How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Håkon Alseth — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 15:02:49 GMT

Hi,

Could you try zephyr/samples/basic/blinky, with CONFIG_SERIAL=n & project configured with the secure region, and see if this goes below 1 mA?

Can it be that one of your LEDs is lit up? On the nRF9160-DK, LEDs are buffered, but I'm not sure how they're connected on this board (couldn't find a schematic)

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Nikil Rao — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 12:32:10 GMT

Hi,

Sorry I keep enabling and disabling logs for testing and I forgot to disable those two configs. It doesn't compile without disabling them, true. I have CONFIG_UART_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=n and CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=n disabled and I still see ~1 mA.

"It might take around 1 minute before you have successfully entered sleep after entering PSM". Yes, I have seen this in action by enabling and disabling PSM. When PSM is enabled, I see spikes in current for about a minute before it settles around ~1 mA while it does not settle when PSM is disabled.

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Håkon Alseth — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 12:20:45 GMT

Hi,

Could you try to disable everything related to UART, specifically the at_host?

CONFIG_UART_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=n
CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=n

This one will setup a uart directly, but I'm a bit surprised that you get your current configuration to compile, as at_host would have a dependency on SERIAL being enabled.

PS: It might take around 1 minute before you have successfully entered sleep after entering PSM, as there is a RRC idle period (individually set by the network), in which could explain the fluctuation you have previously seen. If you still get ~1 mA even after the modem is disabled, then its still something in the application that causes this.

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Nikil Rao — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 15:50:10 GMT

# Logs
CONFIG_CONSOLE=n
CONFIG_STDOUT_CONSOLE=n
CONFIG_LOG=n
CONFIG_SERIAL=n
CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=n
CONFIG_BSD_LIBRARY_TRACE_ENABLED=n

# Peripherals
CONFIG_ADC=y
CONFIG_ADC_0=y
CONFIG_ADC_1=y
CONFIG_ADC_NRFX_SAADC=y
CONFIG_GPIO=y

# TEE
CONFIG_TRUSTED_EXECUTION_NONSECURE=y

# Bootloader - Application update support
CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT=n

# Networking
CONFIG_NETWORKING=y
CONFIG_NET_NATIVE=n
CONFIG_NET_SOCKETS_OFFLOAD=y
CONFIG_NET_SOCKETS=y
CONFIG_NET_SOCKETS_POSIX_NAMES=y

# BSD library
CONFIG_BSD_LIBRARY=y

# LTE link control
CONFIG_LTE_LINK_CONTROL=y
CONFIG_LTE_AUTO_INIT_AND_CONNECT=n
CONFIG_LTE_NETWORK_MODE_NBIOT=y
CONFIG_LTE_LINK_CONTROL_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y

# AT Host
CONFIG_UART_INTERRUPT_DRIVEN=y
CONFIG_AT_HOST_LIBRARY=y

# external sim 
CONFIG_BOARD_SELECT_SIM_EXTERNAL=y

# power mgmt
CONFIG_SYS_POWER_MANAGEMENT=y
CONFIG_DEVICE_POWER_MANAGEMENT=y

#AWS
CONFIG_AWS_IOT=y
CONFIG_AWS_IOT_BROKER_HOST_NAME="a26a1lpxwnwowb-ats.iot.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com"
CONFIG_AWS_IOT_SEC_TAG=75316842
CONFIG_AWS_IOT_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y
CONFIG_AWS_IOT_CLIENT_ID_APP=y
CONFIG_MQTT_LOG_LEVEL_DBG=y

# Main thread
CONFIG_MAIN_STACK_SIZE=4096
CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RPTAU="11000001"
CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RAT="00000010"
CONFIG_MQTT_KEEPALIVE=1200

CONFIG_HEAP_MEM_POOL_SIZE=16384

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author Nikil Rao (nikil.rao@nbt.ag)
 * @brief
 * @version 0.1
 * @date 2020-03-31
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2020
 *
 */

/*=============================================================================
 *                                 Includes
 *==============================================================================*/
#include "tempSensor.h"
#include <at_cmd.h>
#include <at_cmd_parser/at_cmd_parser.h>
#include <at_cmd_parser/at_params.h>
#include <at_notif.h>
#include <drivers/gpio.h>
#include <lte_lc.h>
#include <net/aws_iot.h>
#include <net/mqtt.h>
#include <net/socket.h>
#include <nrf_socket.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <zephyr.h>

