Because the Power Management Unit (PMU) is constantly adjusting the different power and clock sources, estimating an application's current consumption can be challenging when the measurements cannot be performed directly on the hardware. To facilitate the estimation process, a set of current consumption scenarios is provided to show the typical current drawn from the VDD or VDDH supply.

Each scenario specifies a set of operations and conditions applying to the given scenario. All scenarios are listed in Electrical specification. The following table shows a set of common conditions used in all scenarios, unless otherwise stated in the description of a given scenario.

Table 1. Current consumption scenarios, common conditions
Condition Value Note
Supply 3 V on VDD/VDDH (normal voltage mode)
Temperature 25°C
CPU WFI (wait for interrupt)/WFE (wait for event) sleep
Peripherals All idle
Clock HFCLK=HFINT running at 64 MHz

LFCLK=Not running
Regulator DC/DC on VREGMAIN, VREGRADIO, and VREGH (when used)
Application core RAM 8 kB In System ON, RAM value refers to the amount of RAM that is switched on. The remainder of RAM is non retained. In System OFF, RAM value refers to amount of RAM that is retained.
Network core RAM 0 kB
Cache enabled Yes Only applies when the CPU is running from flash memory.
Network core forced off Yes
32 MHz crystal SMD 2016

32 MHz

ftol= ±30 ppm

CL=8 pF

RS≤50 Ω

DL≤100 μW

 Only applies when the high frequency crystal oscillator (HFXO) is running. HFXO is used when the radio is running.
32 kHz crystal SMD 2012

32.768 kHz

ftol= ±20 ppm

CL=9 pF

C0=1.3 pF

RL=70 kΩ

DL≤1.0 μW

 Only applies when the low frequency crystal oscillator (LFXO) is running.
Inductors SMD 1608

L = 10 μH

Tol = 20%

Isat ≥ 90 mA

RDC ≤ 1.2 Ω
Compiler version GCC version 7.3.1 20180622 (arm-none-eabi-gcc)
Compiler flags -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mthumb -mcmse -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv5-sp-d16 -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -fmax-errors=1 -funroll-all-loops -ffunction-sections -falign-functions=16 -fno-strict-aliasing -O3

Electrical specification

Sleep

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ION_IDLE1

System ON, 0 kB application RAM, wake on any event

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE1,LDO

System ON, 0k application RAM, wake on any event, regulator = LDO

 3.3 uA
ION_IDLE2

System ON, wake on any event

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE2,LDO

System ON, wake on any event, regulator = LDO

 3.4 uA
ION_IDLE3

System ON, wake on any event, power-fail comparator enabled

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE3,128MHz

System ON, wake on any event, power-fail comparator enabled, clock=HFINT128M

 785 uA
ION_IDLE4

System ON, wake on GPIOTE input (event mode, LATENCY=LowLatency)

 48 uA
ION_IDLE4_LP

System ON, wake on GPIOTE input (event mode, LATENCY=LowPower)

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE5

System ON, wake on GPIOTE PORT event

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE6

System ON, 0 kB application RAM, wake on RTC (running from LFXO clock)

 1.5 uA
ION_IDLE7

System ON, wake on RTC (running from LFXO clock)

 1.5 uA
ION_IDLE8

System ON, 0 kB application RAM, wake on RTC (running from LFXO clock), 5 V supply on VDDH, VREGH output = 3.3 V

 1.7 uA
ION_IDLE7

System ON, 0 kB network RAM, wake on network RTC (running from LFXO clock)

 1.5 uA
ION_IDLE8

System ON, 64 kB network RAM, wake on network RTC (running from LFXO clock)

 1.7 uA
ION_IDLE9

System ON, 0 kB application RAM, wake on RTC (running from LFRC clock)

 2.1 uA
ION_IDLE10

Both cores in System ON, wake on any event. VREQH=Disabled.

 1.3 uA
ION_IDLE10_VREQH

Both cores in System ON, wake on any event. VREQH=Enabled.

