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Espressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway
Reference gateway for Thread and Zigbee networks - enables secure Matter integration in smart home ecosystems.
ESP32-S3
MCU
240MHz
clock
4MB
flash
512KB
SRAM
24· 14 ADC
GPIO
BLE 5.0+ WiFi
radio
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 | safe | adc · dac | |
| 20 | 27 | A17T7PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 21 | 32 | A4T9PWM | safe | adc · touch | |
| 22 | 33 | A5T8PWM | strapping | adc · touch | |
| 23 | 34 | A6 | strapping | adc | |
| 24 | 35 | A7 | strapping | adc |
Start with these
15 pins with no boot or system involvementTXPWMA12T2A10T0PWMA13T3PWMPWMPWMPWMPWMPWMA18DAC1A19DAC2A17T7A4T9
Freely assignable - no strapping, flash, USB or JTAG duties. Ideal first picks for buttons, sensors and LEDs.
Fine - with a little care
sampled at boot or shared with debug/serial| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| A11 | GPIO0 | 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. | Strapping |
| RX | GPIO3 | Sampled at reset to select JTAG interface (USB Serial/JTAG controller vs. external pins). Improper use can disable external JTAG or alter debug interface. | Strapping |
Only if you know the tricks
wired to flash or USB - expect a fight| Pin | Label | What to know | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| A15 | FSPICLK | Drives the flash (and PSRAM) clock. This critical signal must be reserved for memory and not used as general GPIO. | Flash |
| A14 | FSPIQ | Used as a data line for flash/PSRAM transfers. Not available for other uses when flash/PSRAM is connected. | Flash |
| A16 | FSPIWP | Connected to external flash (data/write-protect signal). Not recommended as GPIO because it’s reserved for flash operations. | Flash |
| PWM | USB_D- | 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. | USB |
| A5 | FSPIHD | On chips/modules with integrated flash, this IO is wired to the flash hold pin internally. It cannot be reassigned to GPIO without breaking flash access. | Flash |
| A6 | FSPICS0 | Wired to the chip select of the internal flash in flash-equipped variants. It must remain low during flash operation, so it’s not available for other use. | Flash |
| A7 | FSPID / PSRAM_D0 | In modules with octal PSRAM, this pin is connected to the PSRAM data line. It is reserved for memory interface and not free for general GPIO when flash/PSRAM is present. | Flash |
These are recommendations, not hard rules - with the right pull-ups, timing and boot-state awareness most pins can be made to work. When in doubt, start green.
Pinout notes 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…
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. 2 of the exposed pins carry boot-time or system duties on the ESP32-S3 (A11 and RX).
Getting started
flash your first firmware in ~2 minutes1
Connect over USB
Serial chip: onboard. Not detected? Hold BOOT while plugging in.
2
Flash with your tool
Arduino IDE, PlatformIO, ESPHome or esptool - copy the settings on the right.
3
Verify it runs
The blink example uses GPIO2 - swap for your board's LED pin if different.
Board: Esp Thread Br Zigbee Gw
Flash Size: 4MB · DIO
Upload Speed: 921600
// blink
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(2, LOW); // on (often inverted)[env:esp-thread-br-zigbee-gw]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32-s3-devkitc-1
framework = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
upload_speed = 921600esp32:
board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
variant: esp_thread_br_zigbee_gw
framework:
type: esp-idf
# blink - GPIO2
output:
- platform: gpio
pin: 2
id: led_out
light:
- platform: binary
name: "LED"
output: led_outesptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 \
write_flash 0x0 firmware.binBuild details: sketch space 1966080 B · data 327680 B · DIO
Specifications
ESP32-S3Compute
MCU
ESP32-S3
Clock
240 MHz
SRAM · Flash
512 KB · 4MB · 2MB (QSPI) PSRAM
Radio
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
5.0 LE
Antenna
PCB
I/O
GPIO · ADC
24 · 14
UART · I²C · SPI
3 · 2 · 4
PWM
8 channels
Power
USB
-
Serial
-
Boot address
0x0
Flashing
Upload · OTA
esptool_py · esp_ota
Flash · Boot mode
DIO · DIO
Sketch · Data
1.88 MB · 320 KB
The Espressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway uses esptool_py for firmware uploads, esp_ota for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Flash mode is DIO with DIO boot mode. The maximum sketch size is 1.88 MB with 320 KB available for data.
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 ~$30 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 pricesEspressif ESP Thread Border Router/Zigbee Gateway
$10.00per unit, typical
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Resources
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