Current consumption

As the system is constantly tuned by the PMU described in Power and clock management, estimating the current consumption of an application can be challenging if the designer cannot 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 that apply to the given scenario. The following table shows a set of common conditions used in all scenarios, unless otherwise is stated in the scenario's description. Similarly, Current consumption scenarios, common conditions for LTE modem describes the conditions used for the modem current consumption specifications. For a list of all scenarios, see Electrical specification.

Peripherals typically share one or more power sources. This results in a current consumption that does not scale linearly with the number of peripherals enabled. For example, the current consumption for an application with two peripherals enabled, is not the sum of the currents reported by their individual peripherals.

Table 1. Current consumption scenarios, common conditions
ConditionValue
Supply3.7 V
Temperature25 °C
CPUWFI (wait for interrupt)/WFE (wait for event) sleep
PeripheralsAll idle1
ClockHFCLK=HFINT Not running

LFCLK=Not running

RAMNo retention
Cache enabledYes
Table 2. Current consumption scenarios, common conditions for LTE modem
Condition
Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1 HD FDD mode
Good channel, RF cable, no errors in DL/UL communication
Minimum network response times
Output power at antenna port, single-ended 50 Ω
Modem eDRX current consumption quoted with UICC that allows UICC supply shut down at eDRX intervals. 2 3 4
Modem PSM TAU event energy is measured from the modem PSM wake-up until end of RX inactivity time
All LTE modem current consumption numbers include application core idle mode consumption 5
1 Except for currents reported for a given peripheral. Peripherals' currents are estimated during momentary transmission.
2 Required UICC restart current consumption is included.
3 If the UICC used does not support supply shut down, then UICC will remain in clock stop mode. Depending on the UICC used, a clock stop current in the range of 20 μA to 60 μA@3.7 V must be added to get the total average consumption.
4 Minimum UICC supply shut down interval and clock stop mode current consumption must be obtained from the UICC supplier.
5 Application RAM leakage not included. Application RAM leakage quoted separately under Sleep

Electrical specification

Current consumption during System Disabled

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISYSTEM_DISABLED

ENABLE and VDD_GPIO pins grounded

150nA

Sleep

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IMCUOFF0

MCU off, modem off, wake on GPIO and reset

1.4µA
IMCUON0

MCU on IDLE, modem off, RTC off

1.8µA
IMCUON1

MCU on IDLE, modem off, RTC on

2.2µA
IMCUON2

MCU on IDLE, modem off, wake on GPIOTE input (event mode), Constant latency System ON mode

600µA
IMCUON3

MCU on IDLE, modem off, wake on GPIOTE input (event mode), Low power System ON mode

18µA
IMCUON4

MCU on IDLE, modem off, wake on GPIOTE input (port event)

1.8µA
IRAM

RAM retention leakage current of a 32kB block

0.1µA

Application CPU active current consumption

The application CPU running parameters are obtained using the following compiler version:

Compiler: Arm version 6.16 (armclang)

Compiler flags:
-Wno-unused-command-line-argument --target=arm-arm-none-eabi -c -g -masm=auto -Wno-unused-value -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mfpu=fpv5-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -fno-rtti -flto -funsigned-char -mcmse -Omax -ffunction-sections
SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ICPU0_FLASH

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from flash, clock = HFINT, cache enabled

2.7mA
ICOREMARK_PER_MA_FLASH

CoreMark per mA, executing from flash, CoreMark=247

91CoreMark/mA
ICPU0_RAM

CPU running CoreMark @64 MHz from RAM, clock = HFINT

2.1mA
ICOREMARK_PER_MA_RAM

CoreMark per mA, executing from RAM, CoreMark=239

114CoreMark/mA

I2S

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
II2S0

I2S transferring data left-channel (mono) @ 16 bit x 16 kHz (CONFIG.MCKFREQ = 32MDIV8, CONFIG.RATIO = 256X), Clock = HFINT

600µA
II2S1

I2S transferring data left-channel (mono) @ 16 bit x 16 kHz (CONFIG.MCKFREQ = 32MDIV8, CONFIG.RATIO = 256X), Clock = HFXO

1620µA

PDM

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IPDM

PDM receiving and processing data 16KHz, with FREQ = 1.28MHz, MODE.OPERATION = mono

620µA
IPDM

PDM receiving and processing data 16KHz, with FREQ = 1.28MHz, MODE.OPERATION = mono, clock HFXO

1630µA

PWM

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IPWM0

PWM running @ 125 kHz, fixed duty cycle

510µA
IPWM1

PWM running @ 16 MHz, fixed duty cycle

680µA

SAADC

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISAADC_HFXO

SAADC sampling @ 16 ksps, with high accuracy clock HFXO, acquisition time = 20 µs

1550µA
ISAADC_HFINT

SAADC sampling @ 16 ksps, with low accuracy clock HFINT, acquisition time = 20 µs

