Current consumption

Because the system is continually being tuned by the Power management unit (PMU), estimating an application's current consumption can be challenging when measurements cannot be directly performed 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. The following table 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
Supply3 V on VDD/VDDH (Normal voltage mode)
Temperature25°C
CPUWFI (wait for interrupt)/WFE (wait for event) sleep
PeripheralsAll idle
ClockNot running
RegulatorLDO
RAMIn System ON, full 256 kB powered. In System OFF, full 256 kB retention.
CompilerGCC 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.
Cache enabled1Yes
32 MHz crystal2SMD 2520, 32 MHz, 10 pF +/- 10 ppm
1 Applies only when CPU is running from flash memory
2 Applies only when HFXO is running

Electrical specification

Sleep

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ION_RAMOFF_EVENT

System ON, no RAM retention, wake on any event

0.97µA
ION_RAMON_EVENT

System ON, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on any event

2.35µA
ION_RAMON_POF

System ON, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on any event, power-fail comparator enabled

2.35µA
ION_RAMON_GPIOTE

System ON, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on GPIOTE input (event mode)

17.37µA
ION_RAMON_GPIOTEPORT

System ON, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on GPIOTE PORT event

2.36µA
ION_RAMOFF_RTC

System ON, no RAM retention, wake on RTC (running from LFRC clock)

1.50µA
ION_RAMON_RTC

System ON, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on RTC (running from LFRC clock)

3.16µA
IOFF_RAMOFF_RESET

System OFF, no RAM retention, wake on reset

0.40µA
IOFF_RAMOFF_LPCOMP

System OFF, no RAM retention, wake on LPCOMP

0.86µA
IOFF_RAMON_RESET

System OFF, full 256 kB RAM retention, wake on reset

1.86µA
ION_RAMOFF_EVENT_5V

System ON, no RAM retention, wake on any event, 5 V supply on VDDH, REG0 output = 3.3 V

1.29µA
IOFF_RAMOFF_RESET_5V

System OFF, no RAM retention, wake on reset, 5 V supply on VDDH, REG0 output = 3.3 V

0.95µA
Figure 1. System OFF, no RAM retention, wake on reset (typical values)
Figure 2. System ON, no RAM retention, wake on any event (typical values)

COMP active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ICOMP,LP

COMP enabled, low power mode

30.1µA
ICOMP,NORM

COMP enabled, normal mode

31.8µA
ICOMP,HS

COMP enabled, high-speed mode

35.1µA

CPU running

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ICPU0

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

3.3mA
ICPU1

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

6.3mA
ICPU2

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

2.8mA
ICPU3

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

5.2mA
ICPU4

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

3.1mA

NFCT active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
Isense

Current in SENSE STATE1

100nA
Iactivated

Current in ACTIVATED STATE

400µA
1 This current does not apply when in NFC field

Radio transmitting/receiving

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IRADIO_TX0

Radio transmitting @ 8 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

16.40mA
IRADIO_TX1

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

6.40mA
IRADIO_TX2

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

3.83mA
IRADIO_TX3

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO

10.80mA
IRADIO_TX4

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO

4.82mA
IRADIO_TX5

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 250 kbit/s IEE 802.15.4-2006 mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

6.40mA
IRADIO_RX0

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

6.26mA
IRADIO_RX1

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO

10.10mA
IRADIO_RX2

Radio receiving @ 250 kbit/s IEE 802.15.4-2006 mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

6.53mA
Figure 1. Radio transmitting @ 8 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC (typical values)
Figure 2. Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC (typical values)

RNG active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IRNG0

RNG running

635µA

SAADC active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISAADC,RUN

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

1.24mA

TEMP active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITEMP0

TEMP started

1.05mA

TIMER running

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITIMER0

One TIMER instance running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFINT

418µA
ITIMER1

Two TIMER instances running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFINT

418µA
ITIMER2

One TIMER instance running @ 1 MHz, Clock = HFXO

646µA
ITIMER3

One TIMER instance running @ 16 MHz, Clock = HFINT

595µA
ITIMER4

One TIMER instance running @ 16 MHz, Clock = HFXO

823µA

USBD running

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IUSB,ACTIVE,VBUS

Current from VBUS supply, USB active

2.4mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VBUS

Current from VBUS supply, USB suspended, CPU sleeping

262µA
IUSB,ACTIVE,VDD

Current from VDD supply (normal voltage mode), all RAM retained, regulator=LDO, CPU running, USB active

7.73mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDD

Current from VDD supply (normal voltage mode), all RAM retained, regulator=LDO, CPU sleeping, USB suspended

173µA
IUSB,ACTIVE,VDDH

Current from VDDH supply (high voltage mode), VDD=3 V (REG0 output), all RAM retained, regulator=LDO, CPU running, USB active

7.46mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDDH

Current from VDDH supply (high voltage mode), VDD=3 V (REG0 output), all RAM retained, regulator=LDO, CPU sleeping, USB suspended

178µA
IUSB,DISABLED,VDD

Current from VDD supply, USB disabled, VBUS supply connected, all RAM retained, regulator=LDO, CPU sleeping

7µA

WDT active

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IWDT,STARTED

WDT started

3.1µA

Compounded

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IS0

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

8.1mA
IS1

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC

8.6mA
IS2

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

15.4mA
IS3

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO

16.2mA
IS4

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC, 5 V supply on VDDH, REG0 output = 3.3 V

11.9mA
IS5

CPU running CoreMark from flash, Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps BLE mode, Clock = HFXO, Regulator = DC/DC, 5 V supply on VDDH, REG0 output = 3.3 V

12.7mA