nRF9160 DK PA characteristic

RE: nRF9160 DK PA characteristic

Nik8 — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 12:46:21 GMT

Ok, everything resolved then, thank you!

RE: nRF9160 DK PA characteristic

Heidi — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:11:52 GMT

Yes, the approximate baseline of 40 mA is for all supply voltages.

As for the PA class, per the nRF9160 PS, the transmitter power class is 23 dBm nominal, which is Power Class 3 in 3GPP terminology.

The specific PA class in the nRF9160 SiP is not external information.

RE: nRF9160 DK PA characteristic

Nik8 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 08:24:31 GMT

Hi,

thanks a lot for the fast reply and the further enquiry on the PA class.

I have one follow up question.
Are the 40mA baseline consumption applicable for all possible supply voltages (e.g. 3.3V or 5V) or only for 3.7V?

Best regards,
Nik

RE: nRF9160 DK PA characteristic

Heidi — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 13:33:52 GMT

Hi!

RX and TX have a baseline consumption of around 40 mA that's constantly pulled from VDD1 during sending/receiving. Then you have the PA on top of this that pulls from VDD2 to boost the TX output effect. If sending on 23 dBm, you might get around 400 mA extra being pulled from the PA. But this also depends on the output effect.

As for the PA class, I don't believe this is documented anywhere but I will ask the HW developers for this information.

Best regards,

Heidi