A new battery management integrated circuit has been introduced by Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). The IC increases the life of rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs and maximises available energy for hybrid and electric vehicles, power tools and uninterruptible power source (UPS) applications.
The stackable bq76PL536 battery monitor, balancer and protector incorporates analogue-to-digital converters for independent cell voltage and temperature protection, cell balancing and isolated chip-to-chip communication.
The device intelligently measures battery cell voltages to 1-mV accuracy, which is needed for demanding new lithium chemistries.
The IC also provides full secondary protection for over voltage, under voltage and over temperature conditions. When safety thresholds are exceeded, the device sets the fault and alert outputs independently of the normal communication channel.
No external components are needed to configure or enable the protection features available on the IC.
