Re-Programmable IC Keeps Tabs On All Battery Activities

Supporting Li-Ion, Li-Ion polymer and NiMH battery chemistries, the PS401 is said to integrate on-chip all the functions required for monitoring the above batteries. The SBS-compliant battery management IC combines a proprietary 8-bit RISC microcontroller with embedded non-volatile memory for program and data storage and a 15-bit A/D converter for collecting battery and system data. The high-accuracy ADC together with battery models is said to result in less than 1% total battery capacity reporting error.Representing the first member of the Accuron family of Smart Battery Manager ICs, the PS401 stores the monitoring and control algorithms and 3D cell models on its 12 KB of OTP EPROM, with on-chip EEPROM used to store user-customizable and ÒlearnedÓ battery parameters. The IC is field re-programmable via a SMBus interface. The IC can be embedded in battery packs or placed on motherboards. The 28-pin SSOP costs $4.50 each/1,000. POWERSMART INC., Shelton, CT. (203) 925-1340.