P2 from Photon migration guide

The Particle P2 module is the next generation Wi-Fi module from Particle. It is footprint compatible with our prior module, the P1, but is built on an upgraded chipset, supporting advanced features such as 5 GHz Wi-Fi, a 200MHz CPU, and built-in Bluetooth BLE 5.0.

Feature P2 P1 Photon Argon
Style SMD SMD Pin Module Pin Module
Status LEDs
Reset and Mode Buttons
USB Connector Micro B Micro B
D7 Blue LED
LiPo Connector
Battery Charger
User application size 2048 KB (2 MB) 128 KB 128KB 256 KB
Flash file system1 2 MB 2 MB
MCU RTL8721DM STM32F205RGY6 STM32F205RGY6 nRF52840
Realtek Semiconductor ST Microelectronics ST Microelectronics Nordic Semiconductor
CPU Cortex M33 @ 200 MHz Cortex M3 @ 120 MHz Cortex M3 @ 120 MHz Cortex M3 @ 64 MHz
Cortex M23 @ 20 MHz
RAM2 4608 KB 128KB 128 KB 256 KB
Flash3 16 MB 1 MB 1 MB 1 MB
Hardware FPU
Secure Boot
Trust Zone }
}
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 802.11 b/g/n 802.11 b/g/n 802.11 b/g/n
  2.4 GHz
  5 GHz
Bluetooth BLE 5.0 BLE 5.0
NFC Tag External antenna required
Antenna Shared for Wi-Fi and BLE Wi-Fi only Wi-Fi only Separate Wi-Fi and BLE antennas
Built-in PCB antenna (Wi-Fi & BLE) Built-in PCB antenna (Wi-Fi) Built-in chip antenna (Wi-Fi) Built-in chip antenna (BLE)
Required external antenna (Wi-Fi)
Optional external (Wi-Fi & BLE)4 Optional external (Wi-Fi)4 Optional external (Wi-Fi)4 Optional external (BLE)4
Peripherals USB 2.0 USB 1.1 USB 1.1 USB 1.1
Digital GPIO 22 24 18 20
Analog (ADC) 6 13 8 6
Analog (DAC) 2 2
UART 3 2 26 1
SPI 2 2 2 2
PWM 6 12 9 8
I2C 1 1 1 1
CAN 1 1
I2S 15 15 1
JTAG
SWD

† Optional but recommended. Add to your base board.

1A small amount of the flash file system is used by Device OS, most is available for user data storage using the POSIX filesystem API. This is separate from the flash memory used for Device OS, user application, and OTA transfers.

2 Total RAM; amount available to user applications is smaller. On the P2, available RAM is approximately 3072 KB. On the Photon, it is around 55 KB.

3 Total built-in flash; amount available to user applications is smaller. The Argon also has a 4 MB external flash, a portion of which is available to user applications as a flash file system.

4 Onboard or external antenna is selectable in software.

5 The STM32 hardware supports I2S but there is no software support in Device OS or 3rd-party libraries.

6 The second UART on the Photon shares pins with the status LED, and requires unsoldering it (or its current limiting resistors) and using pads on the bottom of the module, making it impractical to use.

Hardware

Module style

The primary difference is that the Photon is a pin-based module that can be installed in solderless breadboard for prototyping, can be installed in a socket on your custom board, or soldered directly to your board.

Photon

The P2 is only available as a SMD (surface mount device) that is typically reflow soldered to your base board. Your base board will need to be a custom printed circuit board, and cannot be a solderless breadboard or perforated prototyping board.

This can be done in small quantities by hand using a reflow oven or soldering hot plate. In quantity, it would be done by your PCBA (PCB with assembly) contractor.

This is a P2 custom board, not an actual product. Full instructions on how to build this board are included in the P2 First Board Tutorial.

P2 Custom Board

The Photon 2 is a pin-based module that contains a P2, and may be appropriate in many cases. If you are planning on scaling, it may be advantageous to migrate from the Photon directly to the P2 as the Photon and Photon 2 are not pin-compatible and will require a redesign of your base board anyway.

Photon 2 Rendering

The P2 reference design is a full breakout board with additional Feather sockets that are compatible with the Photon 2.

Status LED

The P2 does not include a status LED on the module. We recommend adding one to your base board.

Alternatively, if you have a separate hardware control panel, it provides the ability to put the RGB LED there and not duplicate it on the module or base board.

Device OS assumes a common anode RGB LED. One common LED that meets the requirements is the Cree CLMVC-FKA-CL1D1L71BB7C3C3 which is inexpensive and easily procured. You need to add three current limiting resistors. With this LED, we typically use 1K ohm current limiting resistors. These are much larger than necessary. They make the LED less blinding but still provide sufficient current to light the LEDs. If you want maximum brightness you should use the calculated values - 33 ohm on red, and 66 ohm on green and blue.

If you are using a different LED, you should limit current to 2mA per color.

A detailed explanation of different color codes of the RGB system LED can be found here.

Reset and Mode buttons

The P2 does not include buttons on module. We highly recommend including reset and mode buttons on your base board.

For example, you could use two-inexpensive SMD switches. The 4.5mm E-Switch TL3305AF160QG costs $0.20 in single quantities.

USB Connector

The P2 does not include a USB connector on the module. We recommend including one on your base board. This can be a USB Micro B, as on the Photon and Argon, or you could use USB C.

