Continuous energy consumption measure approach using a DMA double-buffering technique

Abstract Measuring the consumption of electronic devices is a difficult and sensitive task. Data acquisition (DAQ) systems are often used to determine such consumption. In theory, measuring energy straight forward, just by acquiring current voltage signals we can However, number issues arise when fine analysis required. The main problem that sampling frequencies have be high enough detect variations in assessed over time. regard, some popular DAQ based on RISC ARM processors for microcontrollers combined with analog-to-digital converters meet high-frequency requirements. efficient use direct memory access (DMA) modules pipelined processing microcontroller allows improve sample rate overcoming time internal communication protocol limitations. This paper presents novel approach measurement composed DMA improvement (data logic), data logic low-cost hardware. contribution combination double-buffered signal mechanism an algorithm computes device’s using parallel processing. these elements enables (continuous) device, improving accuracy reducing cost existing systems. We validated our consumed elemental circuits wireless sensors networks (WSNs) motes. results indicate error less than 5% proposed method suitable measure WSN motes even during sleep cycles, enabling better characterization their profile.