Designing Multi-Cell Li-ion Battery Packs Using
the ISL9216, ISL9217 Analog Front End
®
Application Note
August 31, 2007
AN1336.0
Description
Battery Connection
This application note discusses some of the hardware and
software design decisions and shows how to select external
components for a multi-cell, Li-ion battery pack using a
microcontroller and the ISL9216 and ISL9217 analog front
end chip set.
The ISL9216, ISL9217 supports multiple series connected
Li-ion cells. The bottom three cells of each device (CELL1,
CELL2, and CELL3) must be connected to a battery cell.
The top cell in the string must also be connected to the
ISL9217. The ISL9216 VCC pin needs to connect two cell
voltages above the ISL9217 VSS. Connections to CELL4
and CELL5 of both devices and CELL6 of the ISL9217 are
optional. This allows the ISL9216, ISL9217 to be used in
battery packs of 8-cells to 12-cells1. Connection guidelines
for each cell combination are shown in Figure 2.
A microcontroller provides the primary control of the
operation of the battery pack. However, several factors in the
multi-cell series Li-ion pack require the use of circuitry
around the microcontroller. They are:
• The voltages involved in a multi-cell series battery pack
(more than 50V for twelve cells in series), are far higher
than most microcontrollers are rated. So, the pack needs a
voltage regulator to power the microcontroller. The
microcontroller cannot just operate on the voltage from
one of the string of Li-ion cells (typically 3.0V to 4.2V)
because higher current from only one cell will cause an
imbalance in the battery pack. This will shorten the life of
the pack. A later discussion highlights the effects of
unbalanced cells and how to rebalance the pack.
If possible, when connecting the cells to the pack, provide
separate “Kelvin” connections from the cell to the VCELLN
pin. This is to minimize the change in input voltage when the
cell balance circuit turns on. For example, see Figure 1. This
connection will reduce by half the input variation of a cell that
is also being balanced. The difference between the cell
voltage when being balanced and when not being balanced
may still be significant enough that cell measurement can
only be made when not balancing.
• The high voltage of the cells in the pack precludes the
microcontroller from reading the voltage on each cell as
needed to properly manage the charge and discharge
limits in each cell. So the pack needs circuits that level
shift the voltages across each cell down to a ground
referenced voltage that the microcontroller can read using
its internal analog to digital (A/D) converter.
VCELLN
PCB
CBN
• Because the microcontroller is relatively slow to respond
to high speed overcurrent events (such as a short circuit
condition), the pack needs circuits that shut down the pack
quickly and autonomously of the microcontroller in order to
protect the cells and the electronics in the pack.
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
• In order to balance the cells in the pack, the
microcontroller needs circuitry that will activate the
balancing circuit of each cell. Most of these circuits are at
a voltage too high for direct microcontroller control.
CB3
VCELL2
The ISL9216 and ISL9217 chip set meets all of these needs
and supports battery pack configurations consisting of
8-cells to 12-cells in series and one or more cells in parallel.
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
The ISL9216, ISL9217 is a very flexible chip set that can be
used in a variety of ways to implement the battery pack. The
ISL9216 provides integral overcurrent protection circuitry,
short circuit protection and drive circuitry for external FET
devices that control pack charge and discharge. Both the
ISL9216 and the ISL9217 provide an internal 3.3V voltage
regulator, internal cell balancing switches, cell voltage
monitor level shifters, and status indicators. Each of these
features have some flexibility in how they are used.
1
VSS
FIGURE 1. CELL AND CELL BALANCE WIRING WITH VCELL
KELVIN CONNECTION
1.
The ISL9216, ISL9217 could support battery packs with fewer than
8-cells per pack, but these would be better served by the ISL9208
device.
CAUTION: These devices are sensitive to electrostatic discharge; follow proper IC Handling Procedures.
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Application Note 1336
12 CELLS
11 CELLS
10 CELLS
VCELL7
VCELL7
VCELL7
CB7
VCELL6
CB7
VCELL6
CB7
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
CB6
VCELL5
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB5
VCELL4
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB4
VCELL3
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB3
VCELL2
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VSS AO
VCELL7
CB2
VCELL1
VCELL6
CB1
VSS AO
VCELL7
CB2
VCELL1
VCELL7
VCELL6
CB1
VSS AO
VCELL6
VCELL5
VCELL5
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB5
VCELL4
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB4
VCELL3
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB3
VCELL2
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
CB2
VCELL1
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VSS
CB1
VSS
CB1
VSS
9 CELLS
8 CELLS
VCELL7
VCELL7
CB7
VCELL6
CB7
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
VCELL7
CB4
VCELL3
VCELL7
CB2
VCELL1
VCELL6
CB3
VCELL2
VCELL6
CB1
VSS AO
VCELL5
CB2
VCELL1
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB1
VSS AO
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VSS
CB1
VSS
Note: Multiple cells can be connected in parallel
FIGURE 2. BATTERY CONNECTION OPTIONS
2
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
System Power Up/Power Down
The cells can also be connected in other sequences as long
as the VCELL inputs are eventually connected with:
VCELL12 ≥ VCELL11
VCELL10 ≥ VCELL9
VCELL8 ≥ VCELL7
VCELL6 ≥ VCELL5
VCELL4 ≥ VCELL3
VCELL2 ≥ VCELL1
VCELL11 ≥ VCELL10
VCELL9 ≥ VCELL8
VCELL7 ≥ VCELL6
VCELL5 ≥ VCELL4
VCELL3 ≥ VCELL2
VCELL2 ≥ VSS
The ISL9217 RGO also provides a regulated 3.3V, relative to
the ISL9217 VSS pin. The ISL9217 also requires an external
NPN transistor, however, this transistor does not need to
supply much external current so its gain is not too important.
In this case, the transistor should have a VCE of greater than
40V (preferably 50V) for a 12-cell pack.
VCC
C1
500
(EQ. 1)
Each cell input voltage differential never exceeds the
specified limit, as shown in the data sheet FN6488.
When connecting the cells from bottom to top, once cells 1,
2, and 3 are connected to the board, the ISL9216 regulator
may try to turn on2. Depending on the current needed by the
external circuits, and without a VCC connection, the
regulator may not be able to maintain regulation and could
turn off. There is a possibility that this starts a turn on/turn off
oscillation in the power supply until all of the cells in the pack
are connected.
If the regulator does power-up with only the VCELL1,
VCELL2, and VCELL3 pins connected, then the
microcontroller software starts up. If the microcontroller has
code that puts the pack to sleep when a cell voltage is too
low, then the pack could go to sleep immediately on initial
connection of these three cells.