Since you choose the connector you have the option of using a right-angle USB connector. This is handy if your board will be an enclosure where the board is recessed into the case under a removable cover. This can allow the USB connector to be accessed without removing the board from the enclosure.

Part Example Price
USB micro B connector Amphenol FCI 10118194-0001LF $0.42
CONN RCPT USB2.0 MICRO B SMD R/A Amphenol FCI 10118194-0001LF $0.42

SWD/JTAG

The P2 does not include a SWD/JTAG debugging connector on the board. We recommend including the following pins available for debugging:

Pin Pin Name Description Interface MCU
1 GND Ground. Be sure you connect all P1 ground pins.    
34 RST Hardware reset. Pull low to reset; can leave unconnected in normal operation.   CHIP_EN
54 D7 D7 GPIO, SWDIO SWDIO PA[27]
55 D6 D6 GPIO, SWCLK SWCLK PB[3]

Troubleshooting connector

In some cases, you may want to omit the reset and mode buttons, status LED, USB connector, and SWD/JTAG pins from your board board. If you do, we highly recommend adding a debug connector to make these features available for troubleshooting. The debug connector could be an actual connector, header pins, socket, card-edge connector, or SMD pads that allow an adapter or daughter card with these features.

Voltage regulator

The P2 requires regulated 3.3VDC at 500 mA. An voltage regulator is required on your base board if powering by USB (5V), LiPo (3.7V), or an external power source.

As of the first half of 2022, supply chain constraints are affecting the availability of voltage regulator components. There is no Device OS software dependency on the voltage regulator so you can choose any model as long as it meets the voltage and current requirements.

  • This is often a switching regulator to save space, but this is not required.
    • The Photon used a Richtek RT8008 (3.3V), which is hard to procure.
    • The Argon used a Torex XCL223, which is no longer available. The pin compatible XCL224 is also no longer available.
  • If the input voltage is close to 3.3V, such as 5V USB, a linear regulator can be used.

VBAT

On the Photon, a lithium coin cell or supercap can be attached to the VBAT pin to keep the real-time clock running, and keep the backup SRAM (retained memory).

This feature is not available on the P2 or Gen 3 devices.

No 5V tolerance!

On Gen 2 devices (STM32F205), most pins are 5V tolerant. This is not the case for Gen 3 (nRF52840) and the P2 (RTL872x). You must not exceed 3.3V on any GPIO pin, including ports such as serial, I2C, and SPI.

Pins A3, A4, and DAC (A6)

Pins A3, A4, DAC/A6 do not exist on the P2 and are NC.

You will need to use different pins if you are currently using these pins. There are a large number of additional pins (S0 - S6), however.

SPI

Both the Photon and P2 have two SPI ports, however the pins are different for primary SPI port.

The following are all SPI-related pins on the Photon and P2:

Photon Pin Name Photon SPI P2 Pin Name P2 SPI
A2 SPI (SS) A2 / D13  
A3 SPI (SCK) D0 / A3  
A4 SPI (MISO) D1 / A4  
A5 SPI (MOSI) A5 / D14  
D2 SPI1 (MOSI) D2 SPI1 (MOSI)
D3 SPI1 (MISO) D3 SPI1 (MISO)
D4 SPI1 (SCK) D4 SPI1 (SCK)
D5 SPI1 (SS) D5 SPI1 (SS)
    S0 / D15 SPI (MOSI)
    S1 / D16 SPI (MISO)
    S2 / D17 SPI (SCK)
    S3 / D18 SPI (SS)

If you are using SPI, Device OS 5.3.1 or later is recommended. Prior to that version, SPI ran at half of the set speed, and SPI1 ran at double the set speed. Timing has also been improved for large DMA transfers; prior to 5.3.1, there could be 1 µs gaps for every 16 bytes of data transferred.

SPI - Gen 2 devices (including Photon and P1)

SPI SPI1
Maximum rate 30 MHz 15 MHz
Default rate 15 MHz 15 MHz
Clock 60 MHz 30 MHz
  • Available clock divisors: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256

SPI - P2

SPI SPI1
Maximum rate 25 MHz 50 MHz
Hardware peripheral RTL872x SPI1 RTL872x SPI0

I2C

The P2 supports one I2C (two-wire serial interface) port on the same pins as the Photon.

However on the P2, D0 is shared with A3 and D1 is shared with D4, so you cannot use A3 and A4 at the same time as I2C.

Photon Pin Name Photon I2C P2 Pin Name P2 I2C
A3   D0 / A3 Wire (SDA)
A4   D1 / A4 Wire (SCL)
D0 Wire (SDA) D0 / A3 Wire (SDA)
D1 Wire (SCL) D1 / A4 Wire (SCL)
  • The P2 I2C port is not 5V tolerant
  • On the P2 and Photon 2, the only valid I2C clock speeds are CLOCK_SPEED_100KHZ and CLOCK_SPEED_400KHZ. Other speeds are not supported at this time.

Serial (UART)

The primary UART serial (Serial1) is on the TX and RX pins on both the Photon and P2. There is no hardware flow control on this port on the Photon or P2.

The secondary UART serial (Serial2) is on different pins and also supports CTS/RTS hardware flow control.

There is also a third UART serial (Serial3).

On the Photon, the Serial2 port is shared with the RGB LED, and the Photon must be modified to remove the LED or the current limiting resistors, so using Serial2 on the Photon is impractical.

