Power Consumption When Using nrf52832 as a BLE advert receiver

[Andrew Porter]

If we were to run a 52832 as a BLE advert receiver - listening permanently for BLE adverts - do you have any information of the expected current consumption in this kind of receive mode ?

Cheers

[Simonr]

Hi

While scanning, the an nRF52 device does so with fixed RX radio power which can not be configured. The radio current consumption while receiving is specified to be 5.4mA (see product specification). The total current consumption while scanning, on a DK, should be ~6.7mA (when the DK is running at 3V with the DCDC regulator enabled) according to the RX tab in the Online Power Profiler.

What you can adjust is the scan interval and scan window which will determine the duty cycle of your scanning. A long scan interval and short scan window will consume less average power, but it will take longer to discover peripherals and connect to them.

Best regards,

Simon

[Andrew Porter]

Thanks - I'm specifically looking at a solution that is purely listening for BLE adverts - doesn't do anything other than that - no connect etc..  So I guess to ensure it doesn't miss anything it will need to be scanning 100% ?

So are we talking 5.4mah (plus CPU etc.. on top) ?

[Simonr]

Hi

That is correct, if your device is exclusively scanning, the current consumption of the radio should be ~5.4mA.

Best regards,

Simon