One way to avoid these initial power-down conditions is to
connect the ISL9216 cells from the top down (VCC to VSS).
In this way, the voltage regulator does not power-up until all
cells are connected. Another way to handle this is in
software, with the code waiting a while before shutting down
in response to a low cell voltage.
The ISL9216 and ISL9217 devices each power up when the
voltages on VCELL1, VCELL2, VCELL3, and VCC all
exceed their POR threshold. At that time, the devices
attempt to turn on their respective RGO outputs. Before the
ISL9216 RGO output turns on, however, all cells may need
to be connected to provide the external regulator voltage.
The ISL9216 RGO provides a regulated 3.3VDC voltage at
the RGO pin. It does this by using a control signal on the
RGC pin to drive an external NPN transistor. The transistor
should have a beta of at least 70 to provide ample current to
the device and external circuits and should have a VCE of
greater than 60V (preferably 80V) for a 12-cell pack.
2.
The data sheet indicates that VCC needs to be at least 9.2V to
guarantee power-up of the ISL9216. However, VCC may only need
to be 4V before power on can happen. Because of the internal ESD
structures on the CBn inputs and assuming there are cell balance
resistors, as shown in Figure 2, connecting CELL1, CELL2, and
CELL3 may apply enough voltage on VCC to reach the turn-on
threshold.
3
RGC
RGO
VSS
VCC
C2
C2
1k
RGC
3.3V
RGO
VSS
C3
GND
FIGURE 3. VOLTAGE REGULATOR CIRCUITS
A 500Ω resistor is recommended in the collector of the
ISL9217 NPN transistor and a 1kΩ resistor is recommended
in the collector of the ISL9216 NPN transistor to minimize
initial current surge when the regulator turns on and provide
current limiting in the event that the transistor fails.
Without the collector resistors, the initial turn-on current
surge could be large. If there is also a relatively high
resistance on the VCC input and if the VCC capacitor is too
small, then the initial application of power can cause the
voltage at VCC to drop momentarily. If this voltage drops
below the minimum VCC power-up voltage, then the
regulator may start to turn off. As it does, the current drops
and the VCC voltage rises, again starting the regulator. This
“oscillation” could prevent proper power-up of the ISL9216.
In a normal battery pack operation, this oscillation is not
likely, because the battery cell has a very low impedance.
The collector resistors also serve another function. They
help to protect the Q1 transistor from excessive voltage and
current and minimize the consequences of a failure in Q1.
There are some limitations in the cell connection order. The
problem lies in the “random” cell connection. In this case, it
is possible that the cell 6 or the cell 11 connection and VSS
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
are the first two connections. If this happens, the capacitor
on VCC is charged at high voltage through the CB7 cell
balance ESD structure and cell balancing resistor. If the
capacitor is large enough and the series resistance small
enough, the energy dissipation in the CB7 structure (as a
result of the surge current) will cause a failure inside the
ISL9216 or ISL9217. Higher cell balancing resistors prevent
this, but this also limits the effectiveness of cell balancing.
See Figure 4.
VCC
C1
CB7
POTENTIAL
EOS
CB6
CB5
Adding a series resistor on each of the cell inputs reduces
the initial current surge through the ISL9216 or ISL9217
inputs. However, this needs to be carefully considered
because adding series resistance effects the accuracy of the
cell measurements. A series resistance of 15Ω will add
about 1mV of error to the cell voltage reading. It is possible
that this error can be calibrated out, but it also requires that
external cell balancing FETs be added. For more information
about this, see “Input Filtering” on page 24.
Another condition that can effect the proper operation of the
ISL9216 and ISL9217 is when a motor being powered by the
pack turns off. This has the potential for generating
significant noise. This noise (if it reaches the VCELL1 input)
can cause the loss of the internal register contents. Prevent
this with the use of a 4.7µF capacitor (or larger) in parallel
with a 0.01µF capacitor being connected between VCELL1
and GND.
For development work, or if the sequence of cell connections
cannot be guaranteed, or if there are potential voltage
excursions on the cell inputs that violate the specified 5V
maximum, the use of 4.7V zener diodes across each cell
input is recommended. These diodes protect the cell inputs
from both the maximum cell voltage and the input surge
current.
CB4
CB3
CB2
POTENTIAL
EOS
The best trade-off is to use:
CB1
VSS
VCC
- A 0.01µF capacitor on VCC
- A parallel combination of 4.7µF and 0.1µF caps on
VCELL1
- A 500Ω series resistor on the ISL9217 NPN collector
and 1kΩ series resistor on the ISL9216 NPN collector
- 4.7V zener diodes on each cell input (unless cells
connect in sequence. See Figure 5).
In addition to the VCELL1 capacitors, the microcontroller
code should periodically check the ISL9216 register contents
and reload the desired values, if they have changed.
C1
CB5
NOT YET
CONNECTED
CB4
CB3
CB2
The ISL9217 also has internal registers that could be
effected by noise, so capacitors are also recommended on
the VCELL1 input. However, the ISL9217 registers do not
contain any “pack critical” parameters, so the capacitors are
less important.
Once powered up, the device remains in a wake up state
until put to sleep by the microcontroller or until the VCELL1,
VCELL2, VCELL3, or VCC voltages on each device drop
below their POR thresholds.
CB1
VSS
FIGURE 4. CONNECTION SEQUENCE CAUTION
4
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
VCC/VC7
4.7V
CB6
VCELL6
4.7V
0.01µF
CB6
VCELL5
variation of RGO will be much less. But, if the microcontroller
A/D converter accuracy is dependent on the RGO voltage,
then a calibration step is likely needed to trim the accuracy
of the A/D for cell voltage measurements. Generally, this
calibration can be done once at room temperature because
the variation over-temperature is low. However, for
measurements more accurate than ±25mV at a cell voltage
of 4.2V, a voltage reference is recommended.
