LILYGO’s T-FPGA – An M.2-Formated Dev Board with ESP32-S3 and Gowin GW1NSR FPGA

21 February, 2024

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The LILYGO T-FPGA development kit consists of two components: an M.2 module and a carrier board. The M.2 module features an ESP32-S3 SoC and Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA with 4,608 LUTs along with USB-C OTG for ESP32-S3, a USB-C port for FPGA, four Pmod interfaces, a STEMMA Qt/Qwiic connector, pins for 3.3V and GND, and a 20-pin I/O header for extensive connectivity and expansion options. The carrier board provides access to all the pins and features an 18650 battery holder.

Features and Specification of LILYGO’s T-FPGA:

Wireless MCU: Espressif ESP32-S3R8 with AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM.
Storage: 16MB flash.
FPGA: Gowin GW1NSR-LV4C with 4,608 LUTs, 256Kb flash, 64Mb PSRAM, Hyperflash, NOR flash.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 4, BLE 5.0, ceramic and u.FL antenna support.
USB: 1x Type-C OTG, 1x Type-C FPGA.
Host Interface: M.2 Key-B connector.
Expansion: SPI, JTAG, 3.3V, GND connector.
Misc: Buttons for boot/reset/power (ESP32-S3), user (FPGA), power LED, 2x user LEDs.
Power: 5V via USB-C or M.2, AXP2101 PMIC.
Dimensions: 60 x 42 mm.
T-FPGA Shield Specifications:
- Pmod Interfaces: 4x Pmod interfaces for modular expansions.
- STEMMA Qt/Qwiic Connector: 4-pin connector for I2C modules.
- 20-Pin Header: Includes I/Os, VBUS, VLDO, GND.
- Power: 18650 battery holder for standalone power supply.
- Voltage Pins: 6-pin header for 3.3V, 6-pin header for GND.
- Dimensions: 120 x 32 x 22 mm for compact integration.

LILYGO offers sample codes for ESP32-S3 (Arduino) and Gowin FPGA (Verilog) for LED control via I2C/SPI and direct FPGA LED blinking. Available on GitHub, these include schematics and setup guides for Arduino IDE and Gowin EDA. The open-source Yosys toolchain could support the T-FPGA via the Apicula project.

LILYGO typically provides minimal documentation, so if you’re new to Gowin FPGAs, it’s probably to start with something like the Sipeed Tang Nano 20K, 9K, or 4K. If an FPGA board with a WiFi and Bluetooth MCU looks like something useful, the full T-FPGA development kit with the ESP32-S3+Gowin FPGA module, carrier board, and several headers can be purchased on Aliexpress for $28.98 including shipping.

You can purchase the T-FPGA from LILYGO on AliExpress for $23.62. The carrier board is sold separately for $9.75. However, a bundled offer for both can be purchased for $28.12, including shipping.

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