/*=============================================================================
 *                             Defines
 *==============================================================================*/
#define BUFFER_SIZE                   10
#define IMEI_LEN                      20
#define DEV_ID_LEN                    20
#define RED_LED                       DT_ALIAS_LED0_GPIOS_PIN
#define LED_ON                        0
#define LED_OFF                       !LED_ON
#define DEVICE_SLEEP_INTERVAL         330 // 330 seconds works 333 doesn't
#define DEVICE_AWAKE_INTERVAL         4 // 2 seconds works
#define AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_PREFIX       "+CESQ"
#define AT_CESQ_PARAMS_COUNT_MAX      7
#define AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_PREFIX_INDEX 0
#define AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_RSRQ_INDEX   5
#define AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_RSRP_INDEX   6
/*=============================================================================
 *                             Static Variables
 *==============================================================================*/
/* Connected flag */
static bool connected               = false;
static char dev_id[DEV_ID_LEN]      = {0};
static struct device *gpio_dev      = {0};
static struct aws_iot_config config = {0};
static struct pollfd fds            = {0};

/*=============================================================================
 *                             Private Functions
 *==============================================================================*/

/**
 * @brief Configures modem to provide LTE link. Blocks until link is
 * successfully established.
 *
 */
static void modem_configure(void)
{
    int err;
    // Use static IP as there was some problem resolving DNS
    struct nrf_in_addr dns;
    dns.s_addr = 134744072; // Google DNS, 8.8.8.8
    err        = nrf_setdnsaddr(2, &dns);
    printk("Set DNS Address (%d)\r\n", err);

#if defined(CONFIG_LTE_LINK_CONTROL)
    if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_LTE_AUTO_INIT_AND_CONNECT))
    {
        /* Do nothing, modem is already turned on
         * and connected.
         */
    }
    else
    {
        int err;

        printk("LTE Link Connecting ...\n");
        err = lte_lc_init_and_connect();
        __ASSERT(err == 0, "LTE link could not be established.");
        printk("LTE Link Connected!\n");
    }
#endif /* defined(CONFIG_LTE_LINK_CONTROL) */
}

/*=============================================================================*/

/**
 * @brief Set up Power Saving Mode for the modem
 *        Refer PSM.md for info on the values
 *
 */
void modem_setup_psm(void)
{
    /*
     * GPRS Timer 3 value (octet 3)
     *
     * Bits 5 to 1 represent the binary coded timer value.
     *
     * Bits 6 to 8 defines the timer value unit for the GPRS timer as follows:
     * Bits
     * 8 7 6
     * 0 0 0 value is incremented in multiples of 10 minutes
     * 0 0 1 value is incremented in multiples of 1 hour
     * 0 1 0 value is incremented in multiples of 10 hours
     * 0 1 1 value is incremented in multiples of 2 seconds
     * 1 0 0 value is incremented in multiples of 30 seconds
     * 1 0 1 value is incremented in multiples of 1 minute
     * 1 1 0 value is incremented in multiples of 320 hours (NOTE 1)
     * 1 1 1 value indicates that the timer is deactivated (NOTE 2).
     */
    char psm_settings[] = CONFIG_LTE_PSM_REQ_RPTAU;

    printk("PSM bits: %c%c%c\n", psm_settings[0], psm_settings[1],
           psm_settings[2]);
    printk("PSM Interval: %c%c%c%c%c\n", psm_settings[3], psm_settings[4],
           psm_settings[5], psm_settings[6], psm_settings[7]);

    int err = lte_lc_psm_req(true);
    if (err < 0)
    {
        printk("Error setting PSM: %d Errno: %d\n", err, errno);
    }
}

