Package selection

[alleekhaan]

Hi,
I want to use nRF52832 for a product.
I am a bit confused about the package selection.
I need QFN package but there are many different versions available.
Can someone help me with it?

Also,  i downloaded reference design.
It also has many different projects.

May i know what's the difference in each reference design?

Thanks

[Simonr]

The DCDC regulator can be used as an alternative to the default LDO regulator, which will reduce current consumption compared to when using the LDO regulator, but the DC/DC regulator requires an external LC filter to be connected. More details in section 18.1 of the nRF52832 product specification. Using the LDO should be perfectly fine for running an accelerometer and some LEDs.

You can also use the Online Power profiler to get an idea of how much power consumption you can save with the DCDC regulator compared to the LDO if that's of interest.

Best regards,

Simon

[alleekhaan]

What is the actual purpose of these regulators?
To supply regulated power for external components or internal on chip?

Thanks for the clarification of DCDC and LDO on chip regulators.

[Edvin]

Hello,

Simon is out of office, so I will handle your ticket for the rest of this week. After that, I suggest that you create a new ticket for followup questions, since I will be out too.

alleekhaan said:

To supply regulated power for external components or internal on chip?

First and foremost internally on the chip. However, it is possible to power some devices either via the VDD pins or the GPIOs. But they need to be very low power.

The purpose of the DCDC converter is that it is more power efficient than the LDO regulator. I don't know the very details on how they work, and the difference between the two, other than that I know that in order to use the DCDC regulator, it requires some extra components on your PCB. Please refer to the reference circuitry. As you can see, all versions have one reference circuit with LDO and with the DCDC converter.

As for the purpose, as I mentioned, it is to save power. If you intend to use this for Bluetooth Low Energy, you can use the online power profiler to estimate the current consumption, based on whether you are advertising or in a connection. As you can see, there is a checkbox/slider that you can use to see the current consumption with and without the DCDC converter.

Best regards,

Edvin