CB5
VCELL4
4.7V
CB4
VCELL3
4.7V
CB3
VCELL2
4.7V
RGO VOLTAGE (V)
4.7V
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
0.1µF
MAX 4.3V
TYP 4.3V
MAX 2.3V
MIN 4.3V
TYP 2.3V
MIN 2.3V
25
85
TEMPERATURE (°C)
4.7V
4.7µF
3.38
3.36
3.34
3.32
3.30
3.28
3.26
3.24
3.22
3.20
-40
VSS
FIGURE 6. RGO REGULATION OVER-TEMPERATURE/CELL
VOLTAGE, NO LOAD
VCC/VC7
VCELL5
4.7V
4.7V
CB4
VCELL3
4.7V
CB3
VCELL2
0.01µF
4.7V
CB2
VCELL1
4.7V
4.7µF 0.1µF
CB1
RGO VOLTAGE (V)
CB5
VCELL4
3.34
3.32
3.30
3.28
MAX 2.3V
MAX 4.3V
3.26
3.24
3.22
TYP 2.3V
3.20
3.18
MIN 2.3V
3.16
-40
25
TEMPERATURE (°C)
TYP 4.3V
MIN 4.3V
85
VSS
FIGURE 5. RECOMMENDED INPUT CONNECTIONS
FIGURE 7. RGO REGULATION OVER-TEMPERATURE/CELL
VOLTAGE, 35mA LOAD (350µA RGC CURRENT,
NPN GAIN = 100)
Voltage Regulator
WKUP Pin Operation
The ISL9216 can provide 350µA or more of output current to
the RGC pin. Using an NPN transistor with a gain of 100, the
ISL9216 regulator can supply up to 35mA to an external load
and maintain the output at 3.3V, ±10%. A typical external
load of 3mA and a transistor gain of 100 results in the
ISL9216 supplying 30µA to the NPN transistor base.
The microcontroller can easily put the ISL9217 to sleep by
writing 80H to the ISL9217 Register 4, since going to sleep
does not turn off any critical pack power supply. Once the
ISL9217 is asleep, the microcontroller can wake the ISL9217
by writing a 40H to the ISL9216 Register 2. This sets the
WKUPR bit in the ISL9216, which pulls the ISL9217 pin low,
waking the device.
The voltage at the emitter of the NPN transistor is monitored
and regulated to 3.3V by the control signal at RGC. The
RGO voltage also powers many of the ISL9216 internal
circuits.
Following is some characterization data gathered over
30 units (data from ISL9216). This shows the regulation
accuracy at no load and at a “maximum” load of 35mA
(assuming an NPN transistor with a gain of 100). Typically,
the load will be much less than the maximum load, so the
5
The ISL9216 sleep conditions are a little more complicated.
Once the microcontroller puts the ISL9216 to sleep, there
are two ways to wake it up again (without power cycling the
device). One way uses the WKUP pin in an active LOW
mode. The other uses the WKUP pin in an active HIGH
mode.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
pack voltage is 50.4V. The wake up level should be set such
that a charger with a regulated 50.4V output wakes the pack.
ISL9216
WKUP
WKUP
(STATUS)
WAKE UP
CIRCUITS
5V
230k*
WKPOL
(CONTROL)
The recommended external connection of the WKUP pin is
shown in Figure 9. The R3 resistor is needed to prevent the
WKUP voltage from going above the ISL9216 VCC voltage
when the FETs turn off. The resistor divider should keep the
WKUP below the ISL9216 VCC voltage and also keep it
above the WKUP negative edge threshold level.
The resistors needed for the recommended wake-up
threshold are calculated (approximately) as follows:
R
2
- × CELLmax × N
V WKUP2 ( min ) > -----------------R1 + R2
(EQ. 2)
VSS
*INTERNAL RESISTOR
ONLY CONNECTED WHEN
WKPOL = 1.
FIGURE 8. WAKE UP CONTROL CIRCUITS
In an active LOW connection (WKPOL bit = ’0’ - default), the
device wakes up by connecting a charger to the pack. (See
Figure 8). In this case a pack requires only two terminals
(Pack+ and Pack-). No additional terminals are needed on
the pack for wake up.
In this mode, when the pack is asleep, the FETs are off and
the WKUP pin is pulled high with a resistor external to the
ISL9216. Connecting the pack to a charger creates a voltage
divider, which pulls the WKUP pin low. When the WKUP pin
voltage goes below the WKUP threshold, the ISL9216
wakes up and turns on the 3.3V voltage regulator. (See
“Active LOW WKUP Pin Operation” on page 6 for more
details).
In an active HIGH configuration (WKPOL = ’1’), the device
wakes up when either the load or a charger is connected to
the pack, but this configuration requires an extra pack
terminal to operate.
where N is the number of cells in the pack, and
VWKUP2(min) is calculated at the maximum cell voltage.
In selecting resistors, first choose the R1 value as the
highest value that is reasonable to use, since this primarily
determines the current consumption of this circuit. Then
calculate the value for R2. The actual value of R2 chosen
should be smaller than the value calculated.
The value of the chosen R2 resistor is not too critical, since
the WKUP voltage should go well above the WKUP falling
edge threshold level when the ISL9216 is in the sleep mode
and the FETs are off. So, an R2 that is much smaller than the
calculated value would be fine with the understanding that a
lower resistance value will draw more current. It is best to
use the largest value for R2 that does not exceed the
calculated value.
WKUP THRESHOLD (MAX) =
VCELL1 - 1.2V
ISL9216
In this mode, the WKUP pin connects through a resistor and
an additional pack terminal to the PACK+ terminal outside
the pack (see Figure 10). The resistor, combined with a
resistor internal to the ISL9216, forms a resistor divider.
When a charger or load connects to the pack, the divider
pulls the voltage at the WKUP pin high and wakes up the
pack. With no tool or charger connected, the internal resistor
pulls WKUP low to prevent the pack from waking up
inadvertently. See “Active HIGH WKUP Pin Operation” on
page 7 for more details.
Active LOW WKUP Pin Operation
When the ISL9216 devices use the WKUP pin in the active
LOW (default) mode, the WKUP pin threshold is normally set
such that a fully charged pack can still be waken by a
charger supplying the regulated charge voltage. For
example, for a 12-cell pack in sleep mode, the fully charged
6
R1
1.8MΩ
D1
VCHG
WKUP
R3
1.0MΩ
VSS
R2
59k
LOAD
D2
OFF
OFF
FIGURE 9. SETTING THE THRESHOLD FOR THE ISL9216
ACTIVE LOW WKUP PIN (WKPOL = LOW)
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
As shown in Figure 9, the voltage at the WKUP pin with no
charger connected and the power FETs off is about a third of
the pack voltage. This is below the ISL9216 VCC voltage but
well above the wake up falling edge threshold. Connection of
the pack to the charger with the power FETs off causes the
voltage on the WKUP pin to drop below the input threshold
and the ISL9216 wakes up.
