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Version: 0.2.51

ESP32 Demo

NoxTLS integrates with ESP-IDF as an extra component. On ESP32 targets the library can use on-chip accelerators for AES, SHA-256, ECC, and ECDSA when enabled in your build.

Prerequisites​

  • ESP-IDF installed (v5.x recommended; v5.5.1 used in internal benchmarks)
  • USB serial port for idf.py flash monitor
  • Target chip selected with idf.py set-target (e.g. esp32, esp32s3)

Add NoxTLS to your ESP-IDF project​

Point ESP-IDF at the NoxTLS ESP-IDF component directory:

# In your project CMakeLists.txt
list(APPEND EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/path/to/noxtls/ports/esp-idf")

Your application component then depends on the NoxTLS component (same pattern as the in-tree examples below). The component pulls sources from noxtls-lib/ and links ESP32-specific acceleration under ports/esp-idf/target/esp32/.

Provide a project-local noxtls_config.h (or use Kconfig-generated settings) to trim features for flash and RAM — see Configuration Guide.

Example: ESP-IDF benchmark app (in-tree)​

When present in your NoxTLS checkout:

noxtls/ports/esp-idf/examples/benchmark

This image reports SHA-256, AES-GCM, ChaCha20-Poly1305, HMAC, DRBG, and ECDSA throughput on the device. Typical workflow:

cd noxtls/ports/esp-idf/examples/benchmark
idf.py set-target esp32s3
idf.py build flash monitor

ESP32 acceleration (optional)​

When building for ESP-IDF, PKC and AES paths can link:

  • noxtls_esp32_aes_accel.c — hardware GCM/AES where supported
  • noxtls_esp32_sha256_accel.c — hardware SHA with size thresholds
  • noxtls_esp32_ecc_accel.c / noxtls_esp32_ecdsa_accel.c — MPI and ECDSA helpers
  • noxtls_esp32_bignum_mpi.c — big-number acceleration

These are selected automatically when the ESP-IDF build defines the appropriate SoC capabilities. Portable fallbacks remain if a primitive is unavailable.

TLS / network on ESP32​

Use ESP-IDF lwIP sockets (or your network stack) to send and receive TLS records. NoxTLS does not replace lwIP; wire send/recv (or the TLS transport callbacks) to your socket handles after connect or accept.

For development:

  1. Prove crypto with the in-tree benchmark firmware.
  2. Add TLS client or server logic using the same APIs as on the host (TLS component).
  3. Trim noxtls_config.h to the cipher suites and protocol versions you ship.

Troubleshooting​

SymptomSuggestion
Component not foundVerify EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS path to noxtls/ports/esp-idf
Flash size warningAlign sdkconfig flash size with your module (see benchmark notes in internal perf logs)
Task watchdog during long AES loopsExpected on heavy benchmarks; increase WDT timeout or yield in test loops