/*=============================================================================*/
/**
 * @brief 
 * <rsrq>
    0 rsrq < −19.5 dB
    1 – When −19.5 dB ≤ RSRQ < −19 dB
    2 – When −19 dB ≤ RSRQ < −18.5 dB
    ...
    32 – When −4 dB ≤ RSRQ < −3.5 dB
    33 – When −3.5 dB ≤ RSRQ < −3 dB
    34 – When −3 dB ≤ RSRQ
    255 – Not known or not detectable
    rsrq
    >= -10 dB	Excellent	Strong signal with maximum data speeds
    -10 dB to -15 dB	Good	Strong signal with good data speeds
    -15 dB to -20 dB	Fair to poor	Reliable data speeds may be attained, but marginal data with drop-outs is possible. When this value gets close to -20, performance will drop drastically
    <= -20 dB	No signal	Disconnection

    <rsrp>
    0 – RSRP < −140 dBm
    1 – When −140 dBm ≤ RSRP < −139 dBm
    2 – When −139 dBm ≤ RSRP < −138 dBm
    ...
    95 – When −46 dBm ≤ RSRP < −45 dBm
    96 – When −45 dBm ≤ RSRP < −44 dBm
    97 – When −44 dBm ≤ RSRP
    255 – Not known or not detectable
    rsrp
    >= -80 dBm	Excellent	Strong signal with maximum data speeds
    -80 dBm to -90 dBm	Good	Strong signal with good data speeds
    -90 dBm to -100 dBm	Fair to poor	Reliable data speeds may be attained, but marginal data with drop-outs is possible. When this value gets close to -100, performance will drop drastically
    <= -100 dBm	No signal	Disnonnection
 * @param rsrp 
 * @param rsrq 
 * @return int 
 */
int modem_getSignalStrength(s16_t *rsrp, s16_t *rsrq)
{
    int err;
    enum at_cmd_state at_state;
    char buf[32];
    uint32_t value;
    struct at_param_list resp_list = {0};

    char response_prefix[sizeof(AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_PREFIX)] = {0};
    size_t response_prefix_len = sizeof(response_prefix);

    if ((err = at_cmd_write("AT+CESQ", buf, sizeof(buf), &at_state)))
    {
        printk("Error when trying to do at_cmd_write: %d, at_state: %d\n", err,
               at_state);
        return err;
    }
    printf("%s\n", buf);

    if ((err = at_params_list_init(&resp_list, AT_CESQ_PARAMS_COUNT_MAX)))
    {
        printk("Could not init AT params list, error: %d\n", err);
        return err;
    }

    /* Parse CESQ response and populate AT parameter list */

    if ((err = at_parser_max_params_from_str(buf, NULL, &resp_list,
                                             AT_CESQ_PARAMS_COUNT_MAX)))
    {
        printk("Could not parse AT+CESQ response, error: %d\n", err);
        at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
        return err;
    }

    /* Check if AT command response starts with +CESQ */
    if ((err = at_params_string_get(&resp_list, AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_PREFIX_INDEX,
                                    response_prefix, &response_prefix_len)))
    {
        printk("Could not get response prefix, error: %d\n", err);
        at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
        return err;
    }

    if (strncmp(response_prefix, AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_PREFIX, response_prefix_len))
    {
        /* The unsolicited response is not a CESQ response, ignore it.
         */
        printk("String not matching %s\n", response_prefix);
        at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
        return err;
    }

    if ((err =
             at_params_int_get(&resp_list, AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_RSRQ_INDEX, &value)) != 0)
    {
        printk("Could not get RSRQ: %d\n", err);
        at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
        return err;
    }
    *rsrq = (s16_t)value;

    if ((err =
             at_params_int_get(&resp_list, AT_CESQ_RESPONSE_RSRP_INDEX, &value)) != 0)
    {
        printk("Could not get RSRP, error: %d\n", err);
        at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
        return err;
    }
    *rsrp = (s16_t)value;

    at_params_list_free(&resp_list);
    return err;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

int device_getDevID()
{
    int err;
    enum at_cmd_state at_state;
    char imei_buf[IMEI_LEN + 5];

    if ((err = at_cmd_write("AT+CGSN", imei_buf, IMEI_LEN + 5, &at_state)))
    {
        printk("Error when trying to do at_cmd_write: %d, at_state: %d", err,
               at_state);
        return err;
    }

    snprintf(dev_id, 20, "nrf-%s", imei_buf);
    return err;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

