nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Ressa — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:44:41 GMT

Hi,
I understand your intention, but if the previously shared graph regarding the relation of caps and peak currents didn't help much, I suppose that is how it behaves in boost mode. Also as PMIC team mentioned in the other ticket, these spikes can happen even if there is no load. I would suggest to investigate how much your application can tolerate the spikes both in terms of average current and also possible RF systems that might be affected. If the requirement are met with these spikes then you can move on.

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:17:02 GMT

Although I understand it cannot be completely eliminated, I want to minimize this current value as much as possible. I have tried increasing the capacitance, including adding capacitors in the nF range, but it seems to have no effect.

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Ressa — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 11:54:16 GMT

I don't think you need more than that. have you tried to have some nF caps as well in addition to the bulk ones? this is my own idea that due to lower internal resistance for lower caps those might help better with small spikes.
Also according to the last answer from other ticket you have created, it seems there will be spikes anyway and those will not be fully suppressed. But rather managing them to not impact hugely the whole system is the way to go.

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:55:04 GMT

HI，

Originally, the capacitors for VBAT and VINT were 100uF and 22uF respectively. As suggested in the document, I increased them to approximately 150uF and 120uF, but the average current monitored by power consumption analysis showed no significant change. Does the capacitor value need to be increased even further?

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Ressa — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:37:52 GMT

Please have look at this page as well and try the recommended caps with exact part number as the quality of caps can also play important rule.
Selecting output capacitors for the boost regulator

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:11:44 GMT

Thank you for your reply. I have also posted a thread about this issue.

Originally, my entire circuit only draws around 10 µA of current, but due to the presence of pulse currents, the average current has increased significantly. Are there any suggestions on how to reduce this power consumption?

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../the-current-consumption-of-npm2100

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Ressa — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:01:10 GMT

Hi,

The feedback from PMIC team was that under "light load condition this spikes would appear" and seems like is compatible with your observation. I have not received exact load current range that this spikes occur but based on your measurements seems like for less than 300,400 uA you would see it and for more than that they will be hidden under actual load current.

Best regards,
Ressa

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 01:06:58 GMT

[quote userid="145945" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/125618/nrf54-with-npm2100-and-npm1300-power-consumption-issues/554933"]In very light load condition the boost refresh cycle (PFM mode frequency) would be in this time range.[/quote]

HI，

the first question,

Under what load current does the npm2100 boost output enter this mode? When the current is continuously 600 μA, these spaced current pulses do not appear, but when the load current is only a few microamps, they do occur.

Thanks

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Ressa — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 14:27:05 GMT

Hi,

The connection is looking fine just a few more things to check:

* If the power analyzer has current meter mode with single line, could you please directly connect the grounds from nPM EK to DK directly and just have VDD line for current meter:

* Also if you are still seeing the current spikes after checking above setup, can you measure the voltage of the VDD at the same time with current draw? To see if any unexpected drops or spikes are happening to the voltage ?

Best regards,
Ressa

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:47:49 GMT

[quote userid="145945" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/125618/nrf54-with-npm2100-and-npm1300-power-consumption-issues/555257"]Could you please share how you have connected the nPM2100 with pictures/diagrams?[/quote]

HI，The circuit of npm2100 is connected in this way, and the power analyzer detects a current spike approximately every 500ms.

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Benjamin — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:33:25 GMT

Could you please share how you have connected the nPM2100 with pictures/diagrams?

Also for the second question, I was not right in my first reply. The CPU is in idle mode and the spikes you are seeing are refresh spikes from the regulator. It is turning on and off in short bursts as it tops up the output capacitor. When the voltage drops below its threshold, the regulator switches on again, causing these spikes.

Regards,
Benjamin

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:41:34 GMT

[quote userid="145693" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/125618/nrf54-with-npm2100-and-npm1300-power-consumption-issues/554941"]

Benjamin said:
In very light load condition the boost refresh cycle (PFM mode frequency) would be in this time range.

I'm not quite sure about this mode. My power analyzer is connected to the output of the NPM2100 and then to pin P6 of the PDK, monitoring the current of the NRF54. Following your explanation, why would a refresh of the NPM2100 cause abnormal current spikes at intervals in the NRF54?

Benjamin said:
The smaller 8 ms spikes you see are almost certainly from internal periodic wake‑ups of clocks/interrupts/peripherals that are enabled by default.

But in my code, I don't have any other timers or peripherals configured. I'm only calling the k_sleep function. Where could this be coming from?

[/quote]

Could you please provide an update on my question? Our project progress is currently waiting for this issue to be resolved.

Thanks!

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

joey — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:38:51 GMT

[quote userid="145945" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/125618/nrf54-with-npm2100-and-npm1300-power-consumption-issues/554933"]The smaller 8 ms spikes you see are almost certainly from internal periodic wake‑ups of clocks/interrupts/peripherals that are enabled by default.[/quote]

But in my code, I don't have any other timers or peripherals configured. I'm only calling the k_sleep function. Where could this be coming from?

RE: nRF54 with nPM2100 and nPM1300 Power Consumption Issues

Benjamin — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:00:01 GMT

Hi,

In very light load condition the boost refresh cycle (PFM mode frequency) would be in this time range.

The smaller 8 ms spikes you see are almost certainly from internal periodic wake‑ups of clocks/interrupts/peripherals that are enabled by default.

Regards,
Benjamin