Photon Pin Name Photon Serial P2 Pin Name P2 Serial
D2   D2 Serial2 (RTS)
D3   D3 Serial2 (CTS)
D4   D4 Serial2 (TX)
D5   D5 Serial2 (RX)
RGBB Serial2 (RX) RGBB  
RGBG Serial2 (TX) RGBG  
RX Serial1 (RX) RX / D9 Serial1 (RX)
    S0 / D15 Serial3 (TX)
    S1 / D16 Serial3 (RX)
    S2 / D17 Serial3 (RTS)
TX Serial1 (TX) TX / D8 Serial1 (TX)
WKP / A7   D10 / WKP Serial3 (CTS)
Photon P2
Buffer size 64 bytes 2048 bytes
7-bit mode
8-bit mode
9-bit mode
1 stop bit
2 stop bits
No parity
Even parity
Odd parity
Break detection
LIN bus support
Half duplex
CTS/RTS flow control 1

1CTS/RTS flow control only on Serial2. It is optional.

Supported Baud Rates:

Baud Rate P1 P2
110
300
600
1200
2400
4800
9600
14400
19200
28800
38400
57600
76800
115200
128000
153600
230400
500000
921600
1000000
1382400
1444400
1500000
1843200
2000000
2100000
2764800
3000000
3250000
3692300
3750000
4000000
6000000

Analog input (ADC)

For analog to digital conversion (ADC) using analogRead(), there are fewer ADC inputs on the P2:

Photon Pin Name Photon ADC P2 Pin Name P2 ADC
A0 A0 / D11
A1 A1 / D12
A2 A2 / D13
A3 D0 / A3
A4 D1 / A4
A5 A5 / D14
D0   D0 / A3
D1   D1 / A4
DAC / A6    
WKP / A7 D10 / WKP  

On the P2, there are no pins A3 (hardware pin 21) and A4 (hardware pin 22); these are NC (no connection). However, P2 pin D0 (hardware pin 36) can be used as an analog input and has the alias A3. The same is true for P2 pin D1 (hardware pin 35), which has the alias A4.

The setADCSampleTime() function is not supported on the P2.

PWM (Pulse-width modulation)

The pins that support PWM are different on the Photon and P2.

Photon Pin Name Photon PWM P2 Pin Name P2 PWM
A2   A2 / D13
A4 Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. D1 / A4
A5 Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. A5 / D14
D0 D0 / A3  
D1 D1 / A4
D2 Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. D2  
D3 Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. D3  
RX RX / D9  
    S0 / D15
    S1 / D16
TX TX / D8  
WKP / A7 D10 / WKP  

All available PWM pins on the P2 share a single timer. This means that they must all share a single frequency, but can have different duty cycles.

Digital to analog converter (DAC)

The Photon supports DAC one A3 and A6 (DAC). There is no DAC on the P2 or Gen 3 devices.

If you need a DAC, it's easy to add one via I2C or SPI on your base board.

Photon Pin Name Photon DAC P2 Pin Name P2 DAC
A3 D0 / A3  
DAC / A6    

WKP (A7)

Photon P2
Module Pin 30 30
Pin Name WKP WKP
A7 D11
Analog Input
PWM

On Gen 2 devices (STM32), only the WKP pin can wake from HIBERNATE sleep mode.

This restriction does not exist on the P2 and Gen 3 devices; any pin can be used to wake from all sleep modes.

CAN (controller area network)

The Photon supports CAN on pins D1 and D2. There is no CAN on the P2 or Gen 3 devices (except the Tracker).

  • The Tracker SoM includes CAN via a MCP25625 CAN interface with integrated transceiver.
  • Both the MCP2515 and MCP25625 work with the library used on the Tracker and can be used to add CAN to the P2.
Photon Pin Name Photon CAN P2 Pin Name P2 CAN
D1 CAN2_TX D1 / A4  
D2 CAN2_RX D2  

I2S (Sound)

The Photon theoretically had I2S sound available on pins D1 and D2, however there has never been support for it in Device OS.

There is no software support for I2S on the P2 either, and while the RTL872x hardware supports I2S, the pins that it requires are in use by other ports.

Photon Pin Name Photon I2S P2 Pin Name P2 I2S
D2 I2S3_SD D2  
D4 I2S3_SCK D4  
D5 I2S3_WS D5  
SETUP I2S3_MCK    

BLE (Bluetooth LE)

BLE Central Mode on the P2 and Photon 2 is only supported in Device OS 5.1.0 and later. Earlier versions only supported BLE Peripheral Mode.

MODE button

The P2 MODE button does not have a hardware pull-up on it, so you must add an external pull-up (2.2K to 10K) to 3V3, or connect it to 3V3 if not using a button.

Sleep

The P2 can wake from STOP or ULTRA_LOW_POWER sleep mode on any GPIO, RISING, FALLING, or CHANGE.

The P2 can only wake from HIBERNATE sleep mode on pin D10, RISING, FALLING, or CHANGE. The Photon can only wake from HIBERNATE on WKP RISING so this should not be an issue, other than making sure the pins are mapped appropriately.

Internal pull-up or pull-down

Internal (MCU) pull-up and pull-down can be enabled using the pinMode() function and INPUT_PULLUP or INPUT_PULLDOWN.