/**
 * @brief Handle events sent from AWS MQTT server
 *
 * @param evt
 */
void aws_iot_evt_handler(const struct aws_iot_evt *evt)
{
    printk("aws_iot_evt_handler %d\r\n", evt->type);

    if (evt->type == AWS_IOT_EVT_READY)
    {
        connected = true;
        led_switchOff();
    }
}

/*=============================================================================*/

int aws_init(void)
{
    int err;

    device_getDevID();
    config.client_id     = dev_id;
    config.client_id_len = strlen(dev_id);

    if ((err = aws_iot_init(&config, aws_iot_evt_handler)) == 0)
    {
        printk("aws_iot_initialized\r\n");
    }
    else
    {
        printk("aws_iot_init failed: %d\n", err);
        return err;
    }
    return err;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

void aws_connect(void)
{
    int err;
    while ((err = aws_iot_connect(&config)) != 0)
    {
        printk("aws_iot_connect failed: %d\n", err);
        k_sleep(5000);
    }

    printk("aws_iot_connected\n");
    return;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

void aws_reconnect(void)
{
    int err;
    
    aws_iot_disconnect();
    aws_init();
    connected = false;
    led_switchOn();
    aws_connect();
    
    return;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

/**
 * @brief
 *
 * @return int
 */
static int aws_publish_data()
{
    int err                     = 0;
    static uint32_t msg_counter = 0;
    float temperature           = 0;
    u16_t battery_voltage       = 0;
    s16_t rsrp                  = 0;
    s16_t rsrq                  = 0;

    tempSensor_getTemperature(&temperature);
    tempSensor_getBatteryVoltage(&battery_voltage);
    modem_getSignalStrength(&rsrp, &rsrq);

    /* Send data to topic */
    char topic_msg[256];
    sprintf(topic_msg,
            "{\"state\":{\"reported\":{\"device\":\"%s\", "
            "\"message_count\":\"%d\", "
            "\"temperature\":\"%.2f\", \"battery_level\":\"%d\", "
            "\"RSRQ\":\"%d\", \"RSRP\":\"%d\"}}}",
            dev_id, ++msg_counter, temperature, battery_voltage, rsrq, rsrp);

    char *topic_name = "concr/temperature";

    struct aws_iot_topic_data topic = {
        /** Type of shadow topic that will be published to. */
        // enum aws_iot_topic_type
        .type = AWS_IOT_SHADOW_TOPIC_UPDATE,
        /** Pointer to string of application specific topic. */
        // char *
        .str = topic_name,
        /** Length of application specific topic. */
        // size_t
        .len = strlen(topic_name),
    };

    const struct aws_iot_tx_data tx_data = {
        /** Topic that the message will be sent to. */
        // struct aws_iot_topic_data
        .topic = topic,
        /** Pointer to message to be sent to AWS IoT broker. */
        .str = topic_msg,
        /** Length of message. */
        .len = strlen(topic_msg),
        /** Quality of Service of the message. */
        .qos = 1,
    };

    if (aws_iot_send(&tx_data) != 0)
    {
        printk("Failed to publish sensor data\r\n");
    }
    else
    {
        printk("Publish Sensor Data\r\n");
        printk("DATA: %s\r\n", topic_msg);
    }

    return err;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

void fds_init(void)
{
    fds.fd     = config.socket;
    fds.events = POLLIN;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

int led_init(void)
{
    int err;
    gpio_dev = device_get_binding(DT_GPIO_P0_DEV_NAME);

    if (!gpio_dev)
    {
        printk("Error getting " DT_GPIO_P0_DEV_NAME " device binding\r\n");
        err = 1;
        return err;
    }

    gpio_pin_configure(gpio_dev, RED_LED, GPIO_DIR_OUT);
    return err;
}

/*=============================================================================*/

void led_switchOn(void) { gpio_pin_write(gpio_dev, RED_LED, LED_ON); }

/*=============================================================================*/

void led_switchOff(void) { gpio_pin_write(gpio_dev, RED_LED, LED_OFF); }


/*=============================================================================*/

