If you want to reduce the power consumption of the MCU, it is common to design the software so that it operates intermittently. Intermittent operation refers to a series of processes such as shifting to sleep mode when necessary processing is completed, periodically returning to operating mode (waking up) to perform processing, and then shifting to sleep mode again after processing is completed. It works. By remaining in sleep, deep sleep, or standby modes with low power consumption during periods when the MCU is not processing, the average power consumption can be reduced.

The time required to return to normal operation mode from low power consumption modes such as sleep and deep sleep is called wake-up time. The MCU cannot process during this period, and the power consumption is not low. In other words, it is a period during which power is wasted. The shorter this period is, the less power is wasted and the lower the average power.

If it wakes up infrequently, the length of time it takes to wake up has little impact on average power. However, it is an important spec for applications that frequently wake up.