 1.4 uA
IOFF0

System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on reset

 1.0 uA
IOFF0,LDO

System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on reset; regulator = LDO

 1.4 uA
IOFF1

System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on LPCOMP

 0.9 uA
IOFF2

System OFF, wake on reset

 0.9 uA
IOFF3

System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on reset, 5 V supply on VDDH, VREGH output = 3.3V

 1.1 uA
IOFF3,LDO

System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on reset, 5 V supply on VDDH, VREGH output = 3.3V; regulator = LDO

 1.4 uA
IOFF4

System OFF, 512 kB application RAM + 64 kB network RAM, wake on reset

 2.4 uA
Figure 1. System OFF, 0 kB application RAM, wake on reset (typical values)
Figure 2. System ON, wake on any event, power-fail comparator enabled (typical values)

Application CPU running

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

Compiler: Arm version 6.14 (armclang)

Compiler flags:
-std=c99 --target=arm-arm-none-eabi -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mfpu=fpv5-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -fno-rtti -flto -funsigned-char -mcmse -Omax -ffunction-sections
Linker flags: 
-Omax

20 kB of RAM in application core switched on and retained in execute-from-flash cases, and 44 kB in execute-from-RAM cases.

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IAPPCPU0

CPU running CoreMark from flash, regulator = LDO, clock = HFINT128M

 15.5 mA
IAPPCPU2

CPU running CoreMark from flash, clock = HFXO128M

 8.0 mA
IAPPCPU3

CPU running CoreMark from flash, clock = HFXO64M

 3.6 mA
IAPPCPU4

CPU running CoreMark from flash, clock = HFINT128M

 7.8 mA
IAPPCPU5

CPU running CoreMark from flash

 3.3 mA
IAPPCPU8

CPU running CoreMark from RAM, clock = HFINT128M

 7.9 mA
IAPPCPU9

CPU running CoreMark from RAM

 3.4 mA
IAPPCPU10

CPU running CoreMark from RAM, clock = HFXO128M

 8.2 mA
IAPPCPU11

CPU running CoreMark from RAM, clock = HFXO64M

 3.6 mA

Network CPU running

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

Compiler: Arm version 6.14 (armclang)

Compiler flags: -std=c99 --target=arm-arm-none-eabi -mcpu=cortex-m33+nodsp -mfpu=none -mfloat-abi=soft -fno-rtti -flto -funsigned-char -Omax -ffunction-sections
Linker flags: 
-Omax

20 kB of RAM in network core switched on and retained in execute-from-flash cases, and 40 kB in execute-from-RAM cases.

Clock and regulator settings only apply to network core. The settings in the application core are the same as the common conditions.

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
INETCPU0

CPU running CoreMark from flash, regulator = LDO

 5.1 mA
INETCPU1

CPU running CoreMark from flash

 2.4 mA
INETCPU2

CPU running CoreMark from flash, clock = HFXO64M

 2.6 mA
INETCPU3

CPU running CoreMark from RAM, regulator = LDO

 4.3 mA
INETCPU4

CPU running CoreMark from RAM

 2.0 mA
INETCPU5

CPU running CoreMark from RAM, clock = HFXO64M

 2.2 mA

COMP active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ICOMP,LP

COMP enabled, Low-power mode

 60 uA
ICOMP,NORM

COMP enabled, normal mode

 62 uA
ICOMP,HS

COMP enabled, High-speed mode

 68 uA

I2S active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
II2S0

I2S transferring data @ 2 x 16 bit x 16 kHz (CONFIG.MCKFREQ = 32MDIV63, CONFIG.RATIO = 32X), clock = HFXO64M

 2000 uA
II2S1

I2S transferring data @ 2 x 16 bit x 16 kHz (CONFIG.MCKFREQ = 510000, CONFIG.RATIO = 32X), clock = HFXO ACLK @ 12.288 MHz

 2170 uA
II2S2

I2S transferring data @ 2 x 16 bit x 48 kHz (CONFIG.MCKFREQ = 505286656, CONFIG.RATIO = 32X), clock = HFXO ACLK @ 12.288 MHz

 2310 uA

LPCOMP active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ILPCOMP,EN

LPCOMP enabled

 45 uA

NFCT active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ISENSE

System ON, current in SENSE STATE (this current does not apply when in NFC field)

 1.3 uA
IACTIVATED

System ON, current in ACTIVATED STATE, clock = HFXO64M

 1080 uA

PDM active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IPDM,RUN

PDM receiving and processing data @ 1 MHz (RATIO = 64, PDMCLKCTRL = 135274496), stereo mode, clock = HFXO64M

 655 uA
IPDM,RUN,ACLK

PDM receiving and processing data @ 1 MHz (RATIO = 64, PDMCLKCTRL = 343597056), stereo mode, HFXO ACLK = 12.288 MHz

