Espressif: ESP32: board target terminology is incompatible with guidelines

[JarmouniA]

Describe the bug

When looking at https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/boards/espressif/esp32s3_devkitc/doc/index.html, the board target to build for is indicated as esp32s3_devkitc/esp32s3/procpu, but esp32s3 is the SoC series (as it is clear from

zephyr/soc/espressif/esp32s3/Kconfig

Line 4 in 11c543e

config SOC_SERIES_ESP32S3

) and not the actual SoC name (esp32s3_wroom_n8 in the case of this board, but it could be esp32s3_wroom_n16r8...), which should be used instead according to https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/hardware/porting/board_porting.html#board-terminology.

Many of ESP32 DevkitC boards come with different SoCs that differ in xSPI PSRAM & Flash sizes as indicated for ESP32-S3-DevKitC for example https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-dev-kits/en/latest/esp32s3/esp32-s3-devkitc-1/user_guide.html#ordering-information. So to target the ESP32S3 DevkitC board variant with a different SPI Flash/PSRAM sizes than the one hard-coded (

zephyr/boards/espressif/esp32s3_devkitc/Kconfig.esp32s3_devkitc

Line 5 in 11c543e

select SOC_ESP32S3_WROOM_N8

zephyr/boards/espressif/esp32s3_devkitc/esp32s3_devkitc_procpu.dts

Line 8 in 11c543e

#include <espressif/esp32s3/esp32s3_wroom_n8.dtsi>

), we need to modify the board's conf and DT instead of just doing esp32s3_devkitc/esp32s3_wroom_n16r8/procpu for example.

Regression

• This is a regression.

Steps to reproduce

N/A

Relevant log output

Impact

Annoyance – major irritation; significant impact on usability.

Environment

• OS: Any
• Zephyr SDK
• Branch: v3.7.1, v4.0, v4.1, main 11c543e

Additional Context

N/A

[rftafas]

I think there is a misconception.

There are Espressif boards (like DevkitC), modules (like Wroom) and chips (like ESP32-D0WD-V3). Then:

• Most of Espressif chips have 0 internal flash (and from the "CPU point of view, even 'on chip flash' is architecturally, external flash).
• Boards may contain different flavors of a module (varying in RAM or Flash)
• There are 3rdParty modules (like the ones from SeeedStudio).

"Economic considerations aside", you DO can buy Espressif chips (and not modules). It is just not convenient for the majority of users.

PTAL: https://products.espressif.com/#/product-selector?names=

[JarmouniA]

I think there is a misconception.

There are Espressif boards (like DevkitC), modules (like Wroom) and chips (like ESP32-D0WD-V3). Then:

• Most of Espressif chips have 0 internal flash (and from the "CPU point of view, even 'on chip flash' is architecturally, external flash).
• Boards may contain different flavors of a module (varying in RAM or Flash)

I am well aware of that. My issue is that the current board target naming does not respect Zephyr board target terminology, by using the SoC series name (ex: esp32s3) instead of the SoC name (the question of what ESP32 part is considered a Zephyr SoC, is it the ESP32 'module' or the 'chip', can be discussed later).

[rftafas]

(the question of what ESP32 part is considered a Zephyr SoC, is it the ESP32 'module' or the 'chip', can be discussed later)

This is exactly the point. What you are suggesting as SOC name is actually a module configuration. This is not right either.

ESP32-S3 is actually an SOC Part number, and we can move from 'config_esp32s3_series' to 'config_esp32s3' with very questionable gains. FWIW, other ESP32-S3 SOC names would be the ones from this list here.

While I also agree that we need to add the actual SOCs to this, and I also agree that we could use 'board variants' for devkits with different module configurations, I also noted users getting things done with overlays for both cases. Considering our main goal is enabling users to get things done, overlay as a workaround is good enough.

[JarmouniA]

While I also agree that we need to add the actual SOCs to this, and I also agree that we could use 'board variants' for devkits with different module configurations

I will introduce variants for the devkitc-esp32s3 board, already tested & it works great for rapidly & easily switching between the different Flash/RAM sizes.

[rftafas]

I will introduce variants for the devkitc-esp32s3 board, already tested & it works great for rapidly & easily switching between the different Flash/RAM sizes.

Well, it is open source, contribution is always welcome!

Just remember to only add variations that are actually sold by Espressif. There are many DevkitC clones/based/copies that have slightly different set-ups and shouldn't be a DevkitC variant. For example, some feature an LED, some have different module, etc. These are usually rejected if placed under Espressif. FWIW, a while ago, we had to do a taskforce effort to organize the boards and take all 'non-Espressif' boards that were posing as Espressif's to their respective manufacturer folder, when one could be found.