High peek current while advertisement, nRF52833

[Tellef Goderstad Sunne]

Hi,

I'm experimenting a very high current during advertisement of the nRF52833. 
When using the "Online Power Profiler", it shows that I should expect peek current of around 8mA when using +4dBm Tx power (although with the nRF52810 chip), but I get peek current over 20mA when using the nRF Connect Power Profiler. Is there a known reason for this high current usage? 

[Stian Røed Hafskjold]

Hi, do you have DCDC components on your board, and did you enable the DCDC regulator?

[Tellef Goderstad Sunne]

Hi,

There is no DCDC components on the product. 
Yes, the DCDC regulator n the Power Profiler kit is enabled 

[Stian Røed Hafskjold]

You can choose to turn off the DCDC regulator in the Online Power Profiler to get closer to the expected current on your design without DCDC components. The nRF52833 is closer to the nRF52840 in terms of current consumption.

[Tellef Goderstad Sunne]

But it is still much higher than expected when the DCDC regulator on the Online Power Profiler is turned of..? I might have misunderstod you regarding the DCDC components, I don't have an external DCDC regulator, but I use the internal on the CPU to power some sensors through the GPIOs.

[Stian Røed Hafskjold]

Ok, sorry for the confusion.

The nRF52 has an internal DCDC regulator. In order to use this you have to have two inductors connected to the DCC pin in the nRF52, these two inductors are what I referred to as "DCDC components".

Here is the reference layout when using the internal DCDC regulator: https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/ps_nrf52833/ref_circuitry.html?cp=4_1_0_6_2_3#unique_439227483

You also need to enable the internal DCDC regulator from the FW running on the nRF52. The easiest way to do this is to just add NRF_POWER->DCDCEN = 1; at the beginning of main.

So, most likely you just need to enable the internal DCDC regulator, and the radio peak currents will be lower.