3. Preparing the Tools and Hardware

There are two possible ways to take power measurements for products of the DA1469x family.

The first method involves the usage of an external Power Analyzer. This is the recommended setup in order to take accurate power consumption measurements especially when the process involves ultra low currents like the ones observed during sleep phase of the device.

The second method utilizes the Power Profiler tool that is offered along with SmartSnippets Toolbox software provided by Dialog Semiconductor on our website under Development Tools section. This method is offered in order to accommodate users who are unable to procure an external Power Analyzer. The tool itself provides very accurate results in cases that do not involve the device sleeping but its accuracy drops when ultra low power currents are involved and thus it should only be used in order to get a rough estimation in such cases.

Note

For accurate results, let at least thirty seconds pass from power-up/reset until the start of any measurement experiment so the device can reach a balanced state. If using an external Power Analyzer, it is also advised to take measurements at least one minute long to minimize fluctuations in measurements due to -/+1 event captured.

3.1. Preparations for external Power Analyzers

A specialized external power analyzer like Agilent Keysight N6705B can provide better measurements for use cases that involve sleep mode. Further information about this particular power analyzer can be found on Agilent’s webpage. For this type of measurements it is recommended to measure the power consumption using only the daughterboard detached from the motherboard.

DA1469x Pro DevKit motherboard and daughterboard attached.

Figure 6 DA14699 Daughterboard. Left - Front Side, Right - Back Side.

  1. Connect the cables to the Side Battery Connector which can be found at the bottom side of the daughterboard [light blue].

  2. Alternatively connect a GND Cable on the (-) sign [cyan] under the daughterboard and another cable on the (+) sign [orange].

  3. Connect the cables to the power analyzer power supplier cables.

  4. Set the switch on the daughterboard as shown in the picture above [deep blue].

Additionally the device must be supplied with 3V voltage and preferably no more than 0.5 A Max Current from the power analyzer.

The device should now be properly set up to perform power measurement experiments.

3.2. Preparations for Power Profiler

If the user opts to use the included tool of Dialog( Power Profiler ), the daughterboard has to be connected to the motherboard of the Pro DevKit, and a calibration procedure along with certain configurations need to be performed. The calibration procedure can be applied to DA1469x Pro-DK motherboards of B(331-07-B) and C (331-07-C) revisions.

3.2.1. DA1469x Pro-DK Board Setup

The S1 section of the board consists of a set of dip switches as shown in the picture below.

DA1469x S1 UART and SWD switches.

Figure 7 DA1469x S1 UART and SWD switches.

These dip switches connect the DA1469x chip’s UART and SWD pins to the level shifter on the motherboard. They should be set to off as the arrow indicates to prevent leakages of several μΑs.

Additionally, the VBAT voltage must be selected using the jumper at J5 section of the board.

DA1469x VBAT voltage selection.

Figure 8 DA1469x VBAT voltage selection.

Jumper J5 placed on:

    1. Pins 1 and 2: Variable supply voltage depending on the setting of R127 Trimmer.

    1. Pins 2 and 3: Fixed 3V supply.

    1. Pins 3 and 4: Fixed 1.8V supply voltage.

For the measurements described in this tutorial, a fixed 3V supply voltage should be used thus jumper J5 should rest on pins 2 and 3. Furthermore, jumpers from J8 and J10 should be removed while both jumpers of J9 section should be placed.

To conclude the hardware preparations, the following steps need to be taken as shown in the picture below.

DA1469x_Pro_DevKit_Complete_Rev_C Completing the hardware configurations.

Figure 9 DA1469x Completing the hardware configurations.

    1. Set the power selector switch of the device to LDO. [Move the switch towards the USB socket of the daughterboard as indicated by the Yellow arrow].

    1. Connect the Motherboard to power through the usb socket. [Light Blue]

3.2.2. Callibrating Power-Profiler

Disconnect the daughterboard from the motherboard and connect the motherboard to the computer before attempting to calibrate Power Profiler. Run SmartSnippets Toolbox, pick a project, the device that will be monitored (e.g. 1469x-00). Choose either UART/SPI or Hybrid options under COM Port or JTAG Serial as well as the port to listen to and click Open.

Click on Power Monitor at the top part of the screen and then Config at the bottom right of the window that will open. A pop up window will open as shown in the picture below.

power_profiler_configuration_window.

Figure 10 Power Profiler Config window.

Set the voltage to 3.00. A Calibration Offset value should appear. Press OK to complete the automatic configuration.

Optionally, for extra precision a manual calibration could be performed. At the right side of the Power Profiler window un-check ‘Auto Trigger’ and ‘Auto Stop’ checkboxes and press ‘Initialize’.

Press the ‘Start’ button and after a couple of seconds stop the measurement. At the right part there should be a value under Avg Current (mA) as shown in the picture below.

power_profiler_window.

Figure 11 Power Profiler window.

Repeat the process a few times and calculate the average of Avg Current(mA) measurements. This, ideally should have been zero. For that reason this average value should be subtracted from the Callibration Offset under Config.

Note

The entire process of calibration has to be repeated every time the supply voltage is changed or whenever a different motherboard device is used as it is unique for each board.

When the calibration is finished, connect the daughterboard to the motherboard again. The device is now ready for measurements.

Note

For more precise measurements while the system enters any sleep mode, it is strongly advised to use an external power analyzer as described in the previous section. Power profiler is very accurate while the system is active but its accuracy drops when measuring ultra low currents like the ones observed during any of the sleep modes.