The Nordic Semiconductor Power Profiler Kit II (PPK2) is a cost-effective, flexible tool that provides hardware and software engineers with an easy method to measure average and dynamic power consumption in embedded solutions. The PPK2 can be connected as a standalone unit to any Nordic Development Kit (DK) or a custom board without the need for additional kits or debuggers.
The PPK2 supports both an ammeter mode and a source mode (represented as AMP and Source Measurement Unit (SMU) on the PCB). In AMP mode, an external power supply must provide VCC levels between 0.8 V and 5.0 V to the Device Under Test (DUT). For the SMU mode, the PPK2 supplies VCC levels between 0.8 V and 5.0 V, and the on-board regulator provides external applications with a current of up to 1 A. In addition to external hardware, low sleep currents, higher active currents, and short current spikes can be measured on all Nordic DKs.
The power for the PPK2 is supplied by a standard 5.0 V USB port. The DUT can be powered either from an external source or from the PPK2 source. The PPK2 eliminates the need for a bench power supply as it can provide an adjustable output voltage from 0.8 V to 5.0 V and a dynamic output current from 1 µA to 1 A.
Furthermore, the PPK2 offers eight digital inputs that can be used as a low-end logic analyzer. This allows for code capture and an easy connection of power consumption to the executed code blocks.
