Espressif Systems announced the ESP32-P4 over a year ago. While the chip is not yet available for retail, a prototype development board featuring the chip was recently showcased by Olimex. This board includes multiple interfaces, such as an Ethernet connector and a camera connector, demonstrating its versatile capabilities.

The ESP32-P4, initially announced last year, features a dual-core 400 MHz RISC-V processor and 768KB of internal RAM. The block diagram below provides a detailed view of its architecture.

Olimex has indicated that while these chips are not yet on sale, they have prepared a development board loaded with extensive connectivity options. The board includes an Ethernet PHY with a POE option, a camera CSI interface for multimedia projects, and a display DSI interface for visual outputs. It also offers a microSD card slot, 16MB of SPI Flash, and USB JTAG for programming and debugging.

The ESP32-P4 supports a wide range of peripherals including SPI, I2S, I2C, and LED PWM. Its capability to handle up to 1080p video resolution for both input and output, along with an H.264 encoder, makes it ideal for media-intensive applications.

The design of the ESP32-P4 incorporates several advanced security features. These include Secure Boot, Flash Encryption, cryptographic accelerators, and a True Random Number Generator, all ensuring the device’s comprehensive security and trustworthiness.

Moreover, the inclusion of a Digital Signature Peripheral and a dedicated Key Management Unit further enhances security by safeguarding private keys directly on the SoC preventing their compromise through software or physical attacks.

Espressif Systems has yet to disclose the exact pricing for the ESP32-P4 chips. However, the anticipated price range for the ESP32-P4-DevKit is between €10-15, aiming to make the development kit accessible to a broad audience, from hobbyists to professional developers.

(Update 11/9/2024): The Olimex ESP32-P4 development board has made significant progress, with prototypes now assembled and most functionalities performing as expected, according to Olimex.

Programming and debugging are streamlined through VS Code with the Espressif EDF extension. UART programming has shown consistent success across both Linux and Windows, ensuring cross-platform compatibility for developers.

Olimex reports mixed results with JTAG programming: while it works smoothly on Windows, Linux occasionally encounters libusb errors and timeouts. Similar issues appear with JTAG debugging on Linux, suggesting further USB communication refinements may be needed to ensure stable JTAG functionality across systems.

On the hardware side, the board’s camera interface supports a standard 5-megapixel Raspberry Pi OV5647 camera, and the LCD display, GPIOs, and Ethernet are working as intended. With these essential components in place, the board is nearly production-ready, pending the availability of ESP32-P4 chips from Espressif. For more information, refer to Olimex’s latest announcements.