EasyDMA current consumption

[Steve]

Hello,

There are a few posts about EasyDMA consuming 1-2mA of current, and I've measured similar currents.  In the nRF52832 product specification, this appears to be one of the few blocks with no electrical specifications.  Does Nordic have any official documentation on the power consumption of this block?  It makes it difficult to build a power budget and validate a design without this specification.

Thanks,

Steve

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi Steve,

 

You are correct, the DMA logic itself draws approx. 1.2 mA, as per this thread.

Unfortunately, this is not specified in the nRF52832 PS.

It is however specified indirectly for the nRF52810 SAADC El.spec and the nRF52840 SAADC El.spec.

 

Kind regards,

Håkon

[Steve]

Thanks Hakon,

Does this consumption scale based on which peripheral or the peripheral mode/speed?  For instance, I'd expect the DMA is less active servicing 400kHz I2C vs 8MHz SPI, but does the current scale at all?

Does Nordic have any plans to update the spec for EasyDMA consumption on the nRF52832?  Ideally this is broken out or spec'd for each possible peripheral.  For instance, I don't really care about the use with SAADC, just TWI and SPI.

Thanks,

Steve

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi Steve,

 

Does Nordic have any plans to update the spec for EasyDMA consumption on the nRF52832?

Unfortunately, this is not something I can comment on, as I do not know. I'd recommend that you contact our sales department for inquiries on future plans. Please send me a private message with your location if you do not have the contact details of your regional sales manager.

Does this consumption scale based on which peripheral or the peripheral mode/speed?  For instance, I'd expect the DMA is less active servicing 400kHz I2C vs 8MHz SPI, but does the current scale at all?

The run-current for the specific peripheral will be added. In the case of TWIM and SPIM, they have both a added run-current of 50 uA (+ DMA current), but active current will also depend on the external connection as well (pull-resistors for I2C, load capacitance for SPIM). The base-current for the DMA is quite constant, regardless of which peripheral that uses it.

 

Best regards,

Håkon

 

Best regards,

Håkon