  • On the P2, the internal pull varies by pin and can be approximately 2.1K, 22K, or 42K.
    • Pins A0, A1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D10, S0, S1, S2 are 2.1K
    • Pins D0, D1, S4, S5, S6 are 22K
    • Pins A2, A5, D6, TX, RX are 42K
    • Pins S4, S5, S6 do not support pull-up or pull-down in HIBERNATE sleep mode. Use an external pull resistor if this is required.
  • On the Photon (Gen 2), the internal pull is approximately 40K.

Boot mode pins

These pins have a special function at boot. Beware when using these pins as input as they can trigger special modes in the MCU.

Pin Pin Name Description MCU
54 D7 SWDIO. 40K pull-up at boot. Low at boot triggers MCU test mode. PA[27]
55 D6 SWCLK. 40K pull-down at boot. PB[3]
64 TX / D8 Low at boot triggers ISP flash download PA[7]

Interrupts

There are many limitations for interrupts on the STM32F205. All pins can be used for interrupts on Gen 3 devices and the P2.

Retained memory

The P2 and Photon 2 have limited support for retained memory, also referred to as Backup RAM or SRAM, in Device OS 5.3.1 and later.

Retained memory is preserved with the following limitations:

  • When entering HIBERNATE sleep mode.
  • Under programmatic reset, such as System.reset() and OTA firmware upgrades.
  • In limited cases when using pin reset (RESET button or externally triggered reset).

By default, the retained memory is saved every 10 seconds, so changes made to retained variables between the last save and an unplanned system reset will be lost. Calling System.backupRamSync on the P2 and Photon 2 can make sure the data is saved. The data is saved to a dedicated flash page in the RTL827x MCU however you should avoid saving the data extremely frequently as it is slower than RAM and will cause flash wear.

Prior to Device OS 5.3.1, retained memory is not supported. The flash file system can be used, or you can use an external chip such as an I2C or SPI FRAM.

Retained memory is 3068 bytes.

Flash file system

The Photon did not have a flash file system.

The P2 has a 2 MB flash file system using the same POSIX API as Gen 3 devices. A small amount of space is reserved for system use including configuration data. Most of the space is available for user application use.

EEPROM

The EEPROM emulation API is the same across the Photon and P2.

The Photon had 2047 bytes of emulated EEPROM. The P2 has 4096 bytes of emulated EEPROM. On the P2 and Gen 3 devices, the EEPROM is actually just a file on the flash file system.

Pin functions removed

The following pins served Photon-specific uses and are NC on the P2. You should not connect anything to these pins.

  • Pins A3 and A4 on the P2 are shared with D0 and D1. You cannot use A3 and A4 at the same time as I2C (Wire) on the P2.
Pin Name Description
DAC / A6 DAC/A6 True analog out, analog in, GPIO.
SETUP SETUP button, has internal pull-up. Pin number constant is BTN.
VBAT Battery for internal real-time clock, backup registers, and SRAM. Supply 1.65VDC to 3.6 VDC at 19 μA..
VIN Power in 3.6V to 5.5 VDC. Or power out (when powered by USB) 4.8 VDC at 1A maximum.

Pin functions added

Pin Pin Name Description
5 3V3_IO 3.3V power to MCU IO.
2 3V3_RF 3.3V power to RF module
46 MODE MODE button. Pin number constant is BTN. External pull-up required!
40 S0 / D15 S0 GPIO, PWM, SPI MOSI, Serial3 TX. (Was P1S0 on P1.)
41 S1 / D16 S1 GPIO, PWM, SPI MISO, Serial3 RX. (Was P1S1 on P1.)
42 S2 / D17 S2 GPIO, SPI SCK, Serial3 RTS. (Was P1S2 on P1.)
44 S3 / D18 S3 GPIO. (Was P1S3 on P1.), SPI SS
47 S4 / D19 S4 GPIO. (Was P1S4 on P1.)
48 S5 / D20 S5 GPIO. (Was P1S5 on P1.)
33 S6 / D21 S6 GPIO. (Was P1S6/TESTMODE on P1.)
12 VBAT_MEAS Battery voltage measurement (optional).

SPI prioritized

In this mapping, the SPI pins are preserved from Photon to P2 at the expense of two ADCs. Note, however, that SS can be any pin, so you could a different pin for SS and preserve the use of A2 as an ADC.

