Standalone Logging: Power Management

Standalone Logging's Power Management features control when the logger goes to sleep to conserve power, and when it wakes up again. These are universal settings that apply to all collections using any of the four collection methods: Message Capture, Histogram, Bus Query or Ethernet DAQ.

Note: ICS loggers, such as the neoVI FIRE, PLASMA and ION, are designed to be always on (they do not have power on/off switches).  Sleep and wake settings are provided to minimize power consumption while logging is taking place. It is CRITICAL to set these configuration parameters correctly to avoid draining the battery of the car to which a logger is connected!

The Power Management section of the Standalone Logging screen can be found in Figure 1. There are three subsections containing related options, plus an additional option at the bottom of the box, all of which are explained below.


Figure 1: Standalone Logging Power Management Options.

Sleep Options

Choose one of the two options to determine whether or not the logger enters sleep mode:

As mentioned above, ICS hardware by default has sleep mode disabled. If you choose Never, the device will never enter sleep mode. Choosing this option can drain the car's battery if used incorrectly.

Advanced Options

Clicking the Advanced button launches a dialog box that gives you even more control over the logger's behavior when it goes to sleep or wakes up. There are two tabs here with options to choose from (both are shown in Figure 2):

Note: These settings are also found under Advanced Options in the Generation Options area.


Figure 2: Standalone Logging Power Management Advanced Options.Left, the Advanced tab, right, the Sleep User Function Blocks tab.

Wake Options

This setting controls how "deeply" the logger sleeps and how quickly it wakes up. The choice here represents a trade-off between power consumption and responsiveness to the resumption of bus activity; the options and their impacts are explained in Table 1.

In both modes, any activity on any network connected to the logger will trigger a wakeup and keep the logger awake until sleep conditions are met again.

Table 1: Wake Up Options for Standalone Logging Sleep Mode

Wake Up Mode Sleep Behavior Wake Up Behavior Relative Power Consumption Typical Current Draw at 12V
Normal Everything runs Might not log the first few messages upon wakeup Lowest while asleep PLASMA: ~5 mA
FIRE: ~5 mA
Instant (HS/MS) Everything runs Wakeup triggered from HS or MS CAN allows the message that caused the wakeup to be logged Higher than Normal mode PLASMA: ~27 mA
FIRE: ~50 mA

Enable Remote Wake Up (Wireless Devices Only)

This option allows a sleeping neoVI PLASMA to be woken remotely by an SMS text message.

Start a New File When Waking Up

Enable this option to start a new log file each time the logger wakes up, rather than appending to the previous log

Wireless neoVI

These settings limit attempts to upload logs wirelessly to Wireless neoVI in order to prevent excessive power use that might drain the car's battery:

Exceeding any of these limits will force the logger into sleep mode.

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