Precise Low-Current Measurement Techniques for IoT Devices: A Case Study on MoleNet

TL;DR

This paper compares high-precision source measurement units for accurately measuring low currents in IoT devices, demonstrating their effectiveness through a case study on the MoleNet sensor board.

Contribution

It introduces a methodology for precise low-current measurement in IoT devices using dedicated SMUs, addressing limitations of traditional tools.

Findings

SMUs provide higher accuracy for small current measurements

Effective measurement of sleep mode currents in IoT devices

Improved power consumption profiling for IoT deployment

Abstract

Power consumption is a crucial aspect of IoT devices which often have to run on a battery for an extended period of time. Therefore, supply current measurements are crucial before deploying a device in the field. Multimeters and oscilloscopes are not well suited when it comes to measuring very small currents which occur e.g. when an IoT device is in sleep mode. In this report, we compare dedicated source measurement units (SMUs) which allow to measure very small currents with high precision. As an application example, we demonstrate current measurements on our MoleNet IoT sensor board.