10 Voltage Regulator Configuration

For AVR DA and DB devices, there is another technique to be aware of for applications requiring high-accuracy timing. The voltage regulator can be configured in the Sleep Controller (SLPCTRL) to balance the power consumption with the wake-up time and with the maximum clock speed. In its default configuration, the regulator is in Normal (AUTO) mode. In this mode, the regulator will consume less power when sleeping in Standby/Power-Down mode or when the 32 kHz is the only oscillator enabled, but the wake-up time will be longer. Instead, if the regulator is configured to Performance (FULL) mode, it will use maximum power consumption in all modes. But the wake-up time will be faster from sleep modes, which is a tradeoff between wake-up time and power consumption, and, as discussed in Choice of Oscillator, a longer wake-up time will shorten the amount of time spent in sleep mode. Configuring the Voltage Regulator to Performance mode will shorten the wake-up time while still having the clock source disabled during sleep mode. For exact values for power consumption and start-up times, refer to the Electrical Characteristics section in the corresponding data sheet.