BLE advertising power benchmark

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 16:50:52 GMT

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".....

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

Vidar Berg — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 15:42:23 GMT

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.

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:14:34 GMT

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???

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 14:57:32 GMT

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....

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

Vidar Berg — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 06:45:12 GMT

[quote user="bios-bob"]question about nRF52-DK setup.... when in source meter mode, do i have the USB plugged in or not???[/quote]

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:

[quote user="bios-bob"]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....[/quote]

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?

[quote user="bios-bob"]documentation also talks about soldering/desoldering SB12 -- which i have not done....[/quote]

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

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 23:53:44 GMT

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....

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 18:35:38 GMT

missing capture:

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 18:34:36 GMT

actually, what i saw before might have been a fluke.... here's what i initially captured....

but then i realized that the .hex file you sent was actually the same beacon_advertiser sample.... here's the capture from running your file...

this suggests that (perhaps) something is wrong on my board setup??? the active power numbers seem consistent with your capture; it's the IDLE power that 200uA too high....

could this be a bad solder bridge cut??? is there some else i need to do in setting up the board for power measurement??? is there some other component on the board (eg., SPI flash) that needs to be disabled???

all the more mysterious, in that **some program** (which i believe was mine) produced that initial capture....

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

bios-bob — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:35:54 GMT

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....

RE: BLE advertising power benchmark

Vidar Berg — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 07:00:03 GMT

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)

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../4645.merged.hex

Best regards,

Vidar