ELS61-E - Sleep Mode has no effect on quiescent current taken by module | Thales IoT Developer Community
June 11, 2019 - 11:52am, 3095 views
Hi
I'm using the ELS61-E, and have noticed that it's taking about 13mA quiescent current, this seems independent of whether I it’s camped on 2G or 4G; and whether the power saving SLEEP **** is enabled or not.
ATI1 >>> Cinterion ELS61-E REVISION 01.000 A-REVISION 00.026.00
AT^SMONI=255 >>> ^SMONI: 2G,107,-77,234,10,53B5,5838,31,31,3,7,E,5,-108,NOCONN
AT^SPOW? >>> ^SPOW: 2,1000,3
Quiescent Current = 13mA
I have no USB connections wired up. Just a serial UART connection to ASC0.
The RTS line goes Low several ms before any comms from the controller and returns high serveral ms after comms is complete. Most of the URCs have been disabled.
There is no active UART communications. The Modem is just sitting there happily camped on a tower draining away its battery…
So why does this unit refuse to go to SLEEP?
Hello,
Could you also write more about the hardware - is it any developer board or your hardware and how the current consumption is measured? Can you send any schematics?
Have you measured CTS line to verify if the module is really in sleep **** - is it high? Are you able to also switch off the serial interface with SPOW command for test?
Please make sure that AT^SCFG=”MEopMode/PwrSave” is set to "enabled".
Regards,
Bartłomiej
Hi Bartłomiej
Many thanks for your speedy reply.
The schematics are basically a cut down version of the dev board with the USB support and other stuff omitted.
The current is measured via a 0.16ohm shunt, there is no ancillery circuitry that is capable of absorbing more than 1mA, and should not be absorbing anything like that. The 13mA IS being taken by the module.
The CTS Line does go high,
I cannot disable the serial interface as that is my only interface.
below is an output from AT^SCFG?
^SCFG: "GPRS/AutoAttach","enabled"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/ASC1","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/DCD0","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/DSR0","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/DTR0","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/FSR","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/PULSE","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/PWM","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/RING0","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/SPI","gpio"
^SCFG: "Gpio/****/SYNC","gpio"
^SCFG: "Ident/Manufacturer","Cinterion"
^SCFG: "Ident/Product","ELS61-E"
^SCFG: "MEShutdown/Fso","0"
^SCFG: "MEShutdown/sVsup/threshold","0","0"
^SCFG: "MEopMode/CFUN","0","1"
^SCFG: "MEopMode/CregRoam","0"
^SCFG: "MEopMode/SoR","off"
^SCFG: "MeOpMode/SRPOM","0"
^SCFG: "Radio/Band/2G","0x00000014"
^SCFG: "Radio/Band/4G","0x08080085"
^SCFG: "Radio/Mtpl/2G","0"
^SCFG: "Radio/Mtpl/4G","0"
^SCFG: "Radio/OutputPowerReduction","4"
^SCFG: "Serial/Interface/Allocation","0","0"
^SCFG: "Serial/USB/DDD","0","0","0409","1E2D","005B","Cinterion Wireless Modules","ELSx",""
^SCFG: "Tcp/IRT","3"
^SCFG: "Tcp/MR","10"
^SCFG: "Tcp/OT","6000"
^SCFG: "Tcp/WithURCs","off"
^SCFG: "Trace/Syslog/OTAP","0"
^SCFG: "URC/Ringline","local"
^SCFG: "URC/Ringline/ActiveTime","2"
^SCFG: "Userware/Autostart","1"
^SCFG: "Userware/Autostart/Delay","0"
^SCFG: "Userware/DebugInterface","0.0.0.0","0.0.0.0","0"
^SCFG: "Userware/DebugMode","off"
^SCFG: "Userware/Passwd",
^SCFG: "Userware/Stdout","null",,,,"off"
^SCFG: "Userware/Watchdog","0"
There is no AT^SCFG=”MEopMode/PwrSave”, perhaps this is supported on a different Firmware version.
I can see no method of disabling the unused USB interfaces if we need to.
Your continued support is greatly appreciated
Kind Regards
Carl
Hi
Sorry Bartłomiej. We have tracked the problem down to a Roaming SIM (3V). If we use a more modern Single Network 1.8V SIM the current falls back down to 2.4mA (exactly where is should be). Thanks for your help all the same.
Hello,
This is a great news.
Thank you for this information. I didn't suspect SIM card.
This feature depends on the paging timing cycle of the base station but here the difference in current consumption was quite big.
Regards,
Bartłomiej
Just out of interest, do you know why a 3V SIM would force the modem to take an additional 10mA?
Hello,
For now I don't know the answer why it could have been so much more for a different SIM card and if it can really depend on the SIM voltage or maybe there are other factors. There are some measurement conditions described in the document related to the settings, network conditions and time constraints which can probably influence the result:
'Measurements start 6 minutes after switching ON the module;
Averaging *****: SLEEP **** - 3 minutes, transfer ****s - 1.5 minutes
Communication tester settings: no neighbor cells, no cell reselection etc., RMC (reference measurement channel). SLEEP **** is enabled via AT Command AT^SPOW=2, 1000, 3'
I'll consult this with a specialist and maybe report this as incident to be further investigated.
Regards,
Bartłomiej