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AWR2243: Intermittent operation to achieve ultra low average power consumption

Part Number: AWR2243

Hi technical support,

Would like to achieve an average power consumption of 10mW or less by intermittent operation in which Active (RADAR operation) and Deep Standby is repeated. The image of intermittent operation is illustrated in below diagram. (Rough idea: chirp cycle time 120us, 3fps)


1-1. Is such control possible by API?
(The image of the state is that "the lowest consumption possible while still retaining power to the device" which is described in 4.3.2.2 Full Power Down Scheme of Application Note xWR6843 Power Optimization (swra689). )
1-2. How much power consumption would be achieved by the lowest power consumption state?
1-3. What API/Command are to be used for transition to the lowest power consumption state?
2. Instead of using the above mentioned API/command, if RESET state is applied to achieve the lowest power consumption sate,
 How much power consumption would be achieved during RESET state?

Best Regards,
Katsuhiro

  • Hi Katsuhiro-San, 

    The power optimization techniques for XWR6843 would not be applicable for AWR2243 device. As such there's no such low power in the AWR2243 device which can limit the power consumption to a minimum number. But there are other ways that can help you achieve lower average power numbers:

    1. Power is mostly consumed by the device in Active chirping mode. So basically, if you reduce the chirp duty cycle (ratio of active framing and total frame period), that will help in ultimately reducing the average device power. This can be done either by decreasing the frame active time (keeping total frame time constant) or by increasing the inter-frame idle time.

    2. You can also disable the active number of transmitters at once to reduce power (or reduce the output power/transmitting power of TX)

    3. You can save power by configuring Interchirp Idle time > 10us. In that case, most of the blocks in the device are turned off in the interchirp idle time to save power.

    4. You can use Low power ADC mode (half rate ADC mode), but this puts a limitation on the usable IF bandwidth. Please refer to the mmWave Interface Control document for that.

    5. Using a real only complex chain can also help here.

    So its basically weighing various factors now. Obviously each of them come with a cost and have their own pros and cons and perfromance trade off, but these are some of the ways in which power can be optimized.

    You might want to take a look at the following training video that summarizes a majority of Power optimization techniques : mmWave AWR1x Power Optimization Options | TI.com Video

    Hope this helps. 

    Regards,

    Ishita

  • Hi Ishita,

    Thank you for explaining various techniques for reducing average power consumption of AWR2243.

    Is it possible to answer the power consumption values of following three states?
    Power consumption of inter-frame idle time, inter-chirp idle time and RESET state.
    First two items are power consumption under following condition: 3TX4RX, normal ADC mode and I & Q complex chain (normal mode).

    Best Regards,
    Katsuhiro