Espressif Unveils ESP32-E22: The First Wi-Fi 6E Communications Coprocessor

Espressif has announced a new entry in its ESP32 microcontroller family, this time with its first Wi-Fi 6E-based communications coprocessor: the ESP32-E22. "Espressif Systems is pleased to introduce the ESP32-E22, the company's first Wi-Fi 6E SoC [System-on-Chip] and the foundation of a new product line aimed at high-performance wireless connectivity," the company says of its latest design. "As a Radio Coprocessor (RCP), ESP32-E22 integrates tri-band Wi-Fi 6E and dual-mode Bluetooth into a single subsystem, offloading the entire networking stack and enabling host processors to focus exclusively on application logic." The new ESP32-E22 follows Espressif's move to exclusively using microcontroller cores built around the free and open RISC-V architecture, featuring a pair of RISC-V cores running at up to 500MHz — though it's designed for use as a high-performance communications coprocessor rather than the only chip in the system. On the communication side, the ESP32-E22 is Espressif's first part to feature Wi-Fi 6E support, with a triple-band Wi-Fi radio covering the traditional 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands plus 6GHz for shorter-range high-throughput tasks. It offers 160MHz channel bandwidth, 2×2 multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) support, beamforming, and link-layer scheduling for improved performance in congested environments. The chip can handle a peak data rate of 2.4Gb/s, Espressif claims. Elsewhere, the chip includes a Bluetooth 5.4 radio supporting both Bluetooth Classic in Basic Rate (BR) and Enhanced Data Rate (BDR) modes as well as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). A "coexistence algorithm" is included, which Espressif says ensures that both radios work fine even when transmitting and receiving concurrently. Connectivity to external controllers can be achieved over high-speed interfaces including PCI Express (PCIe) 2.1 and Secure Digital Input Output (SDIO) 3.0.