How to turn off the Bluetooth module?

[Stefano1984]

Hi everyone.
I have to turn off the bluetooth module to save battery.
I am using the SDK example "ble_app_template_pca10056_s140".
To start the advertisement I use the "ble_advertising_start" command, to stop the advertisement I use the "sd_ble_gap_disconnect" command and everything works correctly.
However, I have the doubt that, even if the advertisement is stopped, the bluetooth module is on and therefore consumes the battery.
I can't put the microcontroller in sleep mode as there are other operations that the microcontroller has to do besides the bluetooth management.
So how can I turn off only the bluetooth module? How do I turn it back on?

Thanks.

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

The SoftDevice's power consumption will mainly stem from the CPU and RADIO activity during the radio events.
Between these events the SoftDevice only keeps the low-power RTC running, in order to know when the next event will take place - this does not draw a lot of power.

I can't put the microcontroller in sleep mode as there are other operations that the microcontroller has to do besides the bluetooth management.

The nRF should be staying in SYSTEM_ON sleep to minimize the power consumption. While this is a sleep mode the CPU is kept IDLE so that it can be woken up at a very short notice. The CPU will wake to process any events that are generated.
What else than BLE will your device be doing?
What is your average power consumption currently?
Are you seeing an increase in sleep-mode power consumption before and after your call to enable the SoftDevice? If so, how large is this increase?

Best regards,
Karl