/**
 * @brief
 *
 */
void main(void)
{
    printk("NRF9160 Temperature Sensor Started...!!!\r\n");
    int err;

    s64_t time_stamp     = k_uptime_get();
    s32_t delay_interval = K_SECONDS(DEVICE_SLEEP_INTERVAL);
    s32_t awake_interval = K_SECONDS(DEVICE_AWAKE_INTERVAL);

    led_init();
    led_switchOn();
    modem_configure();
    modem_setup_psm();
    tempSensor_init();
    aws_init();
    aws_connect();
    fds_init();

    printk("Initialized successfully in %lldms\n", k_uptime_delta(&time_stamp));

    while (true)
    {
        printk("\n");

        if(connected == false)
        {
            //Wait to be connected before publishing data
            delay_interval = 0;
            awake_interval = K_SECONDS(CONFIG_MQTT_KEEPALIVE);
        }
        else
        {
            //After connection publish data to thje AWS server
            delay_interval = K_SECONDS(DEVICE_SLEEP_INTERVAL);
            awake_interval = K_SECONDS(DEVICE_AWAKE_INTERVAL);
            aws_publish_data();
        }
        
        err = poll(&fds, 1, awake_interval);

        if (err < 0)
        {
            printk("poll() returned an error: %d\n", err);
            continue;
        }
        else if (err == 0)
        {
            if(aws_iot_keepalive_time_left() < 0)
            {
                aws_iot_ping();
                continue;
            }
        }        

        if ((fds.revents & POLLIN) == POLLIN)
        {
            aws_iot_input();
        }

        if ((fds.revents & POLLNVAL) == POLLNVAL)
        {
            printk("Socket error: POLLNVAL\n");
            printk("The AWS IoT socket was unexpectedly closed.\n");
            aws_reconnect();
            continue;
        }

        if ((fds.revents & POLLHUP) == POLLHUP)
        {
            printk("Socket error: POLLHUP\n");
            printk("Connection was closed by the AWS IoT broker.\n");
            aws_reconnect();
            continue;
        }

        if ((fds.revents & POLLERR) == POLLERR)
        {
            printk("Socket error: POLLERR\n");
            printk("AWS IoT broker connection was unexpectedly closed.\n");
            aws_reconnect();
            continue;
        }

        k_sleep(delay_interval);
    }   
}
/*=============================================================================
 *                             Public Functions
 *==============================================================================*/

/*=============================================================================
 *                             End of File
 *==============================================================================*/

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Nikil Rao — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 15:45:48 GMT

I tried enabling/disabling ADC with these two values - CONFIG_ADC=n, CONFIG_ADC_NRFX_SAADC=n,. Still no effect on the current consumption.

I'm following this example for ADC - https://github.com/Rallare/fw-nrfconnect-nrf/blob/nrf9160_samples/samples/nrf9160/adc/src/main.c

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:28:05 GMT

Hi,

Try commenting out / disabling the ADC to see if this has an impact.

Are you using the nrfx_saadc driver or the zephyr ADC driver?

Could you share your sources so I can look?

Kind regards,

Håkon

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Nikil Rao — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 13:12:45 GMT

Hi Håkon,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have 2 ADCs running. One is an internal pin to measure the battery voltage and the other pin is an NTC voltage divider. Other than that I'm connected to AWS and sending data periodically over MQTT. I'm not using any other peripherals that I know of

Nikil

RE: How to achieve the lowest power consumption on the Actinius Icarus (nrf9160) board?

Håkon Alseth — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 12:15:21 GMT

Hi,

[quote user=""]The sleep current with the modem switched off (with an AT+CFUN=0) command also shows me a sleep current of 1.3mA.[/quote]

This indicates that there's a peripheral running in the background causing the high sleep current.

Instead of changing spm files directly, you can add this just below your application's CMakeLists.txt, the cmake_minimum_required() line:

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/spm.conf")
  set(spm_CONF_FILE
    prj.conf
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/spm.conf
  )
endif()

 

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mcuboot.conf")
  set(mcuboot_CONF_FILE
    prj.conf
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/mcuboot.conf
  )
endif()

 

if (EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
  set(mcuboot_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
  set(spm_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${BOARD}.overlay")
endif()

Then you create a file, spm.conf, with the content "CONFIG_SERIAL=n", and it should disable uart in spm.

What peripherals are you using in your application? TWIM/SPI/ADC?

Kind regards,

Håkon