Photon Pin Name Photon Description P2 Pin Name P2 Description P2 Pin Number MCU
A0 A0 Analog in, GPIO A0 / D11 A0 Analog in, GPIO 50 PB[1]
A1 A1 Analog in, GPIO A1 / D12 A1 Analog in, GPIO 43 PB[2]
A2 A2 Analog in, GPIO, SPI SS S3 / D18 S3 GPIO. (Was P1S3 on P1.), SPI SS 44 PB[26]
A3 A3 True analog out, analog in, GPIO. S2 / D17 S2 GPIO, SPI SCK, Serial3 RTS. (Was P1S2 on P1.) 42 PA[14]
A4 A4 Analog in, GPIO, SPI MISO. S1 / D16 S1 GPIO, PWM, SPI MISO, Serial3 RX. (Was P1S1 on P1.) 41 PA[13]
A5 A5 Analog in, GPIO, SPI MOSI. S0 / D15 S0 GPIO, PWM, SPI MOSI, Serial3 TX. (Was P1S0 on P1.) 40 PA[12]
D0 D0 GPIO, I2C SDA D0 / A3 D0 GPIO, I2C SDA, A3 Analog In 36 PB[6]
D1 D0 GPIO, I2C SCL, CAN TX D1 / A4 D1 GPIO, PWM, I2C SCL, A4 Analog In 35 PB[5]
D2 D2 GPIO, SPI1 MOSI, CAN RX D2 D2 GPIO, Serial2 RTS, SPI1 MOSI 45 PA[16]
D3 D3 GPIO, SPI1 MISO D3 D3 GPIO, Serial2 CTS, SPI1 MISO 51 PA[17]
D4 D4 GPIO, SPI1 SCK D4 D4 GPIO, Serial2 TX, SPI1 SCK 52 PA[18]
D5 D5 GPIO, SPI1 SS D5 D5 GPIO, Serial2 RX, SPI1 SS 53 PA[19]
D6 D6 GPIO, SWCLK D6 D6 GPIO, SWCLK 55 PB[3]
D7 D7 GPIO, Blue LED, SWDIO D7 D7 GPIO, SWDIO 54 PA[27]
DAC / A6 DAC/A6 True analog out, analog in, GPIO. S5 / D20 S5 GPIO. (Was P1S5 on P1.) 48 PB[29]
RX Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO, PWM. RX / D9 Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO 63 PA[8]
TX Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO, PWM. TX / D8 Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO 64 PA[7]
WKP / A7 WKP/A7 Wakeup (active high), analog in, GPIO. S6 / D21 S6 GPIO. (Was P1S6/TESTMODE on P1.) 33 PB[31]

ADC prioritized

In this mapping, there are two more ADC pins, but primary SPI on the A pins cannot be used.

Photon Pin Name Photon Description P2 Pin Name P2 Description P2 Pin Number MCU
A0 A0 Analog in, GPIO A0 / D11 A0 Analog in, GPIO 50 PB[1]
A1 A1 Analog in, GPIO A1 / D12 A1 Analog in, GPIO 43 PB[2]
A2 A2 Analog in, GPIO, SPI SS A2 / D13 A2 Analog in, PWM, GPIO 49 PB[7]
A3 A3 True analog out, analog in, GPIO. A2 / D13 A2 Analog in, PWM, GPIO 49 PB[7]
A5 A5 Analog in, GPIO, SPI MOSI. A5 / D14 A5 Analog in, GPIO, PWM. 23 PB[4]
D0 D0 GPIO, I2C SDA D0 / A3 D0 GPIO, I2C SDA, A3 Analog In 36 PB[6]
D1 D0 GPIO, I2C SCL, CAN TX D1 / A4 D1 GPIO, PWM, I2C SCL, A4 Analog In 35 PB[5]
D2 D2 GPIO, SPI1 MOSI, CAN RX D2 D2 GPIO, Serial2 RTS, SPI1 MOSI 45 PA[16]
D3 D3 GPIO, SPI1 MISO D3 D3 GPIO, Serial2 CTS, SPI1 MISO 51 PA[17]
D4 D4 GPIO, SPI1 SCK D4 D4 GPIO, Serial2 TX, SPI1 SCK 52 PA[18]
D5 D5 GPIO, SPI1 SS D5 D5 GPIO, Serial2 RX, SPI1 SS 53 PA[19]
D6 D6 GPIO, SWCLK D6 D6 GPIO, SWCLK 55 PB[3]
D7 D7 GPIO, Blue LED, SWDIO D7 D7 GPIO, SWDIO 54 PA[27]
DAC / A6 DAC/A6 True analog out, analog in, GPIO. S5 / D20 S5 GPIO. (Was P1S5 on P1.) 48 PB[29]
RX Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO, PWM. RX / D9 Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO 63 PA[8]
TX Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO, PWM. TX / D8 Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO 64 PA[7]
WKP / A7 WKP/A7 Wakeup (active high), analog in, GPIO. S6 / D21 S6 GPIO. (Was P1S6/TESTMODE on P1.) 33 PB[31]

Full module pin comparison

3V3

Photon P2
Pin Number 24 26
  Pin Name 3V3 3V3
Description Regulated 3.3V DC output, maximum load 100 mA. Or input 3.0V to 3.6V. 3.3V power to MCU

3V3_IO

Added to P2
Pin Number 5
Pin Name 3V3_IO
Description 3.3V power to MCU IO.

3V3_RF

Added to P2
Pin Number 2
Pin Name 3V3_RF
Description 3.3V power to RF module

A0

Photon P2
Pin Number 12 50
  Pin Name A0 A0
Pin Alternate Name n/a D11
  Description A0 Analog in, GPIO A0 Analog in, GPIO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D2, A0, and A3 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

A1

Photon P2
Pin Number 11 43
  Pin Name A1 A1
Pin Alternate Name n/a D12
  Description A1 Analog in, GPIO A1 Analog in, GPIO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D4 and A1 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

A2

Photon P2
Pin Number 10 49
  Pin Name A2 A2
Pin Alternate Name n/a D13
Description A2 Analog in, GPIO, SPI SS A2 Analog in, PWM, GPIO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) No Yes
Supports tone No Yes
SPI interface SS. Use SPI object. This is only the default SS/CS pin, you can use any GPIO instead. n/a
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 42K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