The values are calculated with a full pack, because this is
the worst case condition. When a charger is connected to a
pack that is in sleep mode due to low voltage cells, the
voltage on the VMON pin will go well below GND without the
use of Diode D1, which is required to prevent this condition.
Diode D2 is an optional diode to prevent higher leakage
current from the cells with a load connected and the power
FETs off.
Use Equation 3 (for the circuit shown in Figure 9) to
determine the minimum unloaded voltage necessary from
the charger to wake a fully charged pack, using the resistors
previously calculated.
R2 + R1
( CellV ( max ) × N – V WKUP2 min ) × ------------------- = V ch arg er
R1
(EQ. 3)
where N is the number of cells in the pack.
For a 12-cell pack, the charger voltage needs to be at least
50.31V to wake a fully charged pack (Pack voltage = 50.4V).
In this active low configuration, the pack cannot detect the
presence of a load when in sleep mode. Instead, the pack
wakes up only when the charger is connected to the pack.
Active HIGH WKUP Pin Operation
When the ISL9216 uses the WKUP pin in the active HIGH
mode, the external resistor needed to select the proper
wake-up threshold is shown in Figure 10 and Equation 4 is
used for setting the value:
CellV ( min ) × Numcells
V WKUP1 ( max )
R 1 < ---------------------------------------------------------------- – 1 × R
WKUP ( min )
(EQ. 4)
Assuming a 12-cell pack and a minimum cell voltage of 2.3V,
a minimum internal resistance (RWKUP) of 130kΩ (from the
data sheet FN6488) and a WKUP threshold of 6.6V (0.1V
above the max threshold in the data sheet), the Equation for
R1 is:
2.3 × 12
6.6
R 1 < --------------------- – 1 × 130k = 413.6kΩ
(EQ. 5)
The zener diode in the circuit of Figure 10 is required to
prevent voltages on the WKUP pin that exceed the absolute
maximum VCC voltage in the event the switch is closed and
the microcontroller sets the WKPOL bit to “0”.
7
P+
SWITCH CLOSED ONLY
WHEN LOAD OR CHARGER
IS CONNECTED
R1 = 412k
ISL9216
C/L
WKUP
5V
VCHG
230k*
VSS
30V
LOAD
P-
* INTERNAL RESISTOR ONLY CONNECTED WHEN WKPOL = 1.
FIGURE 10. SETTING THE THRESHOLD FOR THE ISL9216
ACTIVE HIGH WKUP PIN (WKPOL = HIGH)
Power Path Connections
The ISL9216 controls pack operation through one, two, or
three power FETs on the negative terminal of the pack. The
power FETs can connection two basic different ways, a
single charge/discharge path and separate charge and
discharge paths.
Single Charge/Discharge Path
The most common connection of power path FETs is to use
both a charge and discharge FET and a single
charge/discharge path. In this connection, back-to-back
FETs provide both discharge and charge protection for the
pack (See Figure11). In this way, any “out of bounds”
condition in the pack cause the cells in the pack to be
isolated from external conditions.
The DFET output of the ISL9216 actively controls both the
turn on and turn off of the discharge FET. When the
microcontroller sets the DFET bit in the ISL9216, the
ISL9216 outputs a current to the gate of the DFET causing
the gate to charge up. When the gate voltage reaches the
FET turn on threshold, the FET turns on. The ISL9216
continues to output the turn on current until the voltage
reaches the VCELL3 voltage. It is clamped at this level.
When the ISL9216 turns off the DFET, either as a result of a
protection mechanism, or under microcontroller control, the
ISL9216 pulls the DFET gate low with a high current
(>100mA). This turns off the FET very fast.
The CFET output of the ISL9216 actively turns the charge FET
on (the same as the DFET output) but the ISL9216 relies on an
external resistor to turn off the FET (see Figure11). This is
because the charge FET VGS voltage may go well below the
ISL9216 ground voltage when connected to a charger,
preventing the ISL9216 from supplying the voltage necessary
to turn the FET off. The selection of the charge FET resistor is
determined by the Cgs capacitance of the FET and how fast the
charge FET needs to turn off. This resistor also cannot be so
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
small that it clamps the FET gate voltage below the FET turn on
threshold. For example, the output current of the ISL9216
CFET pin is 80µA minimum. For a FET with a VGS of 3V, R1
needs to be at least 37.5kΩ or the FET may never turn on.
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
FIGURE 12. DISCHARGE POWER FET ONLY IN SINGLE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH
CFET
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
DSREF
DSREF
SHOWN WITH PARALLEL
DISCHARGE FETS
FOR HIGHER CURRENT
APPLICATIONS
ISL9216
VSS
VSS
Figure 11 shows the two FETs being used in a single path. It
also shows a sense resistor being used for current
monitoring of both discharge and charge current. Because
the sense resistor is the same for both charge and
discharge, the ratio of the charge overcurrent limits and the
charge short circuit limits is primarily determined by the
internal threshold settings, however an external resistor
divider can provide more flexibility in some situations (see
“Current Sense Resistor” on page 10).
ISL9216
Separate Charge/Discharge Path
R1
FIGURE 11. BACK-TO-BACK POWER FETS IN SINGLE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH
An optional single path connection uses only the discharge
FET for pack protection. This connection assumes that the
external charger protects the cells in the pack from an
over charge condition, since the pack electronics will not be
able to stop the charge. To do this, the charger
communicates with the pack during the charge operation.
During this communication, the cell voltages are passed to
the charger. These cell voltages become part of the charger
over charge limit algorithm.
The major advantages of using the single FET are:
• More of the cell voltage is applied directly to the load
resulting in less power loss in the pack.
• It is less costly to use the single FET, especially in high
current applications where it may be necessary to parallel
the power FETs to achieve the necessary current handling
capability of the pack.
Another method of connecting the power FETs is to provide
separate charge and discharge paths. This is shown in
Figure 13. In this case, the pack requires only a single
discharge FET (Q1), but requires “back-to-back” charge
FETs (Q2 and Q3). The charge path needs both FETs
because without Q2, the Q3 body diode creates a discharge
path, even if the discharge FET is off. This can present a
safety hazard for the pack.
By designing a separate charge and discharge path, the
current sense elements can be different sizes, so the
overcurrent threshold limits are better able to meet the
application requirements. Also, since the peak charge
current is usually much lower than the peak discharge
current, the size (and cost) of the charge FETs can be much
less.
Problems with this connection concern space and cost. Even
though smaller FETs can be used for the charge connection,
two FETs generally still cost more than one FET and take
more board space. This coupled with the need for an
additional pin on the pack and the possibility of having to
parallel the discharge FET, makes this a more costly, if more
flexible, solution.
