RE: GPS current consumption of nRF9160

Håkon Alseth — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:35:12 GMT

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

[quote user=""]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)?[/quote]

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