BLE advertising power benchmark

[bios-bob]

i just rebuilt the code in the beacon_advertiser.zip file attach to this issue for the NRF52232....

the code runs as expected, though consumes about 200uA when sleeping....

but contrast, the original nRF54L version consumes about 3uA when sleeping....

what can i do lower my sleep current???

one other note -- when building for nRF52 i received a warning that ASSERT was enabled

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

I wasn't able to reproduce this high floor current. My results are shown below. Could you try using the attached hex file and let me know if you get the same result?

Measurement result nRF52 DK - 0 dBm

Measurement setup - Source meter mode (Measuring current in Source Meter mode)

hex file (tested both with SDK v2.9.1 and v3.0.0-rc2 with the same result)

4645.merged.hex

Best regards,

Vidar

[bios-bob]

the power numbers were consistent with your measurements....

would it be possible to share the source code????  i want to make some minor adjustjments for consistency with my benchmarks on other devices....

presumably my own code has "left something running", which accounts for the ~200uA of current draw when sleeping....

[bios-bob]

question about nRF52-DK setup....  when in source meter mode, do i have the USB plugged in or not???  the documentation also talks about soldering/desoldering SB12 -- which i have not done....

i've also tried ampere meter mode, by supplying my own 3.3V while connecting the PPK Vin and Vout to the current measure jumper....  the USB is now unplugged....  but i continue to see the same results -- 200uA when sleeping....

[Vidar Berg]

bios-bob said:

question about nRF52-DK setup....  when in source meter mode, do i have the USB plugged in or not???

It must be plugged in as it supplies power to the interface MCU, LEDs,.. It's also important that the voltage provided by the PPK matches the regulated voltage from the USB (3.3V minus the voltage drop across the protection diode). Otherwise, current leakage may occur. You can measure the voltage on VDD to get the exact voltage from this regulator. I just set it to 2.9v which should be close enough: 

bios-bob said:

i've also tried ampere meter mode, by supplying my own 3.3V while connecting the PPK Vin and Vout to the current measure jumper....  the USB is now unplugged....  but i continue to see the same results -- 200uA when sleeping....

Are you seeing this with the hex file I provided (built from the beacon sample I uploaded), or only with your project? If it’s the latter, could you upload that project here so I can try to reproduce the issue?

bios-bob said:

documentation also talks about soldering/desoldering SB12 -- which i have not done....

This is only to avoid the voltage drop across the diode. It is not required.

[bios-bob]

let's set aside my own code....

i get the SAME 200uA sleep current whether i load YOUR .hex file or the version of beacon_advertiser built in MY environment....

this suggests to me an issue with my DK hardware???  i have another DK which i could try, once i cut the SB9 solder bridge....

[bios-bob]

tried a different DK, same 200uA result....

but then, i tried a very simple test -- a main() that calls k_busy_wait(2000000) followed by k_sleep(K_FOREVER)....  this resulted inj very good results, which i verified with my PPK as well as my multimeter....

somethiing is obviously working here!!!!  presumably this means my DK + PPK are working????  i still don't understand why YOUR .hex file shows 200uA of sleep current???

[Vidar Berg]

I did not get time to look more into this today. Please try the project I uploaded again, but with CONFIG_SERIAL set to '=n' in the project config and the references to the console/uart device in main.c commented. Please also confirm that you've set the PPK source voltage to ~2.9v. 

[bios-bob]

sorry for my late response....  i independently made the same changes in my own beacon_advertiser project -- and now my results match yours!!!!!

i would say "problem solved".....