Texas Instruments introduced what is said to be the industry's smallest and most accurate Li-Ion battery fuel gauge integrated circuit, the bq27421, which boosts battery run-time in portable medical devices, such as wearable health monitors, and industrial devices like inventory scanners and portable emergency lights and other consumer electronics.
Leveraging TI’s proven Impedance Track™ advanced battery technology typically used in tablets and smartphones, the bq27421 system-side fuel gauge in a 9-ball chipscale (WCSP) package accurately reports remaining battery capacity, state-of-charge and battery voltage, allowing portable devices to extend run-time by 50 percent or higher.
Designers can use the pre-configured "plug-and-play" bq27421 fuel gauge with TI's new Gauge Studio software tool to simplify battery gauging design. The file size of the Gauge Studio design tool is about ten times smaller than TI's previous software, dramatically minimizing configuration and system firmware development. The bq27421EVM-G1A evaluation development kit is available for US$49.
Key benefits of the bq24721:
· Integrated sense resistor and tiny 1.5-mm by 1.5-mm by 0.5-mm WCSP package result in the smallest possible total solution size compared to competing gauges.
· Single-cell battery fuel gauge supports embedded or removable Li-Ion batteries.
· Simple-to-design, “plug-and-play” gauge requires minimal user configuration and system microcontroller firmware development versus competitive devices.
· Impedance track™ technology provides battery capacity measurement with 99-percent accuracy, and automatically adjusts for battery aging, self-discharge, temperature and rate changes.
The bq27421 battery fuel gauge is available now in a 1.5-mm by 1.5-mm by 0.5-mm, 9-ball WCSP package, and is priced at US$1.20 in 1,000-unit quantities. A QFN package version is sampling to select customers, and is expected to be available in volume production in the fourth quarter.