Current peak on nRF52

[victorien]

Hi, I make some tests on power consumption of nRF52 with evaluation board and I remark some peak on the current. it's appeared that this peak is generate by DEC4 output (see picture below. current in pink and Vdec4 in yellow).

Is it normal ? and is there a way to eliminate this peak ?

Thanks.

[Stefan Birnir Sverrisson]

Hi Victorien

By evaluation board you mean the PCA10036 preview board? If that is the case, you should upgrade to PCA10040. The PCA10036 is obsolete.

[victorien]

Sorry for the delay of my answer. The evaluation board that I use is the PCA10040

[Stefan Birnir Sverrisson]

Hi Victorien

nRF52 has internal power management system that enables the internal regulators dependent on how much power the on-chip peripherals need. The internal regulator is enabled to charge up a capacitor. When capacitor is charged up, the regulator is disabled to save power. The capacitor feeds the peripherals with power for a period of time until a minimum voltage level is reached, then the regulator is enabled again to charge up the capacitor. That is what I suspect you are seeing.

This is also explained on this thread.