ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board

Tags: chip:esp32p4 arch:risc-v vendor:espressif

ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board is a multimedia development board based on the ESP32-P4 chip. The board pairs ESP32-P4 with external peripherals that showcase its rich feature set, such as USB 2.0, MIPI-CSI/DSI, an H.264 encoder, audio codec, and a 7-inch capacitive touch LCD with a resolution of 1024 x 600.

Additionally, the board integrates a 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi 6 and Bluetooth LE module (ESP32-C6-MINI-1) for wireless connectivity. Most I/O pins are broken out to pin headers for easy interfacing, allowing rapid prototyping for applications such as smart displays, network cameras, and audio devices.

The board is available in two hardware revisions:

v1.5.2 (current): replaces the external CP2102N USB-to-UART bridge with the ESP32-P4’s built-in USB Serial/JTAG interface, and adds a dedicated USB Full-speed port. This is the recommended revision for new designs.
v1.4 (legacy): uses a CP2102N USB-to-UART bridge chip connected to UART0 (GPIO37/GPIO38) for flashing and serial debugging.

For full board details refer to the official user guides:

ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board v1.5.2 User Guide (current)
ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board v1.4 User Guide (legacy)

Features

Based on ESP32-P4 SoC (RISC-V), featuring powerful image and voice processing
In-package PSRAM (16 MB or 32 MB depending on chip variant)
Rich multimedia I/O: USB 2.0, MIPI-CSI/DSI, H.264 encoder
7” 1024x600 capacitive touch LCD (via adapter board)
On-board audio path: ES8311 codec + NS4150B audio power amplifier
On-board microphone and speaker connector (up to 3 W into 4 Ω)
Expansion header with the majority of GPIOs broken out (header J1)
External wireless module: ESP32-C6-MINI-1 providing Wi‑Fi 6 and BLE
Multiple USB-C ports: USB 2.0 OTG High-Speed, USB Full-speed (v1.5.2) or USB Power-in (v1.4), and USB Serial/JTAG (v1.5.2) or USB-to-UART via CP2102N (v1.4) for flashing and debug

Note

Wireless connectivity is provided by the on-board ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module. The ESP32-P4 itself does not integrate Wi‑Fi/BLE radios.

Buttons and LEDs

Board Buttons

BOOT button: controls boot mode on reset; available for software input after boot.
RST button: resets the board (chip enable / reset line), not software-controlled.

Board LEDs

A power indicator LED may be present depending on hardware revision.
No dedicated user-programmable LED is provided on the core board; LCD backlight is PWM-controlled instead (see below).

Display and Camera

The LCD adapter connects to the ESP32-P4 MIPI DSI connector (J3 on adapter). Default control pins on the EV board are:

GPIO27: LCD Reset (RST_LCD)
GPIO26: LCD Backlight PWM (PWM)

Connection summary (refer to the user guide for images and full directions):

LCD adapter J3 header → EV-Board MIPI DSI connector (ribbon cable in reverse direction)
LCD adapter RST_LCD (J6) → GPIO27 (header J1)
LCD adapter PWM (J6) → GPIO26 (header J1)
LCD adapter power: via its USB on J1 or by wiring 5V/GND from the EV-Board

The camera adapter connects to the MIPI CSI connector (ribbon cable in forward direction).

Pin Mapping

Most ESP32-P4 GPIOs are exposed on the header block J1. The EV-Board user guide documents the full pinout and header numbering; see the “Header Block” tables in the user guide for details. Selected defaults used on this board:

Pin	Signal/Function	Notes
26	PWM (LCD backlight)	Default backlight control
27	RST_LCD (LCD reset)	Default LCD reset control
37	U0TXD	Default UART0 TX exposed on header
38	U0RXD	Default UART0 RX exposed on header

Power Supply

The board can be powered via any of the USB Type‑C ports. The available ports differ by hardware revision:

v1.5.2: USB 2.0 Type-C Port (OTG High-Speed), USB Full-speed Port, or USB Serial/JTAG Port.
v1.4: USB 2.0 Type-C Port (OTG High-Speed), USB Power-in Port, or USB-to-UART Port (CP2102N bridge).

