ESP Zigbee NCP

This tutorial introduces how to use the Module Gateway H2 together with the CoreS3 controller to run the ESP Zigbee Host/NCP example program. ESP Zigbee NCP (Network Co-Processor) is a network co-processor mode that runs the Zigbee protocol stack on a separate processor and communicates with the main processor via a serial port. This architecture allows the main processor to focus on application-layer logic while delegating Zigbee network-related processing to the co-processor. Refer to the tutorial below to flash the ESP Zigbee NCP firmware to the Module Gateway H2 and the ESP Zigbee Host firmware to the CoreS3, thereby creating a Coordinator node.

1. Preparations

• 1.Environment Setup: Refer to the ESP-IDF - Getting Started with ESP32S3 Tutorial to complete the basic compilation environment.

git clone --recursive https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git
cd esp-idf
git checkout v5.3.1 # recommend
./install.sh
. ./export.sh

• 2.Use the Git command clone --recursive to recursively clone the ESP-Zigbee-SDK repository

git clone --recursive https://github.com/espressif/esp-zigbee-sdk.git
cd esp-zigbee-sdk

• 3.Hardware Products Used:
  • ESP32 Downloader
  • Module Gateway H2
  • CoreS3

• 4.The subsequent tutorial commands using idf.py depend on ESP‑IDF. Before running the commands, execute . ./export.sh in ESP‑IDF to activate the relevant environment variables. For detailed instructions, please refer to the ESP-IDF - Getting Started with ESP32S3 Tutorial.

2. Compiling the NCP Firmware

• 1.Refer to the commands below to navigate to the corresponding NCP firmware directory and set the build target to esp32h2.

cd examples/esp_zigbee_ncp
idf.py set-target esp32h2
idf.py menuconfig

• 2.Use idf.py menuconfig to enter the configuration menu. In menuconfig, configure the device pin settings under:
  Component config → Zigbee Network Co-processor

- Component config → Zigbee Network Co-processor
  - UART RX Pin: 23
  - UART TX Pin: 24
- Component config → ESP Zigbee → Configure the Zigbee device type
  - Zigbee Coordinator or Router device # or Zigbee End Device

• 3.Execute the following commands to build, erase flash, and flash the NCP firmware:

idf.py build
idf.py erase_flash
idf.py flash # modify according to your actual port

3. Compiling the HOST Firmware

• 1.Refer to the commands below to navigate to the corresponding HOST firmware directory and set the build target to esp32s3.

cd examples/esp_zigbee_host
idf.py set-target esp32s3 # for CoreS3
idf.py menuconfig

• 2.Use idf.py menuconfig to enter the configuration menu. In menuconfig, configure the device pin settings under:
  Component config → Zigbee NCP Host

- Component config → Zigbee NCP Host
  - UART RX Pin: 10
  - UART TX Pin: 17

• 3.Execute the following commands to build and flash the HOST firmware:

idf.py build
idf.py flash

4. Getting Started

• Connect the CoreS3 and the Module Gateway H2.
• Connect the CoreS3 to your computer.
• Use idf.py monitor or other serial debugging tools at 115200bps to view the runtime logs.

Normal runtime log contents:

• The NCP side shows that the Zigbee protocol stack has initialized successfully.
• The Host side shows a successful connection to the NCP.
• Zigbee network creation successful (Coordinator mode).