Thingy91 and QM12038 power consumption

[GJSea]

Hi,

I based a new device design on the Thingy91 antenna and tuning circuitry and noticing that the current consumption of the two QM12038's negates the amazing power efficiency of the main CPU. Each QM12038 draws 80uA according to the datasheet, and combined add up to a hefty ~160uA, when I was previously enjoying just 15uA with a fixed antenna design. It seems QM12038 equivalents also consume ~70-80uA, so is it to be assumed if an antenna tuning capability is desired ~160uA is the cost for this?

I verified by removing each QM12038 from my device and the power consumption dropping 80uA for each removal. 

I'm curious what is Nordic's baseline PSM sleep current consumption of the Thingy91, as theoretically it has to be minimally about 170uA?

Thanks!

[Øyvind]

Hi Gavin, 

Due to Christmas holidays our technical support team is lower staffed, and the response time will be longer. Also, most of our R&D our out of office until January 4th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Please note that the RF switch QM12038 is no longer recommended for new designs - ref. Qorvo QM12038 product page. There are some alternatives discussed here. Also, note that the Thingy:91 is designed to work world-wide and thus the reason for this design choice. 
 

I'm curious what is Nordic's baseline PSM sleep current consumption of the Thingy91, as theoretically it has to be minimally about 170uA?

Yes, there is no way of shutting the RF switches down on the Thingy:91 yielding about 170µA, according to our HW designer. 

Kind regards,
Øyvind