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To measure the current drawn while executing the instrctions



Hi,

I am trying to measure the current drawn by the core (TMS320C6713) for executing the instruction  "MVK .S1 4,A4". 

When i checked the voltage drop across JP1 its showing 9.8mv however,  when i disconnect the device from the USB that time also consume the same voltage. iI have used agilent higher end DMM for the same. Please clarify me the following

1. How to measure the voltage drawn by the core when it is executing the instruction?

2. How to change the operating frequency of the device(TMS320C6713).

  • Assuming you are talking about the DSK6713:  JP1, JP2, and JP3 are used as follows:  (0) power off the board; (1) cut the trace between the two pins; (2) solder in a 2-pin header connector; (3) install a shunt on the header (which duplicates the function that the trace used to perform.  Then, whenever you wish to measure current through that point: (0) power off the board; (1) remove the shunt; (2) connect  a 2-wire plug into the header, with the wires connected to a low-resistance current meter so that current flows *through* the meter.  Be careful to avoid having an open circuit!

    You're not going to be able to get a meaningful measurement for current drawn during execution of a single instruction, even if you run a program with amlost nothing in it except a long series of that instruction.  Current is affected by caching, external memory, and peripheral device logic.  What you should look for is the *average* current while executing the main processing loop of a typical application.

    Voltage is not "drawn", it is current that is drawn.  You can measure voltage (potential difference) between two points with a voltmeter, but that's not what you want in this case.

    By "operating frequency" I assume you mean CPU clock frequency.  That is usually limited by the DSP chip itself; the one on the DSK6713 operates at a 225MHz clock rate, and you should not attempt to change it.  The clock rate is set by a phase-locked loop (PLL) which uses a programmable divider to compare the DSP internal clock against an external reference frequency (on the CLKIN/ECLKIN pins), which is 50MHz on the DSK6713.  There is another PLL progranmmable divider that is used to set the EMIF (external memory interface) clock rate, which needs to match the EMIF configuration set up by e.g. the device .GEL file and/or run-time system initialization function shipped with CCS.  For the DSK6713 the EMIF clock is set to 90 MHz, and again, you should not try to change it.

  • Oops, I meant JP1, JP2, and JP4 (not JP3).

  • Thank you very much. I came to know very much new concepts. I have some doubts, please clarify:

    1." *average* current while executing the main processing loop of a typical application"  will you please elaborate this statement..?

    2. What should be the precision of the voltmeter? shall i use the milli or micro voltmeter?

    Thanks and Regards

  • I don't know what needs elaboration.  Average, current, executing, main, processing, loop, typical, or application?  The main point is that you cannot reasonably expect the current drawn by the DSP integrated circuit to precisely indicate current requirements for each instruction, on a single-instruction basis.  Therefore, you should instead concentrate on the "typical" current requirements for an entire program, especially while that program is busy doing the main data processing function that it was designed for.  Esentially all common current meters automatically "average" the current reading over some short amount of time, so the displayed value should remain fairly stable, for example ranging from 0.9A to 1.1A, which we would simply call 1.0A on the average.

    You should *not* use a voltmeter!  Instead, use a current meter (also known as an ammeter).  So-called "VOM"s (Volt/OhmMeters) usually have at least a couple of different current ranges and typically use at least one different jack for one of the test leads when being used to measure current.  You want to measure current passing *through* the meter, *not* voltage (potential difference) between the two meter probes.  The current meter needs to be inserted into the power-supply circuit, *in series* between the power source and the integrated circuit's power-supply pin.  As originally supplied, the DSK board has a foil trace (on the surface of the circuit board) connecting between the two pins, for each of J1, J2, or J4.  When you cut the foil trace, there will of course then be an open circuit, so no current can flow into the power-supply pin.  You can restore the current flow by using a jumper (shunt connector) between the two pins; the jumper acts as a conductor so that current can flow freely.  In order to measure the current, you must remove that jumper and instead use the current meter to complete the circuit between the two pins.