GPS current consumption of nRF9160

[Mohammad Amin]

Is there any new information released about the GPS current consumption of nRF9160? I want to estimate the battery lifetime of a 1000mAh battery running the asset tracker firmware. In the asset tracker, after pressing the button device enters PSM and tries to find a GPS fix location and then send it continuously. I was wondering if it takes 60 seconds to find a GPS fix, how much would be the power consumption which includes the time GPS is working plus the time device is sending the packet to the server)?

[Håkon Alseth]

Hi,

 

These are the current consumption numbers available for the GPS:

https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/ps_nrf9160/_tmp/alta.nRF9160/autodita/CURRENT/parameters.id_current_gps.html?cp=2_0_0_4_1_0_14

 

I was wondering if it takes 60 seconds to find a GPS fix, how much would be the power consumption which includes the time GPS is working plus the time device is sending the packet to the server)?

This will depend on the LNA used, and its el.specs, but when the GPS is actively searching, there's normally around 30-40 mA (unofficial, this might deviate from design-to-design), depending on the state of the CPU and other peripherals in your system drawing current as well. For the send operation, this will heavily depend on the type of transfer (TCP or UDP), and if encryption is used or not. For a more accurate number for your application, the best option is to measure such a sequence.

 

Kind regards,

Håkon