Espressif has unveiled the ESP32-E22, the company’s first Wi-Fi 6E system-on-chip and the start of a new lineup focused on high-performance wireless connectivity. Designed as a radio co-processor (RCP), the device handles Wi-Fi and Bluetooth tasks independently, allowing the main host processor to concentrate on application logic rather than networking overhead. The chip combines tri-band Wi-Fi 6E and dual-mode Bluetooth into a single, compact subsystem.
The ESP32-E22 supports operation across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, bringing access to the less crowded 6 GHz spectrum for improved throughput and lower latency. Features such as 160 MHz channel bandwidth, 2×2 MU-MIMO, beamforming, and 1024-QAM enable data rates of up to 2.4 Gbps, making it suitable for bandwidth-heavy and congestion-prone environments. Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth LE 5.4 are also integrated, with coexistence mechanisms to ensure stable performance when both radios run simultaneously.
Built on Espressif’s in-house dual-core 500 MHz RISC-V architecture, the chip manages the full wireless protocol stack internally, including security, authentication, scanning, and roaming. It can interface with Espressif or third-party processors through PCIe 2.1 or SDIO 3.0, giving designers flexibility across different platforms. Target applications include smart home hubs, connected appliances, industrial systems, wireless video links, and low-latency AR/VR devices, with engineering samples now available.