• This configuration allows the pack to be charged, even if
the cell voltages drop too low for the ISL9216 to remain
powered.
8
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
TABLE 1. OVERCURRENT VOLTAGE THRESHOLD SETTINGS
REGISTER 5
CFET
DFET
DSENSE
CSENSE
DSREF
VSS
ISL9216
Q2
Q3
R1
CHARGE
Q1
BIT 6
OCDV1
BIT 5
OCDV0
OVERCURRENT DISCHARGE VOLTAGE
THRESHOLD
0
0
VOCD = 0.10V
0
1
VOCD = 0.12V
1
0
VOCD = 0.14V
1
1
VOCD = 0.16V
BIT 3
SCDV1
BIT 2
SCDV0
SHORT CIRCUIT DISCHARGE VOLTAGE
THRESHOLD
0
0
VSCD = 0.20V
0
1
VSCD = 0.35V
1
0
VSCD = 0.65V
1
1
DISCHARGE
FIGURE 13. POWER FETS IN A SEPARATE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH CONNECTION
Protection Functions
In the default condition, the ISL9216 automatically responds
to discharge overcurrent, discharge short circuit, charge
overcurrent, internal over-temperature and external
over-temperature conditions. These functions are described
in more detail in the following, starting with current protection
mechanisms.
VSCD = 1.20V
REGISTER 6
BIT 6
OCCV1
BIT 5
OCCV0
OVERCURRENT CHARGE VOLTAGE
THRESHOLD
0
0
VOCD = 0.10V
0
1
VOCD = 0.12V
1
0
VOCD = 0.14V
1
1
VOCD = 0.16V
TABLE 2. OVERCURRENT DELAY TIME SETTINGS
REGISTER 5
BIT 1
OCDT1
BIT 0
OCDT0
OVERCURRENT DISCHARGE TIME-OUT
Overcurrent Protection Functions
0
0
tOCD = 160ms (2.5ms if DTDIV = 1)
The ISL9216 continually monitors the charge current and
discharge current by monitoring the voltage at the CSENSE
and DSENSE pins (respectively). If either voltage exceeds a
selected value for a time exceeding a selected delay, then
the device enters an overcurrent or short circuit protection
mode. In these modes, the device automatically turns off
both power FETs and hence prevents current from flowing
through the terminals P+ and P-.
0
1
tOCD = 320ms (5ms if DTDIV = 1)
1
0
tOCD = 640ms (10ms if DTDIV = 1)
1
1
tOCD = 1200ms (20ms if DTDIV = 1)
Bit 1
OCCT1
Bit 0
OCCT0
OVERCURRENT CHARGE TIME-OUT
0
0
tOCC = 80ms (2.5ms if CTDIV = 1)
The voltage thresholds and the response times for discharge
overcurrent, charge overcurrent, and discharge short circuit
conditions are each selected by bits in a control register. In
the default condition, the bits are generally set to the safest
state. In this condition, the FETs are off, the overcurrent and
short circuit settings are at the minimum threshold level and
the short circuit setting has the minimum time delay.
See Table 1 and Table 2 for threshold and timing options.
The power-up condition for all registers is “0”.
After the ISL9216 detects any overcurrent condition, and
both power FETs are turned off, the ISL9216 sets a status
flag. A discharge overcurrent condition sets the DOC bit, a
charge overcurrent condition sets the COC bit, and a
discharge short circuit condition sets the DSC bit. (When the
FETs turn off, the DFET and CFET bits also reset to zero).
9
REGISTER 6
0
1
tOCC = 160ms (5ms if CTDIV = 1)
1
0
tOCC = 320ms (10ms if CTDIV = 1)
1
1
tOCC = 640ms (20ms if CTDIV = 1)
Bit 4
SCLONG
Short circuit
long delay
When this bit is set to ‘0’, a short circuit
needs to be in effect for 190μs before a
shutdown begins. When this bit is set to ‘1’,
a short circuit needs to be in effect for 10ms
before a shutdown begins.
Bit 3
CTDIV
Divide
charge time
by 32
When set to “1”, the charge overcurrent
delay time is divided by 32.
When set to “0”, the charge overcurrent
delay time is divided by 1.
Bit 2
DTDIV
Divide
discharge
time by 64
When set to “1”, the discharge overcurrent
delay time is divided by 64.
When set to “0”, the discharge overcurrent
delay time is divided by 1.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
Current Monitoring
Current Sense Elements
The ISL9216 monitors the current by comparing the voltage
at the CSENSE or DSENSE pins relative to an internal
threshold level. An external circuit generates a voltage from
the current. Several methods are available for establishing
this current limit threshold. These include using a sense
resistor, a sense FET, and techniques for translating the FET
rDS(ON).
CURRENT SENSE RESISTOR
A battery pack with a single charge/discharge path uses the
same element to monitor the two different levels of current
encountered in an overcurrent condition and a short circuit
condition. When designing the current sense circuit, use the
setting in Table 3 to pick a setting in which the ratio between
the short circuit and overcurrent thresholds most closely
matches the desired ratio. (These ratios are shown
graphically in Figure 14). This determines the settings for the
ISL9216 discharge thresholds.
TABLE 3. SHORT CIRCUIT TO OVERCURRENT RATIOS
Sense resistors (Figure 15) are the easiest and most flexible
method of monitoring current in the charge or discharge path
(or both). This is a relatively accurate solution, but has some
limitations. An application with high current limits will likely
require the use of high power sense resistor. These can be
expensive and will generate heat in the pack. Also, a sense
resistor can introduce significant voltage drop and power
loss to the load.
In the simplest solution a sense resistor is used for a
relatively low current application (See Example 1). In this
solution, first select the thresholds and external sense
resistor for a pack by using Table 3 to select the closest ratio
to the desired short circuit/overcurrent ratio. Use the settings
in the table to select the overcurrent and short circuit current
thresholds. Next, select a sense resistor that provides the
selected overcurrent threshold at the desired current limit.
From this, verify the short circuit limit.
Example 1: Designing discharge current limits.
SETTING
SHORT CIRCUIT
THRESHOLD
OVERCURRENT
THRESHOLD
RATIO
1
1.20V
0.10V
12.0
Using the circuit of Figure 11.
