Files
esp-idf/components/esp_hal_timg
..

ESP Hardware Abstraction Layer for Timer Groups (esp_hal_timg)

⚠️ Notice: This HAL component is under active development. API stability and backward-compatibility between versions are not guaranteed at this time.

Overview

The esp_hal_timg component provides a Hardware Abstraction Layer for the General Purpose Timer peripherals across all ESP-IDF supported targets. It serves as a foundation for the higher-level timer drivers, offering a consistent interface to interact with timer hardware while hiding the complexities of chip-specific implementations.

Architecture

The HAL architecture consists of two primary layers:

  1. HAL Layer (Upper): Defines the operational sequences and data structures required to interact with timer peripherals, including:

    • Initialization and deinitialization
    • Timer control operations (start, stop, reload)
    • Alarm and event handling
    • Counter operations
  2. Low-Level Layer (Bottom): Acts as a translation layer between the HAL and the register definitions in the soc component, handling:

    • Register access abstractions
    • Chip-specific register configurations
    • Hardware feature compatibility

Features

  • Unified timer interface across all ESP chip families
  • Support for different timer counting modes (up/down)
  • Alarm functionality with configurable triggers
  • Auto-reload capability
  • ETM (Event Task Matrix) integration on supported chips
  • Multiple clock source options

Usage

This component is primarily used by ESP-IDF peripheral drivers such as esp_driver_gptimer. It is also utilized by system components like esp_timer.

For advanced developers implementing custom timer solutions, the HAL functions can be used directly. However, please note that the interfaces provided by this component are internal to ESP-IDF and are subject to change.

Dependencies

  • soc: Provides chip-specific register definitions
  • hal: Core hardware abstraction utilities and macros