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RF 3GPP compliancy requires 3.3V.

Hi,

I have a question about the tolerance on the VDD voltage. In the datasheet it says: "RF 3GPP compliancy requires 3.3V."

I am wondering if there is more specific information available on this note, because we get short dips in our VDD Voltage (3.3V) when sending LTE-M messages and a large current is drawn.

How stable must this 3.3V level actually be to ensure reliable operation and 3GPP compliancy?

Is 3.3V the absolute minimum or are small dips of a certain dropout voltage and certain duration allowed? What are these values.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Tim van Haren

  • Hi Gregory,

    You can read more about it here, it is in under operating condition in the with paper on nrf9160 Hardware design guidelines. it says:


    The operational voltage of nRF9160 ranges from 3.0 V to 5.5 V. The modem transceiver requires a minimum voltage of 3.3 V to fulfill RF performance in the environmental conditions described in nRF9160 Product Specification.

    The RF performance and environmental specification described in nRF9160 Product Specification exceed the equivalent requirements in the 3GPP specification. Therefore, nRF9160 is 3GPP compliant with supply voltage down to 3.1 V.


    How stable must this 3.3V level actually be to ensure reliable operation and 3GPP compliancy?

    The last part states "nRF9160 is 3GPP compliant with supply voltage down to 3.1 V." So depending on how low your dips are and if they go blow 3.1V then it will not hit the 3GPP compliancy. 

    Note: 
    RF 3GPP compliancy means that the product is meeting 3GPP specification within specified voltage range and over Temperature range also taken into account that antenna impedance is not ideal 50ohm but close to it (HW tested against VSWR3:1 as a worst-case).


    Regards,
    Jonathan

  • Hi Jonathan,

    Thanks for the quick reply and information.

    That is good to hear, generally our supply voltage doesn't dip under 3.1V, so I think we're okay.

    This case can be closed now.

    Kind regards,

    Tim van Haren

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