540µA

TIMER

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITIMER0

TIMER running @ 1 MHz

390µA
ITIMER1

TIMER running @ 16 MHz

440µA

SPIM

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISPIM0

SPIM transferring data @ 2 Mbps, Clock = HFINT

610µA
ISPIM1

SPIM transferring data @ 2 Mbps, Clock = HFXO

1620µA
ISPIM2

SPIM transferring data @ 8 Mbps, Clock = HFINT

640µA
ISPIM3

SPIM transferring data @ 8 Mbps, Clock = HFXO

1660µA

SPIS

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ISPIS_2M

SPIS receiving data @ 2 Mbps, Clock=HFINT

500µA
ISPIS_2MXO

SPIS receiving data @ 2 Mbps, Clock=HFXO

1510µA
ISPIS_8M

SPIS receiving data @ 8 Mbps, Clock=HFINT

510µA
ISPIS_8MXO

SPIS receiving data @ 8 Mbps, Clock=HFXO

1520µA

TWIM

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITWIM_100

TWIM running @ 100 kbps, Clock=HFINT

590µA
ITWIM_400

TWIM running @ 400 kbps, Clock = HFINT

590µA
ITWIM_100XO

TWIM running @ 100 kbps, Clock = HFXO

1600µA
ITWIM_400XO

TWIM running @ 400 kbps, Clock = HFXO

1610µA

TWIS

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
ITWIS,RUN_100

TWIS transferring data @ 100 kbps, Clock=HFINT

590µA
ITWIS1,RUN_400

TWIS transferring data @ 400 kbps, Clock=HFINT

510µA
ITWIS,RUN_100XO

TWIS transferring data @ 100 kbps, Clock = HFXO

1480µA
ITWIS,RUN_400XO

TWIS transferring data @ 400 kbps, Clock = HFXO

1370µA

UARTE

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IUARTE,1M

UARTE transferring data @ 1Mbps

700µA
IUARTE,115K

UARTE transferring data @ 115200 bps

510µA

WDT

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IWDT

WDT started

2.5µA

Modem current consumption

To estimate specific use cases, see Online Power Profiler for LTE
SymbolDescriptionB13 (typ.)B20 (typ.)B3 (typ.)B4 (typ.)Units

Sleep current consumption, Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1

IPSMPSM floor current2.72.72.72.7µA

PSM TAU event energy and duration, Cat-M1

EPSM_TAUPout 23 dBm, QPSK, resource blocks 6, TBS index 9, UICC included93949999mJ
TPSM_TAUPout 23 dBm, QPSK, resource blocks 6, TBS index 9, UICC included1.31.31.31.3s

PSM TAU event energy and duration, Cat-NB1

EPSM_TAUPout 23 dBm, QPSK, UICC included; UL: 12SC, MCS Index 5 Resource Units 1, Repetitions 1; DL, 12SC, MCS Index 6, Subframes 3, Repetitions 1306319315335mJ
TPSM_TAUPout 23 dBm, QPSK, UICC included; UL: 12SC, MCS Index 5 Resource Units 1, Repetitions 1; DL, 12SC, MCS Index 6, Subframes 3, Repetitions 12.72.72.72.7s

Average current consumption, radio resource control (RRC) mode, Cat-M1

IEDRXeDRX average current, 81.92 s, one PO/PTW, PTW = 2.56 s19-19-µA
IIEDRXIdle eDRX average current, 655 s, one PO/PTW, PTW = 2.56 s6-6-µA
IRMC_0DBMUplink 180 kbit/s, Pout 0 dBm, RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.521-1 Annex A.245454746mA
IRMC_10DBMUplink 180 kbit/s, Pout 10 dBm, RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.521-1 Annex A.249505154mA
IRMC_23DBMUplink 180 kbit/s, Pout 23 dBm, RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.521-1 Annex A.2102114118117mA

Average current consumption, radio resource control (RRC) mode, Cat-NB1

IEDRXeDRX average current, 81.92 s, one PO/PTW, PTW = 2.56 s33-33-µA
IIEDRXIdle eDRX average current, 655 s, one PO/PTW, PTW = 2.56 s8-8-µA
IRMC_0DBMPout 0 dBm, QPSK, 1SC, 15 kHz, TX 33% RX 33% ("balanced TX and RX"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.430303030mA
IRMC_10DBMPout 10 dBm, QPSK, 1SC, 15 kHz, TX 33% RX 33% ("balanced TX and RX"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.430303535mA
IRMC_23DBMPout 23 dBm, QPSK, 1SC, 15 kHz, TX 33% RX 33% ("balanced TX and RX"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.490100105100mA
IRMC_0DBMPout 0 dBm, BPSK, 1SC, 3.75 kHz, TX 80% RX 10% ("TX intensive"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.450505050mA
IRMC_10DBMPout 10 dBm, BPSK, 1SC, 3.75 kHz, TX 80% RX 10% ("TX intensive"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.455556060mA
IRMC_23DBMPout 23 dBm, BPSK, 1SC, 3.75 kHz, TX 80% RX 10% ("TX intensive"), RMC settings as per 3GPP TS 36.101 Annex A.2.4180200225205mA

DECT NR+ current consumption

SymbolDescriptionTyp.Units

Average current consumption, nominal operating conditions

ITX_-40DBMTX measured over one slot, Pout -40 dBmTBAmA
ITX_-20DBMTX measured over one slot, Pout -20 dBmTBAmA
ITX_0DBMTX measured over one slot, Pout 0 dBmTBAmA
ITX_10DBMTX measured over one slot, Pout 10 dBmTBAmA
ITX_19DBMTX measured over one slot, Pout 19 dBmTBAmA
IRX_-90DBMRX measured over one slot, Pin -90 dBmTBAmA

GPS current consumption

SymbolDescriptionMin.Typ.Max.Units
IGPS_CONTINUOUS

Continuous tracking, without power saving mode

43.1mA
IGPS_CONTINUOUS_PSM

Continuous tracking, power saving mode

7.8mA
IGPS_PERIODIC

Periodic fix average current with A-GPS1, one fix every 2 minutes

0.5mA
1 Including LTE current consumption.