Current consumption

As the system is being constantly tuned by the Power management unit (PMU), estimating the current consumption of an application can be challenging if the designer is not able to perform measurements directly on the hardware. To facilitate the estimation process, a set of current consumption scenarios are provided to show the typical current drawn from the VDD supply.

Each scenario specifies a set of operations and conditions applying to the given scenario. Current consumption scenarios, common conditions shows a set of common conditions used in all scenarios, unless otherwise stated in the description of a given scenario. All scenarios are listed in Electrical specification.

Table 1. Current consumption scenarios, common conditions
ConditionValue
VDD3 V
Temperature25°C
CPUWFI (wait for interrupt)/WFE (wait for event) sleep
PeripheralsAll idle
ClockNot running
RegulatorLDO
RAMFull 24 kB retention
Compiler1GCC v4.9.3 20150529 (arm-none-eabi-gcc). Compiler flags: -O0 -falign-functions=16 -fno-strict-aliasing -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfloat-abi=soft -msoft-float -mthumb.
32 MHz crystal2SMD 2520, 32 MHz, 10 pF +/- 10 ppm
1 Applying only when CPU is running
2 Applying only when HFXO is running

Electrical specification

CPU running

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ICPU0

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from flash, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

2.2mA
ICPU1

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from flash, Clock = HFXO

4.2mA
ICPU2

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from RAM, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

2.1mA
ICPU3

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from RAM, Clock = HFXO

4mA
ICPU4

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from flash, Clock = HFINT, Regulator = DCDC

2mA

Radio transmitting/receiving

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IRADIO_TX0

Radio transmitting @ 4 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

8mA
IRADIO_TX1

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

5.8mA
IRADIO_TX2

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

3.4mA
IRADIO_RX0

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

6.1mA
IRADIO_TX3

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO

10.5mA
IRADIO_TX4

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO

5.1mA
IRADIO_RX1

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO

10.8mA
Figure 1. Radio transmitting @ 4 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC (typical values)
Figure 2. Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC (typical values)

Sleep

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ION_RAMOFF_EVENT

System ON, No RAM retention, Wake on any event

0.6µA
ION_RAMON_EVENT

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on any event

0.8µA
ION_RAMON_POF

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on any event, Power fail comparator enabled

0.8µA
ION_RAMON_GPIOTE

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on GPIOTE input (Event mode)

3.3µA
ION_RAMON_GPIOTEPORT

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on GPIOTE PORT event

0.8µA
ION_RAMON_RTC

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on RTC (running from LFRC clock)

1.5µA
ION_RAMOFF_RTC

System ON, No RAM retention, Wake on RTC (running from LFRC clock)

1.4µA
ION_RAMON_RTC_LFXO

System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on RTC (running from LFXO clock)

1.1µA
ION_RAMOFF_RTC_LFXO

System ON, No RAM retention, Wake on RTC (running from LFXO clock)

1.0µA
IOFF_RAMOFF_RESET

System OFF, No RAM retention, Wake on reset

0.3µA
IOFF_RAMON_RESET

System OFF, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on reset

0.5µA
Figure 1. System OFF, No RAM retention, Wake on reset (typical values)
Figure 2. System ON, Full 24 kB RAM retention, Wake on any event (typical values)

Compounded

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IS0

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

7.4mA
IS1

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

7.6mA
IS2

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO

13.8mA
IS3

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy mode, Clock = HFXO

14.2mA

TIMER running

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITIMER0

One TIMER instance running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFINT

432µA
ITIMER1

Two TIMER instances running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFINT

432µA
ITIMER2

One TIMER instance running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFXO

730µA
ITIMER3

One TIMER instance running @ 16 MHz, Clock = HFINT

495µA
ITIMER4

One TIMER instance running @ 16 MHz, Clock = HFXO

792µA

RNG active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IRNG0

RNG running

539µA

TEMP active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITEMP0

TEMP started

998µA

SAADC active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISAADC,RUN

SAADC sampling @ 16 ksps, Acquisition time = 20 µs, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DCDC

1.1mA

COMP active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ICOMP,LP

COMP enabled, low power mode

17.2µA
ICOMP,NORM

COMP enabled, normal mode

21µA
ICOMP,HS

COMP enabled, high-speed mode

28.7µA

WDT active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IWDT,STARTED

WDT started

1.3µA