As part of an evaluation of the ATxmega256A3BU, it can be of interest to measure its
power consumption. Because the XMEGA has a separate power plane (VCC_MCU_P3V3) on this
board it is possible to measure the current consumption by measuring the current that is
flowing into this plane. The VCC_MCU_P3V3 plane is connected via a jumper to the main
power plane (VCC_P3V3) and by replacing the jumper with an amperemeter it is possible to
determine the current consumption. To locate the power measurement header, refer
to the figure in
Kit overview.
Attention:
Do not power the board without having the jumper or an
amperemeter mounted since this can cause latch-up of the ATxmega256A3BU due to
current flow into the I/O pins.