IoT Device Battery Life Test Solutions Catalog

Introduction

In mission-critical applications, failure of an IoT device battery is not an option. Finding the optimal balance between battery protocol and software functionality to get reliable performance and service life requires in-depth understanding of battery life and current drain.

With its many current and power measurement technology patents, Keysight Technologies has extensive experience in making these measurements.

Let’s explore Keysight’s hardware and software test solutions that can help extend the battery life in your designs.

Key Challenges in Battery Life Test

The ability to last a few years between battery replacement is no longer sufficient for most IoT devices. Instead, users now expect a ten-year  battery life for many applications.

To meet these expectations, chipset designers structure ICs with deep sleep modes that consume minimal current. Standards groups are defining new low energy operating modes that combine low RF power levels and simple connection protocols to limit the active operation time. Engineers, however; may face design challenges when integrating the protocols into their devices, including:

• extreme low levels of current in sleep mode

• significant amplitude shifts in active mode

• narrow pulses requiring high bandwidth

• numerous connections to the DUT that can impact results

• complex power consumption analysis (event versus power consumption)

The Spectrum of Design and Test Needs

At different product lifecycles, diverse test needs arise.

• The chip or module designer requires a fast evaluation of power consumption in various device operating states or module firmware operations.

• The product designer must accurately know overall power consumption throughout the hardware and software development process for power supplies, analog and mixed-signal components, including digital and RF subsystems.

• The manufacturing test department must verify device functionality before it ships.

These different test scenarios challenge the engineer to make measurements with varying levels of detail at each step of the development process. What follows is information on the various Keysight products you can use for your battery life measurements, regardless of where you are in the product lifecycle.

Truevolt 34470A digital multimeter

Product designers can perform basic current measurements with an instrument already on their bench — a digital multimeter (DMM). In digitizing mode, the Keysight Truevolt 34470A digital multimeter can sample current at high rates and generate numerical or graphical results  to analyze waveform features.

The Truevolt 34470A manages high common-mode voltages and brief, high-current transients. This capability enables you to measure circuits without ground reference and zooms in on low current states to make accurate sleep-mode measurements.

• Measure with confidence, with a high basic DCV accuracy at 16 ppm.

• Test low-power devices with a 1 µA range and pA resolution.

• View results using the histogram, bar, and trend  charts on the 4.3-inch color graphical display for easy monitoring and statistical analysis.

• Get digitizing and advanced triggering to capture transient measurements.

• Receive a Keysight BV0001B PathWave BenchVue software license that comes  with your instrument.