Comparison of Power Consumption Measurement Methods in Embedded Systems

This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of power consumption measurement methods in embedded systems. The study evaluates various techniques to identify the most reliable and efficient approaches for assessing power usage in microcontroller units (MCUs). Three methods—shunt resistor current measurement, ammeter-based current measurement, and the charge transfer method—were found to yield consistent results. However, the charge transfer method is error-prone due to the inherent inaccuracies during simultaneous capacitor disconnection and stopwatch recording. The current mirror method and op-amp-based measurement method failed to produce meaningful results, primarily due to disturbances in voltage readings. These findings provide valuable insights for embedded systems developers, offering guidance on selecting appropriate power measurement techniques to ensure accurate and consistent evaluation of power consumption in their designs.