PAC1711 Click

How does it work?

PAC1711 Click is based on the PAC1711, a single-channel DC power monitor IC from Microchip, which combines a high-side current sense amplifier and a bus voltage monitor feeding a 12-bit resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC). This board is designed to provide accurate real-time monitoring of voltage, current, and power consumption in a wide range of embedded and industrial applications. The digital processing circuitry within the PAC1711 performs automatic power calculations and integrates energy values over time, supporting accumulation periods that can extend up to one year or even longer, making it particularly suitable for embedded computing systems, power-sensitive devices, cloud servers, portable electronics, and automotive applications where precise DC power measurement, diagnostics, and optimization are critical.

This Click board™ is designed in a unique format supporting the newly introduced MIKROE feature called "Click Snap." Unlike the standardized version of Click boards, this feature allows the main sensor/IC/module area to become movable by breaking the PCB, opening many new possibilities for implementation. Thanks to the Snap feature, the PAC1711 can operate autonomously by accessing its signals directly on the pins marked 1-8. Additionally, the Snap part includes a specified and fixed screw hole position, enabling users to secure the Snap board in their desired location.

The PAC1711 Click measures voltages from 0V up to 42V and currents up to 13.5A, offering a wide dynamic range suitable for both low-voltage and high-power systems. Bus voltage, sense resistor voltage, and accumulated power values are stored in internal registers, which can be read by the host MCU through a standard 2-wire I2C interface. This interface supports communication speeds of up to 3.4MHz, enabling fast data acquisition and integration into existing embedded architectures. The PAC1711 Click provides flexible I2C address configuration through ADDR SEL jumpers, allowing multiple devices to coexist on the same bus.

The board also includes an intelligent alert system with two dedicated alert pins (A0 and A1), which can, besides address selection, be configured to trigger notifications when measured voltage, current, or power values exceed user-defined thresholds, providing real-time protection and system diagnostics. The sampling rate and energy integration period are fully programmable via I2C, giving developers control over the precision, speed, and responsiveness of measurements. Additionally, one-shot measurement mode and other configuration commands are accessible through the same interface, allowing many operation modes depending on application needs.

The PAC1711 incorporates real-time calibration to minimize offset errors, ensuring stable and reliable measurements without the need for external trimming or compensation. It requires no external input filters due to its integrated low-noise architecture, while its built-in adjustable averaging function further enhances measurement accuracy by filtering transient noise and ensuring consistent readings even under rapidly changing load conditions.

This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Click Snap

Click Snap is an innovative feature of our standardized Click add-on boards, designed to bring greater flexibility and optimize your prototypes. By simply snapping the PCB along predefined lines, you can easily detach the main sensor/IC/module area, reducing the overall size, weight, and power consumption - ideal for the final phase of prototyping. For more details about Click Snap, visit the official page dedicated to this feature.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on PAC1711 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
	NC	1	AN	PWM	16	A1	Address Selection / Alert
	NC	2	RST	INT	15	A0	Address Selection / Alert
ID COMM	CS	3	CS	RX	14	NC
	NC	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
	NC	5	MISO	SCL	12	SCL	I2C Clock
	NC	6	MOSI	SDA	11	SDA	I2C Data
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	5V	Power Supply
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

PAC1711 Click electrical specifications

Software Support

PAC1711 Click demo application is developed using the NECTO Studio, ensuring compatibility with mikroSDK's open-source libraries and tools. Designed for plug-and-play implementation and testing, the demo is fully compatible with all development, starter, and mikromedia boards featuring a mikroBUS™ socket.

Example Description

This example demonstrates the use of the PAC1711 Click board for current, voltage, and power monitoring. The application reads and logs bus voltage, sense current, power values, as well as min/max and average measurements.

Key Functions

• pac1711_cfg_setup This function initializes Click configuration structure to initial values.
• pac1711_init This function initializes all necessary pins and peripherals used for this Click board.
• pac1711_default_cfg This function executes a default configuration of PAC1711 Click board.
• pac1711_set_fsr This function configures full-scale ranges (FSR) for V(SENSE) and V(BUS).
• pac1711_refresh This function issues a REFRESH command to update measurement registers.
• pac1711_read_data This function reads accumulated count, voltage, current, and power data, and converts raw codes into SI units, storing the results to the output structure.

Application Init

Initializes the logger and PAC1711 Click driver, then applies the default configuration.

Application Task

Periodically refreshes the measurements and logs voltage, current, and power data. Updates are provided every second.

Application Output

This Click board can be interfaced and monitored in two ways:

• Application Output - Use the "Application Output" window in Debug mode for real-time data monitoring. Set it up properly by following this tutorial.
• UART Terminal - Monitor data via the UART Terminal using a USB to UART converter. For detailed instructions, check out this tutorial.

Additional Notes and Information

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.