How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 07:58:48 GMT

That's unfortunate. Sadly, we don't have a written guide for the Power profiler app in specific (you can use the PPK user guide and the nRFConnect documentation together as documentation here), but I have watched the video and will write a brief synopsis of what it touches upon for you:

First, make sure your Power Profiler Kit is mounted properly to your DK according to the PPK User Guide. Now you can power on the DK, and LED2 should light up on the PPK. Then, choose the COM port you've connected the PPK to. When the PPK started message appears in the log at the bottom of the app, you can start the measurement by pressing start. You can stop it by either pressing the stop button or zooming in on the graph.

When the measurement graph is stopped, you have a few options:

You can place a marker by holding Shift while clicking and dragging the mouse along the graph. The values below the graph will update to reflect the marked area, so this would be the way to find the lowest current (mark a small amount of the graph when it is at its lowest point for example).
You can zoom by using the mouse wheel, pan and drag sideways, and increase/decrease values on both axes by dragging holding the right mouse button.

You can also press the Power OFF/ON button in order to measure the current when the chip is turned off.

Next is the trigger chart. This will trigger once and measure in the window you set when the trigger level reaches what you set it as on the right-hand side. This will yield a much better resolution than the average chart. You can do the same things in the trigger chart when that is stopped as well.

Finally, the PPK has a voltage regulator that can be adjusted within the app (right-hand side). This can be adjusted at any time between 1850 and 3600 mV.

That is generally it for what's to know about the Power Profiler app. Please ask if anything is unclear, and I'll try to help you out.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 01:42:23 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

But I can't open this video in China. 😂Can you help to provide the written user guide or of Power Profiler app?

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 13:41:16 GMT

Yes, the PPK can measure down to 1uA, you can zoom with the mouse wheel to get a better look at the graph. And hold in the right mouse button to get lower/higher current values. The Power Profiler can not show the minimum current. What "switch level option in app" are you talking about? The measurement switches automatically. This video should help you understand the Power Profiler App better.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 08:51:26 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

When I measured 1mA current, the graph showed in Power Profiler app is very rough. And I can only see the avg current and max current.

But in the spec, PPK can measure low to 1uA.

Can Power Profiler app shows other parameter like min current? And what is meaning of switch level option in app? Can you provide the user guide of Power Profiler app?

In the spec,PPK has three test range. 1-70uA, 70uA-1mA, 1mA-70mA. How to switch three range, is it automatic?

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 12:59:41 GMT

Okay, this error is a bit more generic I'm afraid. Can you confirm that LED2 is on when the PPK is powered by the USB?

Next, I want you to power cycle the board, just remove the power source(s) and connect them again. This usually helps if I encounter "Failed to start the PPK". You might even want to restart you computer, in case the serial bus is busy for some reason.

You can also try downloading the newest JLink Driver, and change your USB cable.

Lastly, I've heard a couple of people have had an issue with their anti-virus program blocking the Power Profiler but not any other nRFConnect apps, so you could check for that as well.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 09:55:47 GMT

I update nRFConnect to v3.1 and the Power Profiler is V2.2.0. Here is the log.

2019-08-22T09:51:29.760Z INFO Validating firmware for device with s/n 000156003747
2019-08-22T09:51:29.773Z INFO PPK closed
2019-08-22T09:51:35.323Z INFO Opening device with s/n 000156003747
2019-08-22T09:51:35.325Z INFO PPK opened
2019-08-22T09:51:35.326Z INFO Initializing the PPK
2019-08-22T09:51:40.676Z INFO SEGGER serial: 156003747
2019-08-22T09:51:40.676Z INFO SEGGER speed: 2000 kHz
2019-08-22T09:51:40.676Z INFO SEGGER version: J-Link ARM V6 compiled Jun 20 2012 19:43:26
2019-08-22T09:51:46.677Z ERROR Failed to start the PPK.
2019-08-22T09:51:46.677Z DEBUG Timed out in 6000 ms.
2019-08-22T09:51:46.678Z INFO Deselecting device
2019-08-22T09:51:46.684Z INFO PPK closed

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 11:00:34 GMT

This error refers to a bug that was present in nRFConnect version 3.0.0. Could you please update nRFConnect to v3.1 and check you're running v2.2.0 of the Power Profiler? If you have already, try uninstalling and reinstalling nRFConnect on your computer.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 09:52:20 GMT

I correct the connection from PPK to J-Link. But the nRFConnect still can't find PPK.

2019-08-21T09:47:41.998Z INFO Validating firmware for device with s/n 000156003747
2019-08-21T09:47:42.003Z INFO PPK closed
2019-08-21T09:47:47.032Z ERROR Error while setting up device 000156003747: Cannot read property 'toLowerCase' of undefined
2019-08-21T09:47:47.033Z INFO Deselecting device
2019-08-21T09:47:47.040Z INFO PPK closed

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 09:24:44 GMT

The version of J-link is V6.0.

I don't have 10-pin Debug-in header. So I only connect SWDIO, SWDCLK, SWO, VDD and GND by jump wire from PPK to J-link.

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 08:35:39 GMT

How are you converting the 20-pin out from the J-Link the 10-pin Debug-in header? Do you have one of these? It is likely that the issue is that the J-Link and the PPK Debug-in is connected correctly.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 03:39:01 GMT

In addition, I find LED2 is lit on the PPK.

In spec "PPK_User_Guide_v2.3.1" ,chapter 7, "4. Verify that the LED2 is lit on the PPK. "

What is the function of LED2?

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

zhangchi — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 01:40:32 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

I have setted SW2 to External, COM to EXT, and SW4 to Reg. But I have not connected the device I'm going to test. The nRFConnect can't find the PPK. Following is the log from nRFConnect.

2019-08-21T01:34:20.459Z INFO Application data folder: C:\Users\074954\AppData\Roaming\nrfconnect\pc-nrfconnect-ppk
2019-08-21T01:34:20.465Z INFO App initialized
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG App pc-nrfconnect-ppk v2.2.0 official
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG App path: C:\Users\074954\.nrfconnect-apps\node_modules\pc-nrfconnect-ppk
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG nRFConnect 3.0.0 is supported by the app (^3.0.0)
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG nRFConnect path: C:\Users\074954\AppData\Local\Programs\nrfconnect\resources\app.asar
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG HomeDir: C:\Users\074954
2019-08-21T01:34:20.743Z DEBUG TmpDir: C:\Users\074954\AppData\Local\Temp
2019-08-21T01:34:23.839Z INFO Validating firmware for device with s/n 000156003747
2019-08-21T01:34:23.847Z INFO PPK closed
2019-08-21T01:34:24.940Z ERROR Error while setting up device 000156003747: Error occured when close opened device. Errorcode: CouldNotOpenDevice (0x4)
Lowlevel error: LOW_VOLTAGE (fffffff4)

2019-08-21T01:34:24.940Z INFO Deselecting device
2019-08-21T01:34:24.943Z INFO PPK closed

RE: How to connecting the Power Profiler Kit to a computer and measuring current without an nRF5 DK?

Simonr — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:26:02 GMT

Just to confirm. Have you set all the switches to the correct state for this setup? SW2 to External, COM to EXT, and SW4 to Reg.? Have you connected the device you're going to test to the External DUT header (P16)? Any SEGGER J-Link debugger should suffice.

Could you also, please upload the log from nRFConnect, so I may have a look.

Best regards,

Simon