If the debug cable cannot provide enough current, use a separate power adapter connected to any available USB‑C port.

Installation

Follow the ESP32-P4 chip documentation for toolchain setup and required tools (Espressif ESP32-P4). In summary:

Install a RISC‑V GCC toolchain (e.g., xPack riscv-none-elf-gcc)
Install esptool.py (pipx install esptool recommended or use a venv)
Optionally, set up openocd-esp32 for JTAG debugging

Building NuttX

All configurations can be selected using the board identifier with the NuttX build tools. The basic shell configuration:

$ ./tools/configure.sh esp32p4-function-ev-board:nsh
$ make -j$(nproc)

Flashing

Use the standard flashing flow. Replace <port> with the serial device exposed by the board:

v1.5.2: the USB Serial/JTAG port creates a CDC ACM device, typically /dev/ttyACM0. Please note that most of the configs use UART0 (GPIO37/GPIO38) as the serial console (except for usbconsole). For UART0-based terminal, an external USB-to-UART bridge is required to be attached to UART0 port (GPIO37/GPIO38) pins and the board requires to be manually set to download mode by pressing the BOOT button and then the RST button (releasing the RST before the BOOT button).
v1.4: the on-board CP2102N USB-to-UART bridge creates a USB-serial device, typically /dev/ttyUSB0.

Connect the appropriate USB‑C port and run:

$ make -j$(nproc) flash ESPTOOL_PORT=<port> ESPTOOL_BINDIR=./

After flashing, connect a serial console at 115200 8N1 to interact with NSH.

Configurations

All of the configurations presented below can be tested by running the following commands:

$ ./tools/configure.sh esp32p4-function-ev-board:<config_name>
$ make -j

Where <config_name> is one of the names listed below (e.g., nsh, adc). Then use a serial console terminal like picocom configured to 115200 8N1.

adc

Enables the ADC driver. ADC unit(s) are registered (/dev/adc0 as ADC1). Attenuation, mode, and channel set can be adjusted in ADC Configuration.

bmp180

Enables the BMP180 pressure sensor over I2C. Use the bmp180 app to read samples.

buttons

Demonstrates the buttons subsystem. Run buttons and press the board’s BOOT button to see samples appearing.

capture

Enables the capture driver and the capture example to measure duty cycle/frequency of an external signal.

crypto

Enables cryptographic hardware support for SHA algorithms and a /dev/crypto node.

efuse

Enables the eFuse driver (supports virtual eFuses). Access via /dev/efuse.

gpio

Tests the GPIO driver. Provides examples for output control and edge-triggered interrupts.

i2c

Enables I2C utilities. i2c dev 0x00 0x7f can scan the bus.

i2schar

Enables the I2S character device and i2schar example for TX/RX testing over I2S0.

motor

Enables the MCPWM peripheral for brushed DC motor control (/dev/motor0).

nsh

Basic configuration to run the NuttShell (NSH).

ostest

Runs OS tests from apps/testing/ostest.

pm

This config demonstrate the use of power management. You can use the pmconfig command to check current power state and time spent in other power states. Also you can define time will spend in standby and sleep modes:

$ make menuconfig
-> Board Selection
    -> (15) PM_STANDBY delay (seconds)
       (0)  PM_STANDBY delay (nanoseconds)
       (20) PM_SLEEP delay (seconds)
       (0)  PM_SLEEP delay (nanoseconds)

Timer wakeup is not only way to wake up the chip. Other wakeup modes include:

EXT1 wakeup mode: Uses RTC GPIO pins to wake up the chip. Enabled with CONFIG_PM_EXT1_WAKEUP option.
GPIO wakeup mode: Uses GPIO pins to wakeup the chip. Only wakes up the chip from PM_STANDBY mode and requires CONFIG_PM_GPIO_WAKEUP.
UART wakeup mode: Uses UART to wakeup the chip. Only wakes up the chip from PM_STANDBY mode and requires CONFIG_PM_GPIO_WAKEUP.