2
1.20V
0.12V
10.0
3
1.20V
0.14V
8.6
4
1.20V
0.16V
7.5
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Overcurrent Level:
Ratio (SC/OC):
5
0.65V
0.10V
6.5
6
0.65V
0.12V
5.4
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.35V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.12V
7
0.65V
0.14V
4.6
Pick a sense resistor of 0.12V/5A = ~0.025Ω.
8
0.65V
0.16V
4.1
9
0.35V
0.10V
3.5
10
0.35V
0.12V
2.9
Results:
Overcurrent threshold = 4.8A
Short circuit threshold = 14A.
Overcurrent (charge) options: 4A, 4.8A, 5.6A, 6.4A.
11
0.35V
0.14V
2.5
12
0.35V
0.16V
2.2
13
0.2V
0.10V
2.0
14
0.2V
0.12V
1.7
15
0.2V
0.14V
1.4
16
0.2V
0.16V
1.3
15A
5A
3.0
2.9
With a single charge/discharge path, there are not many
options for charge and discharge current limits, since the
same resistor is used for both charge and discharge. If the
current limits are small enough, the following external circuit
can give some flexibility to the pack design (See Figure 15).
RATIO
R2
5
R1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
CFET
R3
R1
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
SC/OC SETTING
FIGURE 14. SHORT CIRCUIT TO OVERCURRENT RATIO
10
DFET
DSENSE
10
DSREF
VSS
15
CSENSE
ISL9216
FIGURE 15. USING A RESISTOR DIVIDER TO SELECT
CHARGE AND DISCHARGE OVERCURRENT
LEVELS
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
In this case, select the sense resistor for the lower of the
charge and discharge current limits. The sense resistor
provides the voltage for this lower limit. Then, the resistor
divider provides the other limits.
While the technique in Example 2 provides a flexible method
of addressing the charge and discharge overcurrent
settings, it has a limitation. This method requires the use of a
larger sense resistor to provide for the use of the voltage
divider. In higher current applications this can be a
significant drawback. Consider Example 2, which does not
include the resistor divider, but shows the consequences of
using a sense resistor in a high current design.
Example 2: Designing discharge and charge current
limits using a sense resistor and resistor divider.
Using the circuit of Figure 15.
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Overcurrent Level (discharge):
Desired Overcurrent (charge):
Ratio (SC/OC):
15A
5A
2A
3.0
Choose lowest charge Overcurrent threshold: 0.1V
Choose sense resistor:
0.05Ω
Determine the short circuit to overcurrent ratio:
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.35V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.12V
2.9
Pick a resistor divider of (2A/5A)*(0.12/0.1) = 0.48.
Select the divider resistors:
R2
-------------------- = 0.48
R2 + R3
(EQ. 6)
R2 = 96kΩ
R3 = 104kΩ
Results:
Overcurrent threshold (charge) =
Overcurrent threshold (discharge) =
Short circuit threshold =
2A
5A
14.6A
VMON
ISL9216
CFET
DSENSE
DSREF
CSENSE
DFET
Example 3: Using a sense resistor in a high current
application.
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Overcurrent Level:
Ratio (SC/OC):
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.65V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.1V
120A
20A
6.0
6.5
Pick a sense resistor of 0.1V/20A = ~0.005Ω.
Results:
Overcurrent threshold = 20A
Short circuit threshold = 130A.
Power dissipation in resistor at 20A: 2W
(could be continuous)
Select 5Ω resistor to minimize heating.
Power dissipation at 120A:
(until S.C. shutdown)
72W
SENSE FET
As shown in Figure 16, the sense resistor is replaced by a
resistor in the sense path of a special type of FET called a
sense FET. Sense FETs provide two additional pins. One of
these provides a “Kelvin” connection to the FET source to
get a low current reference path. The second connection
provides an output current proportional to the load current.
One type of sense FET provides a sense current that is
about 2600x lower than the load current.
In dealing with relatively high current applications, the sense
FET has several advantages over a sense resistor. There is
no power loss across the sense resistor, improving the
efficiency of the pack. There is no heating of the pack due to
the sense resistor. There is more flexibility in the setting of
the overcurrent threshold because the resistor in the sense
lead is much higher resistance. Using a sense FET may be
less expensive than a sense resistor because the additional
cost of a sense FET may be more than offset by not using a
large wattage sense resistor.
Using a sense FET allows somewhat higher power
applications to be considered. For example, using a 6Ω
resistor in the sense lead of a sense FET above allows the
designer to set an overcurrent threshold of 45A and short
circuit threshold of 450A. These are limits that make sense
resistors somewhat impractical.
The most significant drawbacks of using a sense FET is that
there are relatively few choices of devices. They should be
matched with a non-sense FET for a “back-to-back” pair and
they cannot be used to measure the charge current.
B-
FIGURE 16. MEASURING CURRENT WITH A SENSE FET
11
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
FET DESATURATION
This technique uses changes in the discharge FET rDS(ON)
as the power dissipation increases to detect an overcurrent
condition and turn off the pack discharge.
As shown in Figure 17, the sense resistor is replaced by a
diode (or two diodes, in order to get the voltage at point A to
about 1V above the FET drain to source voltage) and three
resistors.
This overcurrent circuit is also adaptive and shuts down the
pack earlier if the FET heats up, regardless of the pack
current. This situation might occur under the following
conditions:
VMON
ISL9216
CFET
R1
50kΩ
DSENSE
CSENSE
DFET
DSREF
R3
1MΩ
A
R2
1MΩ
B-
FIGURE 17. MEASURING CURRENT USING FET
DESATURATION
A more complete analysis of this solution is planned for
another application note, but some guidelines for designing
this circuit follow.
The value of R3 must be fairly large, because internal to the
ISL9216 is a 5kΩ resistance from VCELL3 to the DFET pin.
If R3 is too small, the voltage at the DFET pin could drop
significantly.
The R1 and R2 series resistance also needs to be fairly
large. The recommendation is that this resistance be greater
than 1MΩ. The reason for this is to allow for the largest
swing of voltage across the discharge FET. The maximum
voltage at point P is set by the resistor divider formed by R3
and (R1 + R2). With the values in Figure 17, the maximum
voltage at point A, with a minimum cell voltage of 2.3V, is
4.5V. With a 1.2V drop across the diode, the maximum
drain source voltage (VDS) that can be monitored is 3.3V.
This can be increased a little by reducing the diode drop.
Though not shown in Figure 17, it is also be possible to
detect a charge overcurrent condition using this circuit. By
adding a transistor and some resistors, an inverter can be
built that changes the polarity of the voltage at point A. This
can then be divided and connected to the CSENSE pin. This
needs to be designed so it does not load the DFET output or
effect the performance of the discharge sense circuit.
