nRF5340 PDK v0.8.0

nRF5340 power source

The nRF5340 PDK has a power source switch (SW9) for selecting between three power sources for the nRF5340 SoC.

The three positions of the switch are:

Figure 1. nRF5340 power source switch
Power source switch on nRF5340 PDK

The nRF5340 System on Chip (SoC) has a high voltage buck regulator that can support up to 5 V input. In the VDD position, the SoC is powered either from the onboard buck regulator, coin cell battery, or external supply (P21). In the Li-Po position, the high voltage regulator of the SoC is supplied directly from the Li-Po battery connectors (J6 or P27). In the USB position, the USB high voltage regulator gets power from the nRF5340 USB connector (J3).

When the high voltage regulator is used, the VDD_nRF voltage can be set by the firmware of the SoC. To make sure the rest of the Preview Development Kit (PDK) has the same voltage level, the VDD of the PDK is sourced by a regulator following the VDD_nRF voltage when the high voltage regulator is used.

Figure 2. VDD_nRF voltage follower and switch
Schematic: VDD_nRF voltage follower and switch

To make sure that the nRF5340 is not powered when the nRF power switch (SW8) is OFF, two load switches are used, one for the high voltage regulator (U15) and one for the USB supply (U20). These switches are controlled by VDD.