esp-idf/examples/bluetooth/nimble/power_save

Supported Targets	ESP32	ESP32-C3	ESP32-C6	ESP32-H2	ESP32-S3

Bluetooth Power Save Example

This example is based on the bleprph example to show how to use the bluetooth power save mode.

If the modem sleep mode is enabled, bluetooth will switch periodically between active and sleep. In sleep state, RF, PHY and BB are turned off in order to reduce power consumption.

This example contains five build configurations. For each configuration, a few configuration options are set:

• sdkconfig.defaults.esp32: ESP32 uses 32kHz XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.defaults.esp32c3: ESP32C3 uses 32kHz XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.40m.esp32c3: ESP32C3 uses main XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.defaults.esp32c6: ESP32C6 uses 32kHz XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.40m.esp32c6: ESP32C6 uses main XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.defaults.esp32s3: ESP32S3 uses 32kHz XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.40m.esp32s3: ESP32S3 uses main XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.defaults.esp32h2: ESP32H2 uses 32kHz XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.
• sdkconfig.40m.esp32h2: ESP32H2 uses main XTAL as low power clock in light sleep enabled.

How to use example

Hardware Required

This example should be able to run on any commonly available ESP32/ESP32-C3/ESP32-S3/ESP32-H2/ESP32-C6 development board.

Configure the project

idf.py menuconfig

1. Configure RTC clock source:
   • Component config > Hardware Settings > RTC Clock Config > RTC clock source
2. Enable power management:
   • Component config > Power Management > [*] Support for power management
3. Configure FreeRTOS:
   • Component config > FreeRTOS > Kernel
     • (1000) configTICK_RATE_HZ
     • [*] configUSE_TICKLESS_IDLE
     • (3) configEXPECTED_IDLE_TIME_BEFORE_SLEEP

For Chip ESP32/ESP32-C3/ESP32-S3:

4. Enable power down MAC and baseband:
   • Component config > PHY > [*] Power down MAC and baseband of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when PHY is disabled
5. Enable bluetooth modem sleep:
   • Component config > Bluetooth > Controller Options > MODEM SLEEP Options
     • [*] Bluetooth modem sleep
     • [*] Bluetooth Modem sleep Mode 1
6. Configure bluetooth low power clock:
   • Component config > Bluetooth > Controller Options > MODEM SLEEP Options > Bluetooth modem sleep > Bluetooth Modem sleep Mode 1 > Bluetooth low power clock
7. Enable power up main XTAL during light sleep:
   • Component config > Bluetooth > Controller Options > MODEM SLEEP Options > [*] power up main XTAL during light sleep

For Chip ESP32-C6/ESP32-H2

4. Enable bluetooth modem sleep:
   • Component config > Bluetooth > Controller Options
     • [*] Enable BLE sleep
5. Configure bluetooth low power clock:
   • Component config → Bluetooth → Controller Options → BLE low power clock source
   • Use main XTAL as low power clock source during light sleep:
     • (X) Use main XTAL as RTC clock source
   • Use RTC clock source as low power clock sourceduring light sleep:
     • (X) Use system RTC slow clock source
6. Power down flash during light sleep:
   • Component config → Hardware Settings → Sleep Config
     • [*] Power down flash in light sleep when there is no SPIRAM

Build and Flash

idf.py -D SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS="sdkconfig.defaults;sdkconfig.40m.esp32c3" set-target ESP32C3 build

• -D SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS select configuration file to be used for creating app sdkconfig.
• set-target Set the chip target to build.

To flash the project and see the output, run:

idf.py -p PORT flash monitor

(Replace PORT with the name of the serial port to use.)

(To exit the serial monitor, type Ctrl-].)

See the Getting Started Guide for full steps to configure and use ESP-IDF to build projects.

Example Output

When you run this example, the prints the following at the very begining:

I (333) cpu_start: Starting scheduler.
I (347) pm: Frequency switching config: CPU_MAX: 160, APB_MAX: 80, APB_MIN: 40, Light sleep: ENABLED
I (351) sleep: Enable automatic switching of GPIO sleep configuration
I (358) BTDM_INIT: BT controller compile version [f2e5d81]
I (365) BTDM_INIT: Bluetooth will use main XTAL as Bluetooth sleep clock.
I (372) phy_init: phy_version 912,d001756,Jun  2 2022,16:28:07
I (411) system_api: Base MAC address is not set
I (412) system_api: read default base MAC address from EFUSE
I (412) BTDM_INIT: Bluetooth MAC: 7c:df:a1:61:b6:f6

I (419) NimBLE_BLE_PRPH: BLE Host Task Started
I (424) uart: queue free spaces: 8
I (432) NimBLE: GAP procedure initiated: stop advertising.

I (435) NimBLE: Device Address:
I (437) NimBLE: 7c:df:a1:61:b6:f6
I (441) NimBLE:

I (446) NimBLE: GAP procedure initiated: advertise;
I (450) NimBLE: disc_mode=2
I (453) NimBLE:  adv_channel_map=0 own_addr_type=0 adv_filter_policy=0 adv_itvl_min=0 adv_itvl_max=0
I (463) NimBLE:

Typical current consumption with management enabled

	max current	modem sleep	light sleep (main XTAL)	light sleep (32KHz XTAL)
ESP32	231 mA	14.1 mA	X	1.9 mA
ESP32C3	262 mA	12 mA	2.3 mA	140 uA
ESP32S3	240 mA	17.9 mA	3.3 mA	230 uA
ESP32C6	240 mA	22 mA	3.3 mA	34 uA
ESP32H2	82 mA	16.0 mA	4.0 mA	24 uA
X: This feature is currently not supported.

Example Breakdown

• ESP32 does not support the use of main XTAL in light sleep mode, so an external 32kHz crystal is required.