Edited by PETech Staff
Low Pin Count Li-Ion Battery Charger IC
Linear Technology Corp.’s new LTC4006 is a 2- to 4-cell Li-Ion battery charger with up to 4A charge capability that includes essential I/O status signals required for constructing a simple autonomous high-power battery charger system. It’s housed in a narrow 16-pin SSOP package and offers output signals for end-of-charge and wall adapter detection, as well as charge current value indicator for gas-gauging.Also, the LTC4006 operates at up to 98% duty factor, which permits 0.5V dropout operation and allows charging from low voltage wall adapters. To improve safety during charging, the LTC4006 features a battery temperature monitor as well as overvoltage and overcurrent protection. End applications include memory backup systems, portable medical and automotive diagnostics, GPS, as well as notepad and notebook PCs.
The LTC4006 features a quasi-constant frequency, constant off-time architecture that doesn’t generate audible noise even when using ceramic capacitors. The IC is offered in three versions for 8.4V (2-cell), 12.6V (3-cell), and 16.8V (4-cell) float voltages with ±0.8% accuracy. Charging current is programmable with a resistor to ±4% typical accuracy. For gas gauging, a proprietary feature represents the charging current as a voltage to a microcontroller or an A/D converter. A resistor sets total charge time from 1 hr to 3 hr. The LTC4006 includes automatic recharge and trickle charging. It operates from -40°C to 85°C.
For more information, visit www.linear.com.