Li+ Battery Charger Breaks Size Barrier

Housed in thermally enhanced 3 x 3-mm DFN and 4 x 4-mm and 5 x 5-mm QFN packages, the AnyAdapter ISL6292 IC claims the title of the industry's smallest Li-ion/Li-polymer battery charger - AnyAdapter indicates that the device can accept a wide range of voltage sources, including voltage and current-limited wall-plug modules and USB bus power. An internal, trimmed current-sense circuit maintains 10% accuracy without the aid of an external current-sense resistor. The device preconditions the battery with 0.1 of the programmed charge current at the beginning of a charge cycle until it verifies that the battery can be fast-charged. Other ISL6292 features include an input voltage range from 4.3V to 6.5V, internal linear-pass element and charge-current sensor, a 4.1V or 4.2V charge voltage with 1% accuracy, resistor-programmable current limit up to 2A, and programmable end-of-charge current. The charger requires no external reverse blocking diode and operates at temperatures from -20°C to +70°C. Price is $0.95 each/1,000. INTERSIL CORP., Milpitas, CA. (321) 729-4646.