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Low Power measurements
will.castelnau
Join Date: 6 May 20
Posts: 5
Posted: Tue, 2020-05-12 01:57
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Hi,

I am in the process of measuing the power consumption of the QCA4020 to evaluate its low power WiFi Connected capabilities. I have flashed QCLI_demo onto my CDB20 eval baord and can get it to connect to an AP ok.

However I am unable to observe any drop in power consumption when I issue SetPowerMode, SetStaListenInterval, SetPowerPolicy and related commands.

  1. I am measuring the current draw across J22, which I assume is the right measurement point to the SoC only, 
  2. If I use QCLI_power_demo, I can read microAmps if I hybernate the SoC, which seems to indicate that (1) is somewhat the right point, 
  3. Using a bench multimeter, I have 65mA once joined to an AP, regarless of power related CLI commands I issue.

The SoC reports that it is Low Power mode as far as I can tell, and so is the AP seeing the device as a Low Power connected device:

WLAN> 8
 
WLAN: ssid         =   xxxxxxxxx
WLAN: channel      =   11
WLAN: Phy mode     =   ag(HT:HT MODE 20M)
WLAN: Power mode   =   Power Save
WLAN: Mac Addr     =   02:03:7f:99:95:02
WLAN: mode         =   station
 

Is QCLI_demo the right place to start for what I am attempting to do, I am probably not issuing the right CLI commands, any help appreciated.

PS: Original post for context.

Regards,
Will.

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Re: Low Power measurements — Best Answer
c_rpedad
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Join Date: 18 Jun 18
Location: San Jose
Posts: 317
Posted: Tue, 2020-05-12 09:59
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Kindly flash QCLI_Power_demo to verify the power values on QCA4020 device.

Refer to "QCA402x (CDB2X) Power Measurement Test Guide " document under https://www.qualcomm.com/products/qca4020/documentation for various power test cases and instructions.

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Re: Low Power measurements
will.castelnau
Join Date: 6 May 20
Posts: 5
Posted: Wed, 2020-05-13 22:53
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Tanks Raja,

How does QCLI_power_demo help in this regard? We need to evaluate this platform's Low Power capabilities when WLAN is active.

If it helps anyone, there are two WLAN interfaces, both need to bet set to low power. Disabling UART also allowed the platform to drop down to much lower power consumption levels. 

WLAN> SetDevice 0
WLAN> SetPowerMode 1
WLAN> SetDevice 1
WLAN> SetPowerMode 1

LP> UartDisable 60000

Regards,
Will

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Re: Low Power measurements
c_rpedad
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Join Date: 18 Jun 18
Location: San Jose
Posts: 317
Posted: Fri, 2020-05-15 17:39
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Kindly refer to "QCA402x.OR.3.1CS SDK Release Notes" for power measurement values.
However, the instructions on how we have verified those power values are listed in "QCA402x (CDB2X) Power Measurement Test Guide " document.

We recommend to flash QCLI_power_demo as the images enables the required peripherals for measure power. QCLI_demo is also similar but has the full functionality which enabled the device in Full Operating Mode.

QCA_4020 supports wlan0 for SoftAP and wlan1 for STA mode, hence it is required to set both interfaces in low power mode after wlan enabled while measuring power.

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