nRF9160 Feather - Suggestions for next version

zpm1066 · 2023-05-17T02:51:26+00:00

Hi Jared, Any chance you can share what new changes you have in mind for the next iteration of nRF9160 Feather? Although I do understand that board space i...

jaredwolff

Yea it will be cool to see. Who knows I may base a new board off of the 9151 😉 First thing is first, gotta finish the 9161 version!

jaredwolff

Proto 2 has been on my desk for a few days now. I’m trying to figure out what’s drawing so much current with the programmer disabled. (Getting _1mA in active sleep whereas it should be < 10uA)

I think it’s going to have to come to removing parts until I get the expected current. 😭 We’ll see!

zpm1066

jaredwolff Looks great! What’s the beige connector? I2C STEMMA?

jaredwolff

zpm1066 jaredwolff Looks great! What’s the beige connector? I2C STEMMA?

Currently connected to the SWD lines for the RP2040 for programming with an external Picoprobe

jaredwolff

Now we’re talking!

Average of 6uA in sleep mode at 3.6V. That includes the LIS2DH and the external flash in sleep/power down. Slightly better than the current nRF9160 Feather at ~10uA.

zpm1066

jaredwolff Hi Jared, Awesome!
What was driving the current high?

jaredwolff

One culprit is the UART console. That should be disabled when the device is operating in low current applications:

int setup_uart()
{

	static const struct device *const console_dev =
		DEVICE_DT_GET(DT_CHOSEN(zephyr_console));

	/* Disable console UART */
	int err = pm_device_action_run(console_dev, PM_DEVICE_ACTION_SUSPEND);
	if (err < 0)
	{
		printk("Unable to suspend console UART. (err: %d)\n", err);
		return err;
	}

	/* Turn off to save power */
	NRF_CLOCK->TASKS_HFCLKSTOP = 1;

	return 0;
}

I was having issues with NCS 2.5.x so when I switched to 2.6.1 I had much better luck configuring the nPM1300. I’m aiming to release the board synced with NCS 2.7.x.

zpm1066

jaredwolff Nice! Makes sense that the UART be disabled for low current usage.

I’m glad that the nRF9161 board will be released with NCS 2.7.x. Latter has some major changes in SoC / board names and definitions, plus Sysbuild for multi-image/multi-SoC support.

I have NCS 2.7.0 (pre-release) installed but will wait for a “release Version” before moving a few of the multi-image builds to Sysbuild.

Is the beige connector going to be for I2C STEMMA? Thanks.

jaredwolff

zpm1066 Is the beige connector going to be for I2C STEMMA? Thanks.

Currently connected to the SWD lines for the RP2040 for programming with an external Picoprobe

zpm1066

jaredwolff
Is the plan to let it stay connected to SWD on board release or use it for I2C and program the board via USB? Thanks.

jaredwolff

The RP2040 can be programmed with the built in bootloader. The nRF9161 is programmed with the RP2040 running CMSIS DAP.

I actually don’t necessarily need the extra connector for programming purposes. Something like Qwiic or STEMMA would be attractive for you @zpm1066?

zpm1066

jaredwolff Absolutely! An I2C STEMMA / Qwiic connector would be pretty useful for quick hookups to sensors, OLED display, etc. Most boards these days support this connector.

JeppeMariagerLam

I2C STEMMA / Qwiic would be useful here as well if you have room for it 👍️

jaredwolff

Sounds good! I’ve replaced the 3 pin with a 4pin Qwiic 😃

jaredwolff

A little preview:

zpm1066

jaredwolff
Do you have pull-up resistors on the Qwiic I2C? If not, it would be good to have them. Thanks.

JeppeMariagerLam

Also, just a thought - Not sure if it’s relevant for others, or if the cost is going to be higher, but a 16bit ADC instead of the 12bit one currently on would be great 🙂 I’m currently connecting adafruits ADS1115 to get that additional resolution 🙂

AchimKraus

Get really more than 12 bits from a ADC isn’t easy in my experience.
And sometimes it requires an additional amplification. So I’m not sure, how many will then be happy with it.

jaredwolff

Not sure if you guys have had this issue but modem traces don’t work well with non-Nordic devices since a while back. (The nRF9161 Feather will only have one USB-UART port)

Working on a PR for the Cellular Monitor so it can use any available port on your machine.

Great little tool especially to find out that these devices are no longer being pre-programmed with IMEIs! I will be pre-programming them here so no worries about that.

Nice thing is both the onboard LNA works for GPS. A single antenna is all that’s needed for the nRF9161 Feather!

Tracking:  5 Using:  5 Unhealthy: 0
-----------------------------------
Latitude:       41.XXX
Longitude:      -72.XXX
Altitude:       89.0 m
Accuracy:       10.0 m
Speed:          0.3 m/s
Speed accuracy: 1.2 m/s
Heading:        0.0 deg
Date:           2024-07-23
Time (UTC):     20:19:55.091
PDOP:           5.1
HDOP:           2.6
VDOP:           4.4
TDOP:           3.7

jaredwolff

Another very cool thing that the nPM1300 includes is an extremely low power mode which replicates what I did in the early designs of the nRF9160 Feather: deep powerdown/hibernate.

Here’s the measurement of the nRF9161 Feather in hibernate. About 600nA!

jaredwolff

On the Joulscope it’s actually a little less on avg (~300nA) :

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