Espressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway
Reference gateway for Thread and Zigbee networks - enables secure Matter integration in smart home ecosystems.
Espressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway Pinout
24 pins
| Pin | GPIO | Labels | Status | Capabilities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | A11T1PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 2 | 1 | TXPWM | uart | uart | |
| 3 | 2 | A12T2PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 4 | 3 | RXPWM | strapping | uart | |
| 5 | 4 | A10T0PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 6 | 5 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 7 | 12 | A15T5PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 8 | 13 | A14T4PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 9 | 14 | A16T6PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 10 | 15 | A13T3PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 11 | 16 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 12 | 17 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 13 | 18 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 14 | 19 | PWM | uart | - | |
| 15 | 21 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 16 | 22 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 17 | 23 | PWM | safe | - | |
| 18 | 25 | A18DAC1PWM | safe | adc · dac | |
| 19 | 26 | A19DAC2PWM | strapping | adc · dac | |
| 20 | 27 | A17T7PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 21 | 32 | A4T9PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 22 | 33 | A5T8PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 23 | 34 | A6 | safe | adc | |
| 24 | 35 | A7 | safe | adc |
Start with these
15 pins with no boot or system involvementFreely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.
Fine - with a little care
5 pins · 3 things to knowA11GPIO0 Bootstrapping pin (Chip boot mode selection) Strapping
Must be pulled high (default) or low (to enter UART download mode) at reset. Using it for other functions can interfere with boot mode configuration.
RXGPIO3 Bootstrapping pin (controls JTAG signal source) Strapping
Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface.
A15GPIO12A14GPIO13A16GPIO14 General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pins Other
IO MUX pin of the general-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) bus, not of the in-package flash - that sits on GPIO26-32. The datasheet lists it as a priority-2 pin ("can be freely used without restrictions"), so it is only taken if your board wires flash, an SD card or a display to FSPI.
- A15General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - clock (FSPICLK)
- A14General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - data out (FSPIQ)
- A16General-purpose SPI2 (FSPI) IO MUX pin - write-protect/data line (FSPIWP)
Only if you know the tricks
4 pins · 2 things to knowPWMGPIO19 USB OTG negative differential data line (USB_D-) USB
By default connected to the on-chip USB Serial/JTAG controller. Using it as general GPIO without reconfiguring IO MUX will interfere with USB functionality.
A19GPIO26A17GPIO27A4GPIO32 SPI0/1 memory-bus lines for the in-package or on-module flash and PSRAM Flash
Part of the SPI0/1 bus that runs the in-package flash and PSRAM, listed by the datasheet as "already allocated or not recommended for use". Modules keep these lines internal, so the pin is not available as GPIO.
- A19SPI0/1 memory-bus chip select 1 (SPICS1) - in-package PSRAM CE#
- A17SPI0/1 memory-bus hold/data line (SPIHD; DQ3 in 8-line mode)
- A4SPI0/1 memory-bus data in (SPID; DI / DQ0)
The Espressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway pinout brings out 24 GPIO pins - every one of them usable in your project.
For peripherals, TX/RX on GPIO1 and GPIO3 cover serial logging and flashing.
On the analog side there are 14 ADC-capable pins for sensors and battery monitoring, 10 capacitive-touch inputs and 2 true DAC outputs.
If you want zero surprises, TX, A12, A10, PWM and 11 more are free of any such role - the safest first picks. 5 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (A11, RX, A15 and 2 more).
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutesBoard: ESP32S3 Dev Module Flash Size: 4MB (32Mb) Flash Mode: DIO PSRAM: QSPI PSRAM Partition Scheme: Default 4MB with spiffs (1.2MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS) Upload Speed: 921600
// toggle GPIO2 - wire an LED and resistor to it
void setup() {
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(2, HIGH); delay(500);
digitalWrite(2, LOW); delay(500);
}[env:esp-thread-br-zigbee-gw]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600
board_build.arduino.memory_type = qio_qspi
build_flags = -DBOARD_HAS_PSRAMesp32-s3-devkitc-1 - or type it after board =.esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: esp32s3
framework:
type: esp-idf
psram:
mode: quad
speed: 80MHz
# blink - GPIO2
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 2
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outesp32-s3-devkitc-1 (same ids as PlatformIO).esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
--baud 921600 write_flash 0x0 firmware.bin--port = your /dev/tty* (macOS/Linux) or COMx (Windows).Specifications
ESP32-S3 · vs other ESP32 chips →About this board
At its core is the ESP32-S3 - a dual-core Xtensa with vector extensions suited to AI workloads.
Expect to pay about $10.00 - less than the ~$29 most ESP32-S3 boards go for.
Onboard you'll find 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM, Zigbee and wired Ethernet (true).
The ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway is a development board designed to facilitate seamless wireless connectivity in IoT applications. It supports 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, 802.15.4 Thread, Zigbee®, and Bluetooth® 5.x (BLE) at 2.4GHz, making it highly versatile for a range of IoT use cases. Powered by the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 and ESP32-H2-MINI-1 modules, the board includes 4MB Flash and 2MB PSRAM, providing ample memory for smooth operation. Additionally, it features Sub-Ethernet capabilities, further enhancing its role as a robust Thread Border Router and Zigbee Gateway for seamless network integration and management.
- Dual-radio design - ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 host + ESP32-H2-MINI-1 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee) radio co-processor
- RJ45 Ethernet uplink for the Thread border router
Where to buy
prices are typical street pricesResources
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