W6300-EVB-Pico2 by WIZnet - A High-Speed Development Board with RP2350 MCU & WIZnet W6300 Ethernet Controller

 WIZnet introduces the W6300-EVB-Pico2, a compact yet powerful development board that integrates the Raspberry Pi RP2350microcontroller with WIZnet’s latest W6300 QSPI Ethernet controller, enabling network speeds surpassing 80 Mbps.

While traditional WIZnet Ethernet controllers operate over SPI and typically cap at 15–70 Mbps due to clock limitations and small buffers, the new W6300 stands out with enhanced performance. Its architecture includes a 150 MHz system clock, QSPI interface with 4 data lines, 64KB total SRAM, and dedicated 4KB TX/RX buffers across 8 sockets, supporting robust and efficient data transmission.

W6300 Ethernet Controller – Key Features

• Interface: High-speed QSPI (Mode 0/3) & system bus with 2 address signals and 8-bit data bus
• Memory: 32KB SRAM for TX/RX (64KB total for 8 sockets)
• Ethernet PHY: 10BaseT/Te, 100BaseTX with full/half-duplex support and auto-negotiation
• Protocols: Built-in support for TCP, UDP, IPv4, IPv6, ICMPv4/v6, IGMP, MLDv1, ARP, PPPoE
• Power Efficiency: Ethernet Power Down mode, system clock switching, and Wake-on-LAN
• Other Features: LED indicators, socket-less commands (ARP, Ping, DAD, etc.), IPv6 auto-config
• Supply: 3V operation with 5V I/O tolerance
• Packaging: Available in 48-pin LQFP & QFN packages

This controller is especially suited for microcontroller-based designs, thanks to its TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) that handles network protocols independently, freeing up MCU resources.

About the W6300-EVB-Pico2 Development Board

The W6300-EVB-Pico2 shares a similar design with previous boards like the W5100S-EVB-Pico2 and W5500-EVB-Pico2, but leverages the newer W6300 chip for improved Ethernet performance.

W6300-EVB-Pico2 Specifications:

• MCU: Raspberry Pi RP2350A
• Dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 @ 150 MHz
• 520KB RAM, 8KB OTP
• Storage: 16 Mbit SPI Flash
• Networking: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet via W6300 QSPI controller
• USB: 1x USB Type-C for power, data, and programming
• I/O Expansion: 2x 20-pin headers (through & castellated)
• Interfaces: 2x UART, 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 16x PWM, 4x 12-bit ADCs (500 ksps)
• 3x Programmable IO blocks (12 state machines), 1x RTC, 1x Timer
• Security: Secure Boot, Arm TrustZone, OTP
• Debugging: 3-pin SWD header
• Power Input:
• DC 5V via VBUS
• VSYS: 4.3V to 5.5V
• Size: 80mm x 20mm
• Temperature Range: -20°C to +85°C (70°C recommended)
• Certifications: CE/FCC

Though the documentation for this board is still under development, its pinout is expected to mirror the W6100-EVB-Pico2, whose diagram has been made available. Firmware samples, typically provided in C and eventually adapted into Arduino libraries, are expected to follow soon.

WIZnet recently announced the W6300 Ethernet controller on their X (formerly Twitter) account, indicating its official launch. While the board and chip aren't listed on the WIZnet store just yet, they are likely to become available shortly. For more details, check out the official product pages for the W6300 iEthernet chip and the W6300-EVB-Pico2 development board