A3

Photon P2
Pin Number 9 36
Pin Name A3 D0
Pin Alternate Name n/a A3
Description A3 True analog out, analog in, GPIO. D0 GPIO, I2C SDA, A3 Analog In
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (DAC) Yes No
SPI interface SCK. Use SPI object. n/a
I2C interface n/a SDA. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D2, A0, and A3 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 22K

A4

Photon P2
Pin Number 8 35
Pin Name A4 D1
Pin Alternate Name n/a A4
Description A4 Analog in, GPIO, SPI MISO. D1 GPIO, PWM, I2C SCL, A4 Analog In
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. Yes
Supports tone Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and only one frequency can be set for both. Yes
SPI interface MISO. Use SPI object. n/a
I2C interface n/a SCL. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D1 and A4 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 22K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

A5

Photon P2
Pin Number 7 23
  Pin Name A5 A5
Pin Alternate Name n/a D14
Description A5 Analog in, GPIO, SPI MOSI. A5 Analog in, GPIO, PWM.
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports analogRead Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. Yes
Supports tone Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and only one frequency can be set for both. Yes
SPI interface MOSI. Use SPI object. n/a
Supports attachInterrupt No Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 42K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

D0

Photon P2
Pin Number 13 36
  Pin Name D0 D0
Pin Alternate Name n/a A3
Description D0 GPIO, I2C SDA D0 GPIO, I2C SDA, A3 Analog In
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogRead No Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes No
Supports tone Yes No
I2C interface SDA. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor. Is 5V tolerant. SDA. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor.
Supports attachInterrupt No Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 22K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

D1

Photon P2
Pin Number 14 35
  Pin Name D1 D1
Pin Alternate Name n/a A4
Description D0 GPIO, I2C SCL, CAN TX D1 GPIO, PWM, I2C SCL, A4 Analog In
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogRead No Yes
  Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes Yes
  Supports tone Yes Yes
I2C interface SCL. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor. Is 5V tolerant. SCL. Use Wire object. Use 1.5K to 10K external pull-up resistor.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D1 and A4 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
CAN interface CAN2_TX n/a
Internal pull resistance 40K 22K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

D2

Photon P2
Pin Number 15 45
  Pin Name D2 D2
Description D2 GPIO, SPI1 MOSI, CAN RX D2 GPIO, Serial2 RTS, SPI1 MOSI
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. No
Supports tone Yes. D2 and A5 share the same PWM channel and only one frequency can be set for both. No
UART serial n/a RTS. Use Serial2 object. Flow control optional.
  SPI interface MOSI. Use SPI1 object. MOSI. Use SPI1 object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D2, A0, and A3 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
CAN interface CAN2_RX n/a
I2S interface I2S3_SD n/a
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

D3

Photon P2
Pin Number 16 51
  Pin Name D3 D3
Description D3 GPIO, SPI1 MISO D3 GPIO, Serial2 CTS, SPI1 MISO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and the PWM duty cycle is set for both. No
Supports tone Yes. D3 and A4 share the same PWM channel and only one frequency can be set for both. No
UART serial n/a CTS. Use Serial2 object. Flow control optional.
  SPI interface MISO. Use SPI1 object. MISO. Use SPI1 object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D3 and DAC/A6 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K. Pull-up applied in bootloader for JTAG. 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No
JTAG interface JTAG RST. 40K pull-up at boot. n/a
Signal used at boot JTAG RST. 40K pull-up at boot. n/a

D4

Photon P2
Pin Number 17 52
  Pin Name D4 D4
Description D4 GPIO, SPI1 SCK D4 GPIO, Serial2 TX, SPI1 SCK
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
UART serial n/a TX. Use Serial2 object.
  SPI interface SCK. Use SPI1 object. SCK. Use SPI1 object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D4 and A1 share the same interrupt handler. Yes
I2S interface I2S3_SCK n/a
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No
JTAG interface JTAG TDO. Floating at boot. n/a
Signal used at boot JTAG TDO. Floating at boot. n/a

D5

Photon P2
Pin Number 18 53
  Pin Name D5 D5
Description D5 GPIO, SPI1 SS D5 GPIO, Serial2 RX, SPI1 SS
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
UART serial n/a RX. Use Serial2 object.
  SPI interface SS. Use SPI1 object. Can use any pin for SPI1 SS/CS however. SS. Use SPI1 object. Can use any pin for SPI1 SS/CS however.
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
I2S interface I2S3_WS n/a
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No
JTAG interface JTAG TDI. 40K pull-up at boot. n/a
Signal used at boot JTAG TDI. 40K pull-up at boot. n/a

D6

Photon P2
Pin Number 19 55
  Pin Name D6 D6
  Description D6 GPIO, SWCLK D6 GPIO, SWCLK
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K. Pull-up applied in bootloader for JTAG. 42K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No
JTAG interface JTAG TCK. 40K pull-down at boot. n/a
  SWD interface SWCLK. 40K pull-down at boot. SWCLK. 40K pull-down at boot.
Signal used at boot JTAG TCK/SWCLK. 40K pull-down at boot. SWCLK. 40K pull-down at boot.

