Battery monitoring IC

2 May 2012 Power Electronics / Power Management

STMicroelectronics has introduced a new battery monitoring ‘gas gauge’ for handheld applications. The STC3105 combines a small footprint with elevated measurement accuracy and miserly power consumption to increase battery runtime and lifespan in space-constrained portable gadgets.

The IC delivers high-precision measurement of the battery voltage and current in a 2 x 3 x 0,8 mm package. It uses open-circuit voltage and coulomb-counter methods to estimate the battery capacity and to supervise and track charge/discharge status. Accurate predictions of the battery state of charge and time-to-empty help avoid unnecessary recharging, extend operating time between charges, and lengthen the battery lifespan in portable applications.

The STC3105 boasts low supply current requirements – 60 μA typical – which also contribute to extending the battery runtime and lifespan. The power saving mode reduces current consumption in the IC, as well as enabling low standby power levels in the final application.

Integrating a programmable alarm output, the device can alert the system when the battery state of charge is below a certain level. Such embedded intelligence helps initiate appropriate power management actions when the battery is nearly empty without involving the system microcontroller, enabling the microcontroller to spend longer times in a sleep mode, decreasing the overall power consumption.

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