Seeking an Electronics Product Reviewer for the Nordic Power Profiler 2

Table of contents

Do you have the needs to measure the electrical current and real-time power consumption of your embedded engineering designs? Then we need your help! We are looking for electronics product reviewers for the Nordic Power Profiler Kit II.

Description

The Nordic Power Profiler Kit II (PPK2) is a standalone unit, which can measure and optionally supply currents all the way from sub-uA and as high as 1A on all Nordic DKs, in addition to external hardware.

The PPK2 is powered via a standard 5V USB cable, which can supply up to 500mA of current. In order to supply up to 1A of current, two USB cables are required.

An ampere meter only mode, as well as a source mode (shown as AMP and source measure unit (SMU) respectively on the PCB) are supported. For the ampere meter mode, an external power supply must source VCC levels between 0.8 and 5V to the device under test (DUT). For the source mode, the PPK2 supplies VCC levels between 0.8 and 5V and the on-board regulator supplies up to 1A of current to external applications. It is possible to measure low sleep currents, the higher active currents, as well as short current peaks on all Nordic DKs, in addition to external hardware.

This provides support for both short range applications on our nRF51, nRF52 and nRF53 Series, in addition to our nRF91 Series cellular SiP with headroom to spare for additional circuit draw, e.g. an nRF9160 DK with attached sensors.

The PPK2 has an advanced analog measurement unit with a high dynamic measurement range. This allows accurate power consumption measurements for the entire range typically seen in low-power embedded applications, all the way from single μAs to 1A. The resolution varies between 100nA and 1mA depending on the measurement range and is high enough to detect small spikes as often seen in low power optimized systems.

 The PPK2 can also use digital inputs as a low-end logic analyzer, enabling code-synchronized measurements. This can be achieved by connecting the digital inputs to an I/O pin on the external device under test (DUT). In order to use this functionality, the DUT must be powered by a VCC voltage of 1.6-5.5V. The digital input can then show what code is executed in the DUT at different points in time.

10x quicker sampling (i.e. 100ksps) compared with the long term window of the previous generation enables maximum continuous resolution at all times. This enables a user to gather average acquisition data and zoom in for high resolution data using the same window.

The PC software is a separate Power Profiler app running in the nRF Connect for Desktop framework. This app supports both the original PPK, as well as the PPK2. With the PPK2, the Power Profiler app can show both average acquisition times and high-resolution events in the same window. Measured data can be exported for post processing.

The Online Power Profiler (OPP) is a tool that estimates current consumption values for Bluetooth Low Energy, LTE-M and NB-IoT protocols via lab-testing. To see how the OPP can complement the PPK2 in development on the nRF9160 DK, see the Power Optimization documentation.

The box contains a PPK2 PCB, which connects to a computer via a micro USB cable (not included). Included jumper cables are required to power and power profile the DUT. An included 10-pin logic port cable is required for using the PPK2 digital inputs.

Features

• 200nA to 1A measurement range
• Resolution varies between 100nA and 1mA depending on the measurement range
• Support for all Nordic DKs, in addition to custom HW
• Ampere meter and source modes
• 10x quicker sampling (100ksps) vs previous generation
• Standalone unit
• 8 - 5V VCC levels
• 8 digital inputs enables low-end logic analyzer support
• Power Profiler app in nRF Connect for Desktop

About the nRF5340 DK Development kit

The nRF5340 DK is the development kit for the nRF5340 System-on-Chip (SoC), containing everything needed to get started with development, on a single board.

The DK supports development with an extensive range of wireless protocols. It supports Bluetooth Low Energy with features such as high-throughput 2 Mbps, Advertising Extensions and Long Range. Mesh protocols like Bluetooth mesh, Thread and Zigbee can run concurrently with Bluetooth Low Energy, enabling smartphones to provision, commission, configure and control mesh nodes, which is a prerequisite for matter applications. It also supports NFC, ANT, 802.15.4 and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols.

The DK is bundled with an NFC antenna that quickly enables testing of nRF5340’s NFC-A tag functionality. A SEGGER J-Link debugger is on the board, enabling full-blown programming and debugging, of both the nRF5340 SoC and external targets.

All analog and digital interfaces, and GPIOs are available via headers and edge connectors. The kit is Arduino Uno Rev3 hardware compatible, meaning it can be easily interfaced with external device shields.

Four buttons and four LEDs simplify input and output to and from the nRF5340 SoC, and are all user-programmable. An on-board external memory is connected to the 96 MHz QSPI peripheral in the nRF5340 SoC.

The nRF5340 DK is typically powered via USB, but can be powered by a wide range of sources, within the supply range of 1.7 to 5.0 V. In addition to USB, it can be powered with external source, but also includes a CR2032 battery holder and a Li-Po battery connector, for in-field testing. Current consumption can be measured by using the dedicated current measurement pins, for example by using Nordic's Power Profiler Kit II.

The nRF Connect SDK is the software development kit for the nRF5340 SoC, and it has board support for the nRF5340 DK. It supports software development of Bluetooth Low Energy, Thread and Zigbee applications. It integrates the Zephyr RTOS, protocol stacks, samples, hardware drivers and much more.

Are You Interested in Enrolling in This RoadTest?

Documentation

• Power Profiler Kit 2 User Guide
• Power Profiler Kit 2 Docs
• Power Profiler Kits 2 Downloads
• nRF 5340 DK Datasheet
• nRF5340DK Documentation
• nRF 5340 DK Downloads
• nRF Connect for Desktop

RoadTester Instructions

• The preferred way to test it would be to use it with something you are currently working on or use the nRF 5340 DK to test the Power Profile Kit 2.
• Otherwise, working with the documentation, open the box and test the out of the box experience. Show the reader of this review what you discovered utilizing text, images, videos, and/or any other media, so the reader understands what is involved in using the product.

Important Dates

Terms and Conditions

See the attached file below for the terms and conditions

About the Sponsor

Nordic Semiconductor is a Norwegian fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless communication technology that powers the Internet of Things (IoT). Nordic was established in 1983 and has about 1450 employees across the globe. Our award-winning Bluetooth Low Energy solutions pioneered ultra-low-power wireless, making us the global market leader. Our technology range was later supplemented by ANT+, Thread and Zigbee, and in 2018 we launched our low-power, compact LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular IoT solutions to extend the penetration of the IoT. The Nordic portfolio was further complemented by Wi-Fi technology in 2021.

 We built our market reputation by supplying leading-edge wireless technologies supported by development tools that shield the designer from RF complexity, allowing anyone with a bright idea to build innovations based on the IoT platform. Today, our award-winning, high-performance, yet easy to design-in Bluetooth LE solutions are used by the world’s leading brands in a variety of products, including wireless PC peripherals, gaming, sports and fitness, mobile phone accessories, consumer electronics, toys, healthcare, and automation. Nordic is a member of the ANT+ Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, Thread Group, Connectivity Standards Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance, and GSMA.