nRF52833 power consumption after upgrade to SDK 1.7.1

[ecsfang]

Hi,

After upgrade from nRF Connect SDK 1.4.1 to SDK 1.7.1 we have seen an increase of the current consumption with about 100uA.

Before with SDK 1.4.1 the idle current was about ~60uA, but now we see peaks with about 300uA at about 300Hz (see included picture).

I have tested both with our main application as well with a simple test application (that just initialize all pins then goes into idle).

I have also tested on two different product samples, and the scenario is the same, but the frequency differs from 2.7ms to 3.4ms (290-370Hz).

At this stage we are not using BLE, and the test application just initialize all pins, powers off all external sensors etc and just goes into idle. We just rebuild our applications with the API changes that was needed between 1.4.1 and 1.7.1 so our code is the "same" in both scenarios.

Any ideas why this differs between the two SDK's? Could it be something that we have missed to configure when upgrading from 1.4.1 to 1.7.1 that causes these 300Hz power peaks?

Best regards,
Thomas

[Simonr]

Hi Thomas

The picture resolution is fine when I click it, no problem there.

I see. You can check out the "official" fix to this issue here, which I guess would be preferred. Just disabling the RC oscillator calibration will likely cause the crystal to drift, and that will likely affect BLE connections if you're using the radio peripheral at all, and might lead to disconnects and some "off" timers I believe.

Best regards,

Simon

[ecsfang]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your reply!

But, I'm not sure how to use this information ...
If I merge the fix you mentioned, I get compile errors if I enable the new configs, and if I leave them default I still get the 100uA extra current consumption.

With the fix merged - what would you say should be the correct way to configure (if the configuration below is not preferred) to get rid of the extra 100uA?

Again, the only configuration I have found so far that removes the extra 100uA (which we only see in SDK 1.7.1 and not in 1.4.1) is the following:

    CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_RC_CALIBRATION=n

Best regards,
Thomas