm not confident that if they have challenges come up with rp2040 production that they will be able to compensate quickly.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#55
post #13

I'm running a few ESP32s and given their widespread usage I was surprised to notice that Espressif stock is very much near the lows of its 5 yr range, having lost over 2/3rds of its value from the peak. Is it just a function of market volatility? Do they have competition?

Every tech company stock looks like that?

That's true. Also it's still a P/E of 60.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has an external PSRAM interface. You can easily get 64MB PSRAM chips which is plenty for Linux.

It's about virtual memory controllers. Linux needs one. The chips at this size don't always have the minimum hardware features to even boot Linux.

Linux has a no MMU mode where it works very well without an MMU, just using an MPU for process isolation. I'm not sure if it's been ported to RISC-V M mode though.

Edit: looks like there is already a port https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/02/17/how-to-build-run-lin...

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#57
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little off topic: Is there a video compression chip that I can put on a board with an ESP32 to make a live streaming camera similar to what can be done with an RPi or Jetson Nano?

I don't understand the question - this chip has an H.264 encoder on board.

Yes. I didn't look carefully enough at the new one. Thanks.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#58
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you connect them? I would actually love to have a few PoE powered and connected ESP's since you have to power these things anyway.

Why use ESP32 if you're powering with PoE? Might as well use an "Ethernet-on-board" like Teensy 4.1, and then use a PoE splitter (ex: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3239 ) to power it. Why pay for WiFi power (which is rather expensive) when you literally are sending Ethernet communication wires to your uC ? https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy41.html

I use these https://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/ESP32/ESP32-POE/open-sou... - they support proper PoE as opposed to the dodgy passive stuff you usually end up with with splitters.

Personally I'd take an ESP32 over a teensy 4.1 unless you specifically need the extra GPIOs or something. The teensy's are great hardware, but you're stuck with either Arduino or hand rolling.

You don't pay for WiFi power if the RF amp is off, and ESP-IDF for me is far better to work with than the Arduino software ecosystem especially once the complexity starts going up.

Also, if you just want to make widgets and not learn embedded development esp-home is brilliant.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> use less power, I was about to go off on a rant about how power hungry the ESP32 is. But having a look its not as bad as I remembered (or perhaps I was thinking about the 8266) https://diyi0t.com/reduce-the-esp32-power-consumption/ depending on the board you can get it to as low as 15ma in "normal" use(light sleep microprocessor only, modems off). But when the wifi is on it chows down powers.

The chips various Arduino-like chips are 5mA active, 500uA when light sleeping, 5uA in deeper sleep, and hundreds-nanoamps in deepest sleep. 15mA "light sleep" is really heavy actually compared to most things IMO. Hell, the Nordic Semiconductor nRF5340 uses 5mA _WHEN TRANSMITTING ON ITS RADIO_. https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF5340 ----------- ESP32 is in that zone between the low-power (and ultra-low power) uC…

Teensy 4.1 is very capable indeed, but it is also roughly 4x the price of an ESP32 WeMos D1 Mini where I live.

Re: ESP32-P4: High-performance MCU with IO-connectivity and security features

#60
post #6

Huge huge fan of ESP32s over Arduino/RPi/etc for any/all projects where I can do so. I’ve probably got 15-20 ESP32 projects around the house, and have done somewhere around 80-100 for other people. Arduino does a great job with marketing but at the end of the day you could do 99% of Arduino projects with an ESP32 for 1/10th the cost, use less power, and get way more features at the same time, while still using the Ar…

That you can actually buy an ESP32 right now is another huge advantage over the RPi.
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