TI Introduces Fully Integrated Super Capacitor Manager
Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) introduced what it says is the industry’s first fully integrated Li-Ion battery management integrated circuit (IC) for super capacitor charge control. This single device provides comprehensive features for managing charge control; measuring capacitance and effective series resistance (ESR); and protecting either 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-series super capacitors with individual capacitor control, or up to 9-series capacitors with stack control.
The bq33100 maximizes functionality and safety, while dramatically increasing ease of use and cutting the solution cost and size for super capacitor applications. Battery-backed write cache applications, system bridge power and non-volatile dual in-line memory RAID controller cards need reliable super capacitor pack managers to ensure availability when the primary power fails.
Key features and benefits include: prevents surprise battery pack failures by measuring pack health conditions; communicates dynamic charge voltage with the charger to extend battery pack life; prevents damage to capacitors caused by over voltage or over temperature stress during charging; measures and maintains accurate record of available capacitance; single device manages multiple capacitor configurations: 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-series super capacitor packs; integrated and programmable protection configures safety parameters to battery pack and system needs; and I2C and SMBus communications are widely used communication protocols that match many host processor capabilities.
The bq33103 super capacitor manager is available now in a 7.8 x 6.4mm TSSOP package, priced at $4.65 in quantities of 1,000.