This method of overcurrent protection has a number of
advantages. First, it does not use a sense resistor in series
with the discharge path. This allows more power to be applied
to the load, instead of being burned in the sense resistor. The
diode and three resistors are also a very cost effective
replacement for an often very expensive sense resistor.
12
The voltage at point A can be monitored by the
microcontroller to get a representation of the pack current
(both charge and discharge). This may not be accurate
enough to be used for coulomb counting, but it is useful for
detecting the presence of charge and discharge currents.
The designer can use this knowledge to build in power
management routines, create automatic cell balance
algorithms, and make decisions about pack shutdown
operations.
• A long period of high current (but not overcurrent) is
applied to the load, as might be the case if a motor stalls.
• The repeated cycling of the load causing current surges
that heat the FET.
• As the FET heats, the rDS(ON) increases, accelerating
further FET heating. This can happen even without an
increase in load current.
• When the pack is supplying a large load when the pack
capacity is low, the high current spikes could periodically
and for short durations drop the cell voltages to 2.3V (or
less). This drops the FET gate voltage to less than 6.8V. At
this lower gate voltage, the rDS(ON) increases.
If these conditions go on long enough, in a system using a
sense resistor, the FET can fail even though the current
never reached the shutdown threshold.
The main limitation of this technique is that the rDS(ON) of
the FET can vary over a relatively wide range. So, designing
this circuit will be a trade-off between protecting the internal
components and providing maximum power to the load.
Another approach to the same technique is to use a small
FET in parallel with the power FET and divide the voltage to
get an overcurrent level. This has some advantages over the
previous version, i.e. it does not load the DFET output and it
allows monitoring a higher drain to source voltage. But, it is
probably a more expensive solution and the voltage during
charge is negative, so is not useful for monitoring with the
microcontroller.
Over-riding Automatic Overcurrent Response
An alternative method of providing the protection function, if
desired by the designer, is to turn off the individual automatic
safety responses. See Table 4 for control bits that turn off the
automatic control. In this case, the ISL9216 device still
monitors the conditions and sets the status bits, but it takes
no action in overcurrent or short circuit conditions. Safety of
the pack depends instead on the microcontroller to send
commands to the ISL9216 to turn off the FETs.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
interrupt sources. The microcontroller periodically wakes up
to monitor the cells and goes back to sleep. In an
“emergency” overcurrent condition, the microcontroller
wakes up in response to the TEMP3V interrupt and turns off
the FETs.
VMON
ISL9216
CFET
R1
50kΩ
100Ω
100Ω
DSENSE
DSREF
CSENSE
DFET
R2
1MΩ
B-
FIGURE 18. MEASURING CURRENT USING FET
DESATURATION (ALTERNATE APPROACH)
TABLE 4. AUTOMATIC CURRENT RESPONSE OVER-RIDE
SETTINGS
REGISTER 5
Bit 7
DENOCD
Turn off
automatic
OC
discharge
control
When set to ‘0’, a discharge overcurrent
condition automatically turns off the FETs.
When set to ‘1’, a discharge overcurrent
condition will not automatically turn off the
FETs.
In either case, this condition sets the DOC
bit, which also turns on the TEMP3V output.
Bit 4
DENSCD
Turn off
automatic
SC
discharge
control
When set to ‘0’, a discharge short circuit
condition turns off the FETs.
When set to ‘1’, a discharge short circuit
condition will not automatically turn off the
FETs.
In either case, the condition sets the SCD
bit, which also turns on the TEMP3V output.
REGISTER 6
Bit 7
DENOCC
Turn off
automatic
OC charge
control
When set to ‘0’, a charge overcurrent
condition automatically turns off the FETs.
When set to ‘1’, a charge overcurrent
condition will not automatically turn off the
FETs.
In either case, this condition sets the COC
bit, which also turns on the TEMP3V output.
To facilitate a microcontroller response to an overcurrent
condition (especially if the microcontroller is in a low power
state), the charge overcurrent flag (COC), discharge
overcurrent flag (DOC), or short circuit flag (DSC) being set
causes the ISL9216 TEMP3V output to turn on and pull high.
(See Figure 20 on page 15). This output can be used as an
external interrupt by the microcontroller to wake-up quickly
to handle the overcurrent condition.
When an overcurrent or short circuit condition occurs and
the delay time elapsed, the DSC, DOC, or COC bits are set
in the Status register (addr: 01H).
One way to use these status bits is to design the system
such that the microcontroller is in a sleep state to conserve
power. It uses both a timer and the TEMP3V input as
13
In practice, when any of the three overcurrent status bits are
set, the TEMP3V output turns on and does two things.
1. This turns on the ISL9216 external over-temperature
monitor circuit. (There is no harm in turning this on too
often, except that the circuit consumes about 400µA of
current until TEMP3V turns off).
2. If the microcontroller is in a sleep mode, TEMP3V wakes
up the microcontroller by applying a voltage to the
interrupt. When the microcontroller services the interrupt,
it reads the status register to determine if there was an
overcurrent or short circuit condition. Reading the status
register resets the status bits, which turns off the
TEMP3V output.
If the microcontroller is not in the sleep mode, the
microcontroller can disable the TEMP3V interrupt so that a
TEMP3V input does not disrupt other code, or it can leave
the interrupt on to provide the microcontroller a hardware
response to an overcurrent condition. If the interrupt is left
on, then reading the external temperature with the AO3:AO0
bits also causes an interrupt to the microcontroller. But a
simple scan of the status register indicates whether this was
an overcurrent condition, or a normal temperature scan.
Load Monitoring
Once the power FETs turn off as a result of an overcurrent
condition, they are not automatically turned back on by the
ISL9216. They are turned on again by the external
microcontroller. The microcontroller can turn on the FETs
right away, but if the load or short circuit is still present, there
will be a big current surge through the FETs. If this turn-off
and
turn-on oscillation is not controlled, then the FETs can heat
and possibly fail. So, before the microcontroller turns on the
power FETs after an overcurrent condition, it is best to check
to see if the load has been removed before turning the FETs
on again.
DISCHARGE LOAD MONITORING
For pack discharge conditions, the ISL9216 provides a
mechanism for detecting the removal of the load from the
pack following an overcurrent or short circuit condition. This
is called the load monitor and uses the VMON pin on the
ISL9216.