Before switching PM status, you need to query the current PM status to call correct number of relax command to correct modes:

nsh> pmconfig
Last state 0, Next state 0

/proc/pm/state0:
DOMAIN0           WAKE         SLEEP         TOTAL
normal          0s 00%        0s 00%        0s 00%
idle            0s 00%        0s 00%        0s 00%
standby         0s 00%        0s 00%        0s 00%
sleep           0s 00%        0s 00%        0s 00%

/proc/pm/wakelock0:
DOMAIN0      STATE     COUNT      TIME
system       normal        2        1s
system       idle          1        1s
system       standby       1        1s
system       sleep         1        1s

In this case, needed commands to switch the system into PM idle mode:

nsh> pmconfig relax normal
nsh> pmconfig relax normal

In this case, needed commands to switch the system into PM standby mode:

nsh> pmconfig relax idle
nsh> pmconfig relax normal
nsh> pmconfig relax normal

System switch to the PM sleep mode, you need to enter:

nsh> pmconfig relax standby
nsh> pmconfig relax idle
nsh> pmconfig relax normal
nsh> pmconfig relax normal

To save power without using sleep modes, lowering the clock speed is another approach. For dynamic frequency scaling CONFIG_ESPRESSIF_DFS option needs to enabled and minimum CPU frequency needs to set under CONFIG_ESPRESSIF_MIN_CPU_FREQ option. With these options, the device scales the CPU clock according to workload.

psram_usrheap

This configuration enables allocating the userspace heap into SPIRAM and reserves the internal RAM for kernel heap. For instance, for a 32MB PSRAM:

nsh> free
      total       used       free    maxused    maxfree  nused  nfree name
    602004       6492     595512       6872     595512     36      1 Kmem
  33554428       4276   33550152       4656   33550152      8      1 Umem

pwm

Demonstrates PWM via LEDC. The pwm app toggles output with default frequency/duty.

qencoder

Enables Quadrature Encoder support via PCNT. The qe sample reads pulses on the configured pins.

random

Demonstrates the hardware RNG.

rmt

Configures an RMT TX/RX pair and the rmtchar example. Also includes ws2812 for addressable LEDs.

rtc

Demonstrates RTC alarms via the alarm app.

sdm

Enables Sigma-Delta Modulation (SDM) driver for LED dimming/simple DAC; see dac test.

spi

Enables SPI master driver. Loop MOSI↔MISO and run spi exch -b 2 "AB" to verify.

spiflash

Tests the external SPI flash via SPI1. Defaults to SmartFS; see mksmartfs/mount instructions.

spislv

Enables SPI2 Slave mode for testing host-to-device transactions.

temperature_sensor

Enables the internal temperature sensor and related character device/uORB options.

tickless

Enables tickless scheduling for reduced idle power.

timers

Demonstrates general-purpose timers via the timer example.

twai

Enables the Two-Wire Automotive Interface (CAN/TWAI). Loopback testing is available via Kconfig.

ulp

This configuration enables the support for the ULP LP core (Low-power core) coprocessor. To get more information about LP Core please check ULP LP Core Coprocessor docs.

Configuration uses a pre-built binary in Documentation/platforms/risc-v/esp32p4/boards/esp32p4-function-ev-board/ulp_blink.bin which is a blink example for GPIO0. After flashing operation, GPIO0 pin will blink.

Prebuild binary runs this code:

#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include "ulp_lp_core_gpio.h"

#define GPIO_PIN 0

#define nop() __asm__ __volatile__ ("nop")

bool gpio_level_previous = true;

int main (void)
 {
    while (1)
        {
        ulp_lp_core_gpio_set_level(GPIO_PIN, gpio_level_previous);
        gpio_level_previous = !gpio_level_previous;
        for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++)
          {
            nop();
          }
        }

    return 0;
 }

usbconsole

Tests the USB Serial/JTAG console. On v1.5.2 this uses the ESP32-P4’s built-in USB Serial/JTAG peripheral exposed on the dedicated USB Serial/JTAG port (/dev/ttyACM0). On v1.4, an external cable is required to be attached to USB Serial/JTAG port (GPIO24/GPIO25).

watchdog

Demonstrates MWDT/RWDT watchdog timers via the wdog app.