PULSAR H2 Development Board

PULSAR H2 Development Board#

Introduction#

This guide will help you get started with the PULSAR H2 development board. The PULSAR H2 is a development board based on the ESP32H2 microcontroller. It is designed for prototyping and developing IoT applications. The board features a variety of interfaces, including GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, and more. It also has built-in support for Zigbee, Thread (802.15.4), and Bluetooth connectivity.

**PULSAR H2** Development Board

Fig. 2 PULSAR H2 Development Board#

Features#

CPU#

Espressif ESP32-H2FH4S

  • Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor

  • Up to 96 MHz operating frequency

  • Four-stage pipeline

Internal Memory#

  • 320 KB of internal SRAM

  • 128 KB of ROM (for boot and system functions)

  • 4 MB of integrated SPI Flash (in the ESP32-H2FH4 module)

  • 4 KB LP Memory

  • 16 KB cache

Wireless Connectivity#

  • Bluetooth® 5.0 LE, supports LE 2M, LE Coded PHY, Extended Advertising, and Advertising Extensions

  • IEEE 802.15.4 for Zigbee and Thread, with support for Matter over Thread

Peripheral Interfaces#

  • 19 programmable GPIOs (including GPIO8, GPIO9, and GPIO25 as strapping pins)

  • 12-bit SAR ADC (up to 5 channels)

  • Temperature sensor

  • SPI, UART, I²C, I²S, PWM, RMT

  • USB 2.0 Full-Speed (with integrated Serial/JTAG controller and PHY)

  • General-purpose SPI, UART (×2), and I²C (×2) interfaces

  • RMT with up to 2 transmit channels and 2 receive channels

  • LED PWM controller (up to 6 channels)

  • Motor Control PWM (MCPWM)

  • Pulse Count Controller

  • General DMA controller (3 TX channels, 3 RX channels)

  • Parallel I/O (PARLIO) controller

  • SoC Event Task Matrix (ETM)

  • Two TWAI® Controllers (compatible with ISO 11898-1 / CAN 2.0)

  • Two 54-bit general-purpose timers

  • 52-bit system timer

  • Three watchdog timers

  • SDIO, JTAG, GPIO

Built-in Security#

  • Secure Boot – Ensures firmware integrity during startup

  • Flash Encryption – Provides secure memory encryption and decryption

  • 4096-bit OTP (One-Time Programmable memory), with up to 1792 bits available for user data

Cryptographic Hardware Acceleration#

  • AES-128/256 (FIPS PUB 197) – Supports ECB, CBC, CFB, OFB, and CTR modes (FIPS PUB 800-38A)

  • SHA Accelerator (FIPS PUB 180-4)

  • RSA Accelerator

  • ECC Accelerator

  • ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm)

  • HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code)

  • Digital Signature Engine

  • Access Permission Management (APM)

  • Random Number Generator (RNG)

  • Power Glitch Detector

Power Management and Operating Voltage#

  • I/O Operating Voltage: 3.3 V

  • Ultra-Low Power Consumption – Designed for energy-efficient applications requiring extended battery life

  • Fine-resolution power control through adjustable clock frequency, duty cycle, RF operating modes, and individual power control of internal components

  • Four Power Modes optimized for different operation scenarios:

    • Active, Modem-sleep, Light-sleep, and Deep-sleep

  • Power Consumption in Deep-sleep Mode: 7 µA

  • Independent RTC (Real-Time Clock) for data and event retention during Deep-sleep mode

  • LP (Low-Power) memory remains powered on in Deep-sleep mode

Antenna#

  • Integrated PCB antenna (no external antenna required)

Storage#

  • Integrated microSD card slot via SPI for data logging, multimedia storage, and firmware updates

  • Connected to GPIO0, GPIO4, GPIO5, and GPIO25

Power Management#

  • Vin: Up to 6V via pin header

  • USB-C powered (5V input)

  • VUSB Output: Available

  • 3.3V AP2112K 3.3V LDO Regulator (max input 6V): 350 mA nominal current, up to 600 mA peak with thermal protection

  • Supports LiPo battery charging with an onboard power management circuit. Charging current: 200 mA

Interfaces and Connectors#

  • 1 × I2C JST-SH (1.0 mm pitch): Qwiic-compatible connector wired to GPIO12 and GPIO22 for Low-Power I2C

  • 1 × microSD Card Holder

  • 1 × Auxiliary Battery Connector (optional): Supports both 2.0 mm and 1.25 mm pitch options

  • 1 × USB Type-C Connector

  • 2 × 15-pin Header Connectors: With castellated holes for easy surface mounting

Communication and Connectivity#

  • USB-C connector for programming and power

  • Reset button and Flash/Boot button for manually entering flash mode

LED Indicators#

  • Green or Red PWR LED (0603) – Power indication

  • Orange CHG LED (0603) – LiPo charging status

  • Pink BLINK LED (0603, GPIO4) – User-programmable

  • WS2812 RGB LED (2020) – Fully addressable for status or visual feedback connected to GPIO8

Software Support#

  • Arduino IDE (official Uelectronics-ESP32 Arduino Package)

  • ESP-IDF for advanced native development

  • MicroPython and CircuitPython support

  • PlatformIO / VS Code for professional development

Applications#

  • Smart Home (Matter, Thread)

  • Home and Industrial Automation (including CAN Bus and low-power systems)

  • IoT Prototyping and Embedded Development

  • Multi-radio Devices and Mesh Communication

  • Robotics and Sensor Networks

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