nRF52832 DCDC errata on various silicon

[rugarcia]

Hi,

I have a couple of eval boards that were created for software and hardware development. We have two versions of the nRF52832 on these development boards. I know that there is an errata regarding the DCDC enable on revision A and B of the silicon. The errata has a workaround that essentially disables the DCDC prior to the device going to sleep (System ON IDLE).

The following are the markings from the two devices that I have on my boards. From I can tell both devices are RevB's and require the errata workaround. Can you confirm?

Items 1 and 2 are the markings for the packages.

Item1:CSP Package n52832 ciaaba 1618ac

Item2: QFN package n52832 qfaab0 1610al

Decode of the markings for: Item1: WLCSP package CIAABA PP=CI = WLCSP VV=AA = 512K Flash and 64K Ram H=B = Hardware Version/Revision Id P=A = Engineering Device Id 1618AC YY=16 = Year code (2016) WW=18 = Assembly week number (18th week; 2nd week of May) LL=AC = Wafer lot code

Item 2: QFN package QFAAB0 PP=QF = QFN VV=AA = 512K Flash and 64K Ram H=B = Hardware Version/Revision Id P=0 = Production Device Id 1610AL YY=16 = Year code (2016) WW=10 = Assembly week number (10th week; 2nd week of Mar) LL=AL = Wafer lot code

Thanks,

Rudy

[Øyvind Karlsen]

Hi,

Item 1 should be engineering C, item 2 should be revision 1. This means that you should not have to apply the errata 63 for DCDC. You can refer to the compatibility matrix to decode chip revisions.

Best regards,

Øyvind

[rugarcia]

Do I need to explicitly enable the DCDC converter or is automatically enabled when I initialize the soft device. Is the call to "sd_app_evt_wait()" sufficient to disable the DCDC converter based on the fact that the errata no longer applies?

Thanks,

Rudy

[Øyvind Karlsen]

The DC/DC converter is not enabeled by default. Set it by using the function sd_power_dcdc_mode_set(). This will dynamically turn on and off the DCDC depending on current draw scenarios.

DC/DC is only efficient when a large enough amount of current is drawn, therefore the chip switches between the most efficient solution, ie. LDO or DC/DC.