ESP RF Test Tool not compatible with native USB on ESP32-S3

[ESP_Sprite]

For what it's worth, I talked to the RF team, and they say the impact on WiFi performance is measurable but minimal: 1 to 2 dB, and only on channels 7, 8 and 9. I'm working on getting more information about this issue public. (In case you're interested, the issue is that USB runs off a 48MHz clock. The line between the PLL and the USB logic couples ever so slightly into the WiFi block, where the 48MHz gets upmixed to 2448MHz. That's smack dab in the WiFi band, hence the lower performance around that frequency. It's fixed in the chips after the C3/S3.

[ESP_WZH]

@Seon In fact, the impact of USB PHY on RF performance is very minimal. We are developing firmware to support USB Console and it's will be available soon ~

[seonroz]

For what it's worth, I talked to the RF team, and they say the impact on WiFi performance is measurable but minimal: 1 to 2 dB, and only on channels 7, 8 and 9. I'm working on getting more information about this issue public. (In case you're interested, the issue is that USB runs off a 48MHz clock. The line between the PLL and the USB logic couples ever so slightly into the WiFi block, where the 48MHz gets upmixed to 2448MHz. That's smack dab in the WiFi band, hence the lower performance around that frequency. It's fixed in the chips after the C3/S3.

Thanks for the explanation. Glad it's fixed for future products... shame it slipped through on the C3/S3. I know 1-2db is not much, and public knowledge about choosing alternate channels to avoid this would be great.

@Seon In fact, the impact of USB PHY on RF performance is very minimal. We are developing firmware to support USB Console and it's will be available soon ~

Excellent. Is there an ETA? I was working on docs for my test lab about connecting an external programmer, as I need to get into pre-cert before CNY, but if I can avoid these steps and still get into pre-cert before CNY, that would be amazing!

Happy Non-CHNY everyone!

[ESP_WZH]

Hi, @Seon, the test tool supporting USB Console is expected to be completed next week.

[seonroz]

Hi, @Seon, the test tool supporting USB Console is expected to be completed next week.

Wicked!

[seonroz]

Hi, @Seon, the test tool supporting USB Console is expected to be completed next week.

Any update on this?

[Jeroenvdb]

@ESP_WZH @ESP_Sprite

Have there been any developments? Latest ESP RF Test Tool V2.8 is dated 2021.11.10.

We are facing the same challenge as @seonroz describes, but we are using the ESP32-C3. Programming the test binary over USB works fine, but after programming, the USB Uart device disappears and never restores. We don't really have a backup since RX/TX are connected to a modem.

[discreet_mayor]

It appears this issue is not resolved as of 3.6.

Can we expect this to be addressed (announced "next week" 3 years ago)...?