 1045 uA

PWM active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IPWM,RUN0

PWM running at 125 kHz, top = 10, duty = 50%

 560 uA
IPWM,RUN1

PWM running at 16 MHz, top = 10, duty = 50%

 560 uA
IPWM,RUN1,LDO

PWM running at 16 MHz, top = 10, duty = 50%; regulator = LDO

 1035 uA
IPWM,RUN2

PWM running at 125 kHz, top = 10, duty = 50%, clock = HFXO64M

 750 uA
IPWM,RUN3

PWM running at 16 MHz, top = 10, duty = 50%, clock = HFXO64M

 755 uA

QDEC active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IQDEC,RUN

QDEC running

 480 uA

QSPI active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IQSPI,IDLE

QSPI idle (enabled, but not activated)

 45 uA
IQSPI,ACTIVE

QSPI active (activated, but not transferring data)

 1790 uA
IQSPI,DATA

QSPI transferring data (activated, and transferring data to/from external flash memory), SCKFREQ = 96 MHz, quad mode, clock = HFXO192M

 4430 uA

RADIO transmitting/receiving

64 kB of network core RAM switched on and retained.

Clock and regulator settings only apply to network core. The settings in the application core are the same as the common conditions.

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IRADIO_TX0

Radio transmitting @ +3 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 5.3 mA
IRADIO_TX1

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.1 mA
IRADIO_TX2

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 2.6 mA
IRADIO_TX3

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 9.7 mA
IRADIO_TX4

Radio transmitting @ -40 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 5.0 mA
IRADIO_TX5

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 2 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.2 mA
IRADIO_TX6

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 500 kbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) long-range (LR) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.1 mA
IRADIO_TX7

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 125 kbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) long-range (LR) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.1 mA
IRADIO_TX8

Radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 250 kbps IEEE 802.15.4-2006 mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.1 mA
IRADIO_RX0

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 3.7 mA
IRADIO_RX1

Radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 8.0 mA
IRADIO_RX2

Radio receiving @ 2 Mbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 4.1 mA
IRADIO_RX3

Radio receiving @ 500 kbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) long-range (LR) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 3.6 mA
IRADIO_RX4

Radio receiving @ 125 kbps Bluetooth low energy (BLE) long-range (LR) mode, clock = HFXO64M

 3.6 mA
IRADIO_RX5

Radio receiving @ 250 kbps IEEE 802.15.4-2006 mode, clock = HFXO64M

 3.9 mA
Figure 3. Radio transmitting at 3 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth LE mode (typical values)
Figure 4. Radio transmitting at 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth LE mode (typical values)

RNG active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IRNG0

RNG running, 64 kB network RAM

 270 uA

SAADC active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ISAADC,RUN

SAADC sampling @ 16 ksps, acquisition time = 20 us, clock = HFXO64M

 980 uA
ISAADC,TASK

SAADC sampling @ 1 kHz from RTC in task mode, acquisition time = 20 us, clock = HFINT64M and LFXO

 160 uA

TEMP active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ITEMP0

TEMP started, 64 kB network RAM

 615 uA

TIMER running

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ITIMER0

One TIMER running @ 1 MHz

 475 uA
ITIMER1

One TIMER running @ 1 MHz, clock = HFXO64M

 670 uA
ITIMER2

One TIMER running @ 16 MHz

 560 uA
ITIMER2,LDO

One TIMER running @ 16 MHz; regulator = LDO

 1040 uA
ITIMER3

One TIMER running @ 16 MHz, clock = HFXO64M

 750 uA
ITIMER3,LDO

One TIMER running @ 16 MHz, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 1280 uA
ITIMER4

One TIMER running @ 16 MHz, clock = HFINT128M

 750 uA
INET,TIMER0

One network TIMER running @ 1 MHz

 170 uA
INET,TIMER1

One network TIMER running @ 1 MHz, clock = HFXO64M

 400 uA
INET,TIMER2

One network TIMER running @ 16 MHz

 220 uA
INET,TIMER3

One network TIMER running @ 16 MHz, clock = HFXO64M

 445 uA

SPIM active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ISPIM0

SPIM transferring data @ 2 Mbps

 935 uA
ISPIM1

SPIM transferring data @ 2 Mbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1145 uA
ISPIM2

