Power consumption

[Angelo Cotroneo]

Hi all,

I have bought the NRF51822 evaluation kit  (NRF51822). I have some question about this.

1) Is it necessary to program the device?

2) what is the nominal operation?

3) What is the power consumption in standby, transmission, so on?

4) Does exist some application note?

Thanks a lot and best regards

Angelo

[Simonr]

Hi Angelo

1. Yes, the device does not come pre-programmed.

2 & 3. Please check out the nRF51822 product specification where you can see current consumption numbers for when the device is running and various standby/sleep modes.

4. What kind of application note do you want? We have multiple application notes on the Infocenter, as well as a user guide for using the Power Profiler Kit and a guide on common ways to reduce current consumption for your device.

Best regards,

Simon

[Angelo Cotroneo]

Hi Simor,

thanks a lot for your reply. I have other questions downstream of you answers.

1) What is the section in nRF51822 product specification where I can see the current consumption? 

2) The application is to send information of sensors connected to the I/O pins of the nRF51822.

3) Could you indicate me what is the SW tools and hardware to use to program the devise? I want to buy the BLE400. Is a good product?

Thanks a lot

Best regards

Angelo

[Simonr]

Hi

1. Some of the current consumption peaks are stated in the very first page under key features. Page 47 in section 8.2 Power management also has a table of various current consumption scenarios. Section 8.5.2 and 8.5.3 (page 50-51) has more detailed current consumption scenarios with the radio running.

2. Then I suggest you take a look at I.E. our blood pressure example, which implements the blood pressure service to simulate and send blood pressure measurements. Of course, you will have to create a serial interface between the nRF51822 and the sensor as well in order to get the measurements from the sensor itself, what you want to use here depends on what the sensors support, the SPI, TWI, and/or the UART examples would be good to take a look at.

3. For development of the nRF51 series, we suggest using either Keil µVision, armgcc, or IAR as the IDE as these have example projects already compatible with the nRF51 series, so you won't have to create a project from scratch. As for hardware, if you already have an nRF51 DK or evaluation kit, it comes with an onboard debugger and the nRF51 chip itself, so you won't need to purchase a debugger on top of that. I have never used the BLE400 so I have no idea if it is a good product, but I don't believe it should be necessary when you already have an nRF51 DK.

NOTE: When working on new BLE applications/projects we generally recommend that you use the nRF52 series, as they are newer, have more updated support, and have example projects for SEGGER Embedded Studios, which you get a free license of when purchasing an nRF device.

Best regards,

Simon

[Angelo Cotroneo]

Hi Simon,

thanks a lot for the answer.

1. I take in consideration the sections mentioned by you

2.Thanks a lot for the example.

3. So you suggest to buy the nRF52 series. Right? Regarding the nRF51 DK is a good idea but my mind I thought of using the chip nRF51 (or nRF52) integrated in other board. On the web I have found this nRF51822. Is it possible to programming the above component (stand alone) with the nRF51 DK since it is already present on the development kit? If the answer is no, could you suggest me a solution? Does exist a simple debugger to program the nRF51 (or nRF52 serie) stand alone?

Best regards

 

[Simonr]

Hi Angelo

3. Yes, I suggest using the nRF52 series for new Bluetooth applications/projects. In order to program a stand-alone nRF51822 you can use the DK's Debug out header or the pins on the P20 header to do so. Please see section 6.10 in the DK user guide for more information on this.

Best regards,

Simon