System Disabled mode

The entire device can be powered down by presenting the appropriate voltage to the externally available ENABLE pin.

The nRF9160 provides a feature to be able disable power throughout the entire device externally. This can be useful when the device is operating as slave processor where it does not need to be powered on at all times, then it is possible to avoid unnecesary current leaking by driving the ENABLE pin to low. The nRF9160 will not start if is not enabled. Moreover, a change from disable to enable, will result in a power-on-reset behavior inside the device.

Note: VDD_GPIO input must be driven low when device is disabled, failing to do so could result in increased leakage. For more information, see VDD_GPIO considerations in Operating conditions.

Note: In case the System Disabled mode is not used, ENABLE must be connected to VDD.

Table 1. ENABLE pin configuration
Pin Value	Power status	description
Low	Disabled	Device's internal power regulator disabled
High	Enabled	Device's internal power regulator enabled