D7

Photon P2
Pin Number 20 54
  Pin Name D7 D7
Description D7 GPIO, Blue LED, SWDIO D7 GPIO, SWDIO
Supports digitalRead Yes. But the on-board LED will light when 3.3V is supplied on this pin as well. Yes.
Supports digitalWrite Yes. Note that this controls the on-board blue LED. Yes. On the Photon this is the blue D7 LED.
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K. Pull-up applied in bootloader for JTAG. 42K
JTAG interface JTAG TMS. 40K pull-up at boot. n/a
  SWD interface SWDIO. 40K pull-up at boot. SWDIO. 40K pull-up at boot.
Signal used at boot JTAG TMS/SWDIO. 40K pull-up at boot. SWDIO. 40K pull-up at boot. Low at boot triggers MCU test mode.

DAC

Removed from Photon
Pin Number 6
Pin Name DAC
Pin Alternate Name A6
Description DAC/A6 True analog out, analog in, GPIO.
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports analogRead Yes
Supports analogWrite (DAC) Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes. D3 and DAC/A6 share the same interrupt handler.
Internal pull resistance 40K

GND

Photon P2
Pin Number 2 1
  Pin Name GND GND
Description Ground. You only need to use one of the Photon ground pins. Ground. Be sure you connect all P1 ground pins.

MODE

Added to P2
Pin Number 46
Pin Name MODE
Description MODE button. Pin number constant is BTN. External pull-up required!
Supports attachInterrupt Yes

NC

Added to P2
Pin Number 7
Pin Name NC
Description No connection. Do not connect anything to this pin.

RGBB

Photon P2
Pin Number 29 31
  Pin Name RGBB RGBB
  Description RGB LED Blue RGB LED Blue
UART serial RX. Use Serial2 object. n/a
Supports attachInterrupt n/a Yes
Input is 5V Tolerant No, if LED is connected. No

RGBG

Photon P2
Pin Number 28 32
  Pin Name RGBG RGBG
  Description RGB LED Green RGB LED Green
UART serial TX. Use Serial2 object. n/a
Supports attachInterrupt n/a Yes
Input is 5V Tolerant No, if LED is connected. No

RGBR

Photon P2
Pin Number 27 29
  Pin Name RGBR RGBR
Description RGB LED Red RGB LED Red. Has 10K hardware pull-up. Do not hold low at boot.
Supports attachInterrupt n/a Yes
Input is 5V Tolerant No, if LED is connected. No

RST

Photon P2
Pin Number 23 34
  Pin Name RST RST
  Description Hardware reset. Pull low to reset; can leave unconnected in normal operation. Hardware reset. Pull low to reset; can leave unconnected in normal operation.

RX

Photon P2
Pin Number 4 63
  Pin Name RX RX
Pin Alternate Name n/a D9
Description Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO, PWM. Serial1 RX (received data), GPIO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes No
Supports tone Yes No
  UART serial RX. Use Serial1 object. RX. Use Serial1 object.
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 42K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

S0

Added to P2
Pin Number 40
Pin Name S0
Pin Alternate Name D15
Description S0 GPIO, PWM, SPI MOSI, Serial3 TX. (Was P1S0 on P1.)
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes
Supports tone Yes
UART serial TX. Use Serial3 object.
SPI interface MOSI. Use SPI object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 2.1K

S1

Added to P2
Pin Number 41
Pin Name S1
Pin Alternate Name D16
Description S1 GPIO, PWM, SPI MISO, Serial3 RX. (Was P1S1 on P1.)
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes
Supports tone Yes
UART serial RX. Use Serial3 object.
SPI interface MISO. Use SPI object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 2.1K

S2

Added to P2
Pin Number 42
Pin Name S2
Pin Alternate Name D17
Description S2 GPIO, SPI SCK, Serial3 RTS. (Was P1S2 on P1.)
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
UART serial RTS. Use Serial3 object. Flow control optional.
SPI interface SCK. Use SPI object.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 2.1K

S3

Added to P2
Pin Number 44
Pin Name S3
Pin Alternate Name D18
Description S3 GPIO. (Was P1S3 on P1.), SPI SS
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
SPI interface Default SS for SPI.
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 2.1K

S4

Added to P2
Pin Number 47
Pin Name S4
Pin Alternate Name D19
Description S4 GPIO. (Was P1S4 on P1.)
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 22K. No internal pull up or pull down in HIBERNATE sleep mode.

S5

Added to P2
Pin Number 48
Pin Name S5
Pin Alternate Name D20
Description S5 GPIO. (Was P1S5 on P1.)
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 22K. No internal pull up or pull down in HIBERNATE sleep mode

S6

Added to P2
Pin Number 33
Pin Name S6
Pin Alternate Name D21
Description S6 GPIO. (Was P1S6/TESTMODE on P1.)
Supports digitalRead Yes
Supports digitalWrite Yes
Supports attachInterrupt Yes
Internal pull resistance 22K. No internal pull up or pull down in HIBERNATE sleep mode.

SETUP

Removed from Photon
Pin Number 26
Pin Name SETUP
Description SETUP button, has internal pull-up. Pin number constant is BTN.
I2S interface I2S3_MCK

TX

Photon P2
Pin Number 3 64
  Pin Name TX TX
Pin Alternate Name n/a D8
Description Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO, PWM. Serial1 TX (transmitted data), GPIO
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes No
Supports tone Yes No
  UART serial TX. Use Serial1 object. TX. Use Serial1 object.
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 42K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No
Signal used at boot n/a Low at boot triggers ISP flash download

USBDATA-

Photon P2
Pin Number 30 62
  Pin Name USBDATA- USBDATA-
  Description USB Data- USB Data-
  Input is 5V Tolerant Yes Yes

USBDATA+

Photon P2
Pin Number 31 61
  Pin Name USBDATA+ USBDATA+
  Description USB Data+ USB Data+
  Input is 5V Tolerant Yes Yes

VBAT

Removed from Photon
Pin Number 22
Pin Name VBAT
Description Battery for internal real-time clock, backup registers, and SRAM. Supply 1.65VDC to 3.6 VDC at 19 μA..

