u-blox LARA-R203 System Integration Manual page 25

1.5.1.5 VCC current consumption in cyclic idle/active mode (power saving enabled)
The power saving configuration is disabled by default, but it can be enabled using the appropriate AT command
(see u-blox AT Commands Manual [2], AT+UPSV command). When power saving is enabled, the module
automatically enters low power idle mode whenever possible, reducing current consumption.
When the power saving configuration is enabled and the module is registered or attached to a network, the
module automatically enters the low power idle mode whenever possible, but it must periodically monitor the
paging channel of the current base station (paging block reception), in accordance to the 2G / 3G / LTE system
requirements, even if connected mode is not enabled by the application. When the module monitors the paging
channel, it wakes up to the active mode to enable the reception of the paging block. In between, the module
switches to low power idle mode. This is known as discontinuous reception (DRX).
The module processor core is activated during the paging block reception, and automatically switches its reference
clock frequency from 32 kHz to the 26 MHz used in active mode.
The time period between two paging block receptions is defined by the network. This is the paging period
parameter, fixed by the base station through broadcast channel sent to all users on the same serving cell:

For 2G radio access technology, the paging period can vary from 470.8 ms (DRX = 2, length of 2 x 51 2G
frames = 2 x 51 x 4.615 ms) up to 2118.4 ms (DRX = 9, length of 9 x 51 2G frames = 9 x 51 x 4.615 ms)

For 3G radio access technology, the paging period can vary from 640 ms (DRX = 6, i.e. length of 2
= 64 x 10 ms) up to 5120 ms (DRX = 9, length of 2

For LTE radio access technology, the paging period can vary from 320 ms (DRX = 5, i.e. length of 2
= 32 x 10 ms) up to 2560 ms (DRX = 8, length of 2
Figure 9 illustrates a typical example of the module current consumption profile when power saving is enabled.
The module is registered with the network, automatically enters the low power idle mode and periodically wakes
up to active mode to monitor the paging channel for the paging block reception. Detailed current consumption
values can be found in the LARA-R2 series Data Sheet [1]).
Current [mA]
100
0
IDLE MODE
Current [mA]
2G case: 0.44-2.09 s
3G case: 0.61-5.09 s
LTE case: 0.27-2.51 s
100
0
Active Mode
Enabled
IDLE MODE
Figure 9: VCC current consumption profile with power saving enabled and module registered with the network: the module is in
low-power idle mode and periodically wakes up to active mode to monitor the paging channel for paging block reception
UBX-16010573 - R12
9
3G frames = 512 x 10 ms).
8
LTE frames = 256 x 10 ms).
RX
Enabled
~50 ms
ACTIVE MODE
LARA-R2 series - System Integration Manual
Time [s]
ACTIVE MODE
~50 ms
Time [ms]
Idle Mode
Enabled
IDLE MODE
6 3G frames
5 LTE frames
System description
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