SPIM transferring data @ 8 Mbps

 1705 uA
ISPIM3

SPIM transferring data @ 8 Mbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1930 uA
ISPIM4

SPIM transferring data @ 32 Mbps

 2115 uA
ISPIM5

SPIM transferring data @ 32 Mbps, clock = HFXO64M

 2345 uA

SPIS active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ISPIS0

SPIS configured and idle (enabled, no CSN activity)

 145 uA
ISPIS1

SPIS transferring data @ 2 Mbps

 713 uA
ISPIS2

SPIS transferring data @ 2 Mbps, clock = HFXO64M

 913 uA

TWIM active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ITWIM0

TWIM transferring data @ 100 kbps

 965 uA
ITWIM1

TWIM transferring data @ 100 kbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1170 uA
ITWIM2

TWIM transferring data @ 400 kbps

 1000 uA
ITWIM3

TWIM transferring data @ 400 kbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1205 uA
ITWIM4

TWIM transferring data @ 1000 kbps

 2050 uA
ITWIM5

TWIM transferring data @ 1000 kbps, clock = HFXO64M

 2295 uA

TWIS active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
ITWIS,IDLE

TWIS configured and enabled (IDLE state)

 45 uA
ITWIS0

TWIS transferring data @ 100 kbps

 945 uA
ITWIS1

TWIS transferring data @ 400 kbps

 985 uA
ITWIS2

TWIS transferring data @ 100 kbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1150 uA
ITWIS3

TWIS transferring data @ 400 kbps, clock = HFXO64M

 1185 uA

UARTE active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IUARTE,IDLE0

UARTE RX idle (started, waiting for data, no data transfer)

 645 uA
IUARTE,IDLE1

UARTE RX idle (started, waiting for data, no data transfer), clock = HFXO64M

 840 uA
IUARTE0

UARTE transferring data @ 1200 bps, clock = HFXO64M

 885 uA
IUARTE1

UARTE transferring data @ 115200 bps, clock = HFXO64M

 890 uA
IUARTE2

UARTE receiving data @ 115200 bps, clock = HFXO64M

 890 uA
IUARTE3

UARTE transmitting and receiving data @ 115200 bps, clock = HFXO64M

 895 uA

WDT active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IWDT,APP

Application MCU WDT started

 2.0 uA
IWDT,APP,LDO

Application MCU WDT started; regulator = LDO

 4.9 uA
IWDT,NET

Network MCU WDT started, 64 kB network RAM

 3.2 uA

Compounded

These are scenarios where both cores are active. 20 kB of RAM in the application core and 64 kB of RAM in the network core are switched on and retained.

In scenarios where both cores are active, the clock and regulator settings apply to both.

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IS0

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M

 7.3 mA
IS1

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M

 6.9 mA
IS2

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M, regulator = LDO

 16.9 mA
IS3

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 15.6 mA
IS4

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M, 5 V supply on VDDH, VREGH output = 3.3 V

 6.7 mA
IS5

Application CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M, 5 V supply on VDDH, VREGH output = 3.3 V

 6.4 mA
IS6

Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode, clock = HFXO64M

 5.9 mA
IS7

Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode, clock = HFXO64M

 5.4 mA
IS8

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M

 9.1 mA
IS9

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M

 8.6 mA
IS10

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ +3 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M

 9.9 mA
IS11

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ +3 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 21.5 mA
IS12

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 20.2 mA
IS13

Application + Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode; clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 21.5 mA
IS14

Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio transmitting @ 0 dBm output power, 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 12.6 mA
IS15

Network CPU running CoreMark from flash, radio receiving @ 1 Mbps Bluetooth Low Energy mode, clock = HFXO64M; regulator = LDO

 14.0 mA

USBD active

Symbol Description Min. Typ. Max. Units
IUSB,ACTIVE,VBUS

Current from VBUS supply, USB active

 1.2 mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VBUS

Current from VBUS supply, USB suspended, CPU sleeping

 180 uA
IUSB,ACTIVE,VDD

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

 3.0 mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDD

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

 815 uA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDD,LDO

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

 135 uA
IUSB,ACTIVE,VDDH

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

 3.2 mA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDDH

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

 2340 uA
IUSB,SUSPEND,VDDH,LDO

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

 125 uA
IUSB,DISABLED,VDD

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

 3 uA