VBAT_MEAS

Added to P2
Pin Number 12
Pin Name VBAT_MEAS
Description Battery voltage measurement (optional).
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes

VIN

Removed from Photon
Pin Number 1
Pin Name VIN
Description Power in 3.6V to 5.5 VDC. Or power out (when powered by USB) 4.8 VDC at 1A maximum.

WKP

Photon P2
Pin Number 5 30
Pin Name WKP D10
Pin Alternate Name A7 WKP
Description WKP/A7 Wakeup (active high), analog in, GPIO. D10 GPIO, Serial 3 CTS, WKP. (Was WKP/A7 on P1.)
  Supports digitalRead Yes Yes
  Supports digitalWrite Yes Yes
Supports analogRead Yes n/a
Supports analogWrite (PWM) Yes No
Supports tone Yes No
UART serial n/a CTS. Use Serial3 object. Flow control optional.
  Supports attachInterrupt Yes Yes
Internal pull resistance 40K 2.1K
Input is 5V Tolerant Yes No

Software

Wi-Fi Configuration

The P2 and Argon utilize BLE or USB for configuration of Wi-Fi rather than the SoftAP approach taken with the P1. Using BLE allow mobile apps to more easily set up the device Wi-Fi without having to modify the mobile device's network configuration.

Sample applications for React Native, iOS, and Android will be provided in the future.

Feature P2 P1 Argon
Wi-Fi (SoftAP)
BLE

User firmware binary size

One major advantage of the P2 is that user firmware binaries can be up to 2048 Kbytes, instead of 128 Kbytes on Gen 2 devices including the Photon.

Flash file system

On the P2 there is a flash file system (2 MB) for storing user data. This is not available on Gen 2 devices including the Photon.

Combined and resumable OTA

On the P2, over-the-air (OTA) updates have two features that can improve the speed and reliability of OTA updates:

  • Combined OTA can combine Device OS and user firmware updates into a single binary that requires only one download and one reboot to install.
  • Resumable OTA allows an update to resume from the point it stopped, instead of starting over from the beginning if interrupted.

Increased API field limits

The maximum size of a variable, function parameter, or publish is 1024 bytes on the P2 vs. 864 bytes on Photon.

API Field Photon P2
Variable Key 64 64
Variable Data 864 1024
Function Key 64 64
Function Argument 864 1024
Publish/Subscribe Event Name 64 64
Publish/Subscribe Event Data 864 1024

Platform ID

The Platform ID of the P2 (32, PLATFORM_P2) is different from that of the Photon (6) because of the vastly different hardware.

If you have a product based on the Photon, you will need to create a separate product for devices using the P2. While you may be able to use the same source code to build your application, the firmware binaries uploaded to the console will be different, so they need to be separate products. This generally does not affect billing as only the number of devices, not the number of products, is counted toward your plan limits.

Third-party libraries

Most third-party libraries are believed to be compatible. The exceptions include:

  • Libraries for MCU-specific features (such as ADC DMA)
  • Libraries that are hardcoded to support only certain platforms by their PLATFORM_ID
  • Libraries that manipulate GPIO at high speeds or are timing-dependent

DS18B20 (1-Wire temperature sensor)

  • Not compatible
  • OneWire library requires high-speed GPIO support
  • Can use DS2482 I2C to 1-Wire bridge chip instead
  • SHT30 sensors (I2C) may be an alternative in some applications

FastLED

  • Not compatible.
  • In theory the library could be modified to use the same technique as the NeoPixel library.

NeoPixel (WS2812, WS2812B, and WS2813)

OneWire

  • Not compatible
  • OneWire library requires high-speed GPIO support
  • Can use DS2482 I2C to OneWire bridge instead

DHT22 and DHT11 (temperature and humidity sensor)

  • Not compatible, requires high-speed GPIO support
  • Using an I2C temperature and humidity sensor like the SHT3x is recommended instead

SHT1x (temperature and humidity sensor)

  • Not compatible, requires high-speed GPIO support
  • SHT3x using I2C is recommended

SparkIntervalTimer

  • Not compatible at this time
  • Requires hardware timer support from user firmware

Version history

Revision Date Author Comments
pre 2022-04-06 RK Pre-release
2022-04-08 RK Added recommended pin mappings
2022-04-12 RK Added serial baud rates
2022-04-16 RK Added Serial3
2022-07-14 RK No hardware pull-up on MODE pin
2022-07-18 RK List which pins have which pull-up or pull-down value
2022-08-12 RK Added listing of pins used at boot
2022-08-12 RK Warning about BLE central mode not available
2022-10-05 RK Added HIBERNATE sleep section
2022-11-17 RK Pin D0 does not have PWM
001 2023-03-13 RK Removed preliminary banner
002 2023-04-05 RK Added Device OS 5.3.1 information for SPI and retained memory
003 2023-05-05 RK Fix available RAM
004 2024-03-15 RK The UART baud rate 2400, 4800, 380400, 460800 are supported but were not listed