nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:37:18 GMT

Thanks.

I have hopes for you.

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Fri, 22 May 2026 11:38:10 GMT

Hi Emil and syuji

Thank you for your feedback. It seems erratum 20 mentions as part of the workaround that CONSTLAT should be triggered before enabling RX as well, but I agree that that could be updated to be reflected in the Conditions as well.

I will also reignite the internal discussion about following up this being stated in the nRF54L15 (and possibly nRF54LM20) datasheet. Thank you both for your insight and feedback here so far.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Wed, 20 May 2026 23:44:48 GMT

These are the results for the nRF54LM20-DK (0.5.4).
The SoC is the nRF54LM20B.
The datasheet specifies 3.0V/3.3mA, but the result is 3.88mA, which is 0.58mA (!) higher.
This may be due to an older revision of the SoC, but it's still a significant problem.

As an additional note, the real current consumption during reception with the nRF54L15 is 3.0V/3.8mA. During scanning, channel switching and other factors cause the average current consumption to be slightly lower.

This is an important point to note when checking with an online power profiler.

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Wed, 20 May 2026 14:54:23 GMT

We prioritize power consumption when selecting devices.
We have been using the nRF52832, but later discovered a significant discrepancy between the RF power consumption listed in its datasheet and the actual measured values (the measured values were higher than the listed values).
This time, the measured values are also considerably higher than those listed in the datasheet.
We have used several devices from other companies in the past, and have never encountered this kind of error.
We hope that accurate information will be provided in the future.
The nRF54LM20 likely has a similar problem.

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Emil Lenngren — Wed, 20 May 2026 12:34:29 GMT

In my opinion it is kind of "false advertising" or whatever you call it to say 3.4 mA in RX mode for the full system consumption (compared to only the radio current usage isolated as in docs.nordicsemi.com/.../parameters.radio_rx_current.html) because such an operation is practically useless without having the MCU domain turned on (e.g. by activating constant latency or having TIMER00 running) while reception is ongoing; otherwise you might receive corrupt packets.

Please see my post here: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/117339/radio-tx-doesn-t-work-unless-mcu-domain-is-active-during-ramp-up/520046 where I came to those conclusions. I am still awaiting feedback in that thread regarding if the errata should be updated to state this fact (i.e. the workaround is necessary for not only TX but also for RX).

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Wed, 20 May 2026 10:32:25 GMT

To be clear. With just the radio running in RX, the current consumption is indeed drawing 3.4mA.

However, the SoftDevice controller, which is what controls the radio peripheral, enables constant latency mode when running, which draws the additional 3.7mA.

So, the datasheet is correct, but the datasheet doesn't cover how the SoftDevice controller operates, which is where you're confused I believe.

The last snippet you added is an example of the system in idle mode (no radio or any other peripherals running), with the constant latency mode enabled.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Tue, 19 May 2026 23:19:06 GMT

The datasheet contained the following information.
Could this be the reason?

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Mon, 18 May 2026 15:55:42 GMT

Is that the errata you're referring to, "[20] CLOCK: RADIO payload is not transmitted"?

I asked a similar question in the past.
devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../336198 (private)
After that, the RX current consumption was corrected from 3.2mA to 3.4mA.
However, is this 3.4mA also incorrect, and should it be 3.7mA?
Is the current consumption listed in the datasheet incorrect?

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Mon, 18 May 2026 11:18:15 GMT

So, I discussed this with a colleague, and the extra ~300µs seems to be the Constant Latency mode being used by the SoftDevice controller. This can be seen by reading the CONSTLAT status register with the following command for example: nrfutil device read --address 0x5010E520 --direct

It is the MPSL that handles the low latency states on behalf of the SoftDevice controller if I recall correctly, so documentation on that can be found here and in the nRF54L15 datasheet.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Wed, 13 May 2026 14:04:58 GMT

OK.

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Wed, 13 May 2026 13:26:04 GMT

I just wanted to confirm that I reproduced this on my end now, with the scan_adv sample on NCS v3.2.0 as well, and it seems to be because it's not power optimized, so something else must be running in the background.

I still haven't found exactly what, and will continue to look into it, but due to a public holiday in Norway tomorrow, I won't be able to get back to you until next week. In the meantime, you can try experimenting with adding power management to the sample and try disabling parts of the sample you're not using, like advertising, UART/shell/logging and enabling power management with CONFIG_PM. See this blog post for details: Optimizing Power on nRF5340 SoC Designs

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Tue, 12 May 2026 22:35:15 GMT

Yes. I downloaded it from the NORDIC website.
I'll also upload the V1.0.0 P6 connector.
Power is supplied via the USB connector.
I'll upload main.c and proj.conf.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../3380031.main.c devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../6471.prj.conf

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Tue, 12 May 2026 08:17:18 GMT

That seems to be correct, but this silkscreen doesn't seem to match an nRF54L15 DK v1.0.0, so can you show how the entire board, and how is the nRF54L15 DK powered here?

And is the application you're running just the scan_adv sample without any changes?

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:16:59 GMT

Ampere Meter mode

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Mon, 11 May 2026 12:24:07 GMT

Please explain what xx and yy is here, and if you're using the device in Ampere Meter mode or Source Meter mode?

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Mon, 11 May 2026 00:43:34 GMT

I was connect,

PPK <--> nRF54L15-DK P6
GND --- GND
VOUT --- xx
VIN --- yy

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:42:02 GMT

For some reason we weren't able to see the attached files before now. We're investigating why on our side now.

Can you show me how you've connected the board for current measurement on your end, as this doesn't seem to be a correct current consumption plot of a receiving device.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Mon, 04 May 2026 14:10:48 GMT

Oh,Really?

I will upload it again.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../5102.scan_5F00_adv.zip

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../5076.ppk2_2D00_20260415T224114.ppk2

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Samruddhi Jadhav — Mon, 04 May 2026 09:26:10 GMT

Hello,

I am not able to see the attached .ppk file here. Where has it been attached? The screenshot you have provided is unfortunately not sufficient enough. Can you please make sure that the .zip file is attached here for our review?

Best Regards,

Samruddhi

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Mon, 04 May 2026 06:42:33 GMT

Is the information I uploaded earlier insufficient?

The scan_adv sample assumes a 1Mbps reception speed.

I have also uploaded the PPK2 file.

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Mon, 04 May 2026 06:03:10 GMT

Please reply the questions I asked in my previous reply and upload the .ppk trace for our review. Without it it's very hard to move forward.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:14:53 GMT

Has there been any progress?

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

loquat — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:48:43 GMT

Upload the test program (based on samples/scan_adv) and the PPK2 file.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../1641.scan_5F00_adv.zip

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../ppk2_2D00_20260415T224114.ppk2

RE: nRF54L15 BLE RX current comsumption

Simonr — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:25:22 GMT

Can you share more details on what the application is doing here. What PHY are you scanning on here? Because the 3.4mA refers to when using 1Mbps. It's closer to the current consumption you would see when scanning on 2Mbps. Can you upload the .ppk file here (in a .zip) so we can review it to make sure it looks correct.

Best regards,

Simon