The load monitor function is normally not active to minimize
current consumption. To use it, the circuit must be activated
by the microcontroller. It works by internally connecting the
VMON pin to VSS with a current sink circuit. This internal
sink and the external load form a voltage divider with the
VMON pin reflecting the divided voltage. The VMON pin is
compared to an internal reference. If VMON is above the
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
reference, then the pack load is still present. If the voltage at
VMON is below the threshold, then the load has been
released enough to allow the power FETs to be turned on
again. The circuit operates as shown in Figure 19.
In operation, when an overcurrent or short circuit event
happens, the DFET and CFET turn off. At this time, the RL
resistance is small and the load monitor is off. As such, the
voltage at P- rises to nearly the pack voltage. The external
diode D4, in conjunction with resistor R1 clamps the VMON
pin to 30V to protect the input. Diode D4 also protects the
input in the event a severely undercharged pack is
connected to a charger. The ISL9216 handles up to -22V on
VMON, but in a 12-cell pack with cell voltages of 2V each, a
50.4V charger would generate -26V on the VMON pin
without the D4 diode.
Once the power FET turns off, the microcontroller activates
the load monitor by setting the LDMONEN bit. This turns on
a FET that adds a pull down resistor to the load monitor
circuit. While still in the overload condition the combination
of the load resistor, an external adjustment resistor (R1), and
the internal load monitor resistor form a voltage divider. R1 is
chosen so that when the load is released to a sufficient level,
the LDFAIL condition resets.
For a twelve cell pack, the minimum combined resistance at
a pack voltage of 29.4V is:
50.4 – 1.1V
R L + R 1 = ------------------------------ = 822kΩ
60μA
(EQ. 8)
At a depleted pack voltage of 2.5V per cell, P+ is 30V and
the RL + R1 resistance is 482kΩ. So, in this case, if R1 is set
to 450kΩ, the load resistance must exceed 32kΩ to recover
from an overcurrent when the pack is depleted, and exceed
372kΩ when the pack is fully charged.
At the opposite extreme (based on ISL9216 parameter
variations):
( CellV × Numcells ) – V VMON ( min )
R L + R 1 ≥ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(EQ. 9)
I VMON ( min )
50.4 – 1.1V
R L + R 1 = ------------------------------ = 2.47MΩ
20μA
(EQ. 10)
The RL + R1 for a fully depleted pack 1.45MΩ. These values
are summarized in the Table 5.
TABLE 5. RL + R1 OVERCURRENT RECOVERY RESISTANCE
RL + R1
FULLY CHARGED
PACK
FULLY DEPLETED
PACK
Max VMON current
822kΩ
482kΩ
Min VMON current
2.47MΩ
1.45MΩ
P+
VSS
RL
OPEN
OPEN
PSENSE
R
CFET
DFET
R1
VMON
ISL9216
VREF
IVMON
LDFAIL
= 1 IF VMON > VVMON
= 0 IF VMON ≤ VVMON - VVMONH
D4
30V
LDMONEN
VSS
VSS
FIGURE 19. LOAD MONITOR CIRCUIT
Load Monitor Example:
Removing an overcurrent or short circuit condition results in
the value of RL increasing. To determine where the load
monitor detects the release of the load and to set the value
of R1, use Equation 7:
( CellV × Numcells ) – V VMON ( min )
R L + R 1 ≥ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I VMON ( max )
14
(EQ. 7)
Table 5 shows that, in effect, the load needs to be completely
removed before the circuit recovers. For an R1 of 450kΩ, the
load needs to exceed 2MΩ in the worst case condition.
CHARGE LOAD MONITORING
The ISL9216 load monitor circuit does not provide detection
of charger removal after a charge overcurrent condition,
because it is likely that the voltage on the charger will be
higher than the pack voltage and the VMON pin would go
negative.
In the event that the pack FETs turn off due to an overcurrent
condition during charge, the microcontroller will need to use
a timing based procedure for turning the FETs on again. The
recommended procedure for responding to a charge
overcurrent is to wait for a period of time, then turn the FETs
on again. This delay time is dependent on the choice of
FETs and its power handling capabilities. The time should be
set long enough for the FET to cool off.
After the FET turns back on, if another charge overcurrent
happens within a fixed time period, then the microcontroller
might decide to wait much longer before turning the FETs on
or it might keep the FETs off (effectively disabling the pack).
Repetitive overcurrent conditions during charge could
indicate a pack failure, charger failure, or the use of the
wrong pack/charger combination. The specific algorithm
requirements are up to the pack/system designer.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
Over-Temperature Safety Functions
4ms
EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE MONITORING
When the TEMP3V output is on, the external temperature
voltage is compared with an internal voltage divider that is
set to TEMP3V/13. When the voltage is below this threshold
for more than 1ms, the external temperature fail condition
exists.
To set the external over-temperature limit, determine the
resistance of the desired thermistor at the temperature limit.
Then, select a fixed resistor that is 12x that value.
Example 4: Selecting the resistor/thermistor for external
over-temperature limit.
Selected Thermistor:
MuRata XH series
Desired Over-temperature Limit:
+55°C
Thermistor resistance at limit:
3.54kΩ
Calculate RX value (see Figure 20):
3.54kΩ * 12 = 42.48kΩ
42.2kΩ
Pick an RX resistor:
Results:
Calculated temperature threshold: 42.2kΩ/12 = 3.517V
Temperature limit (MuRata table look up): +55.17°C
PROTECTION
When the ISL9216 detects an internal or external
over-temperature condition, the FETs are turned off, the cell
balancing function is disabled, and the IOT bit or XOT bit
(respectively) is set.
15
ATMPOFF
TMP3ON
ISL9216
RGO
AO3:AO0
To
µC
DECODE
EXT TEMP
VSS (ON)
AO
12R
TEMP3V
MUX
RX
TEMPI
1ms
DELAY
XOT
EXTERNAL
TEMP
MONITOR
R
The microcontroller can over-ride both the automatic
temperature scan or the microcontroller controlled
temperature scan by setting the TEMP3ON configuration bit.
This turns the TEMP3V output on all the time to keep the
temperature control voltage on indefinitely. This will
consume a significant amount of current, so it is likely this
feature would be used for special or test purposes.
OSC
OVERCURRENT
PROTECTION
CIRCUITS
Without microcontroller intervention, the ISL9216
continuously turns on TEMP3V output (and the external
temperature monitor) for 4ms every 512ms. In this way, the
external temperature is monitored even if the microcontroller
is asleep. If the ATMPOFF bit is set, this automatic
temperature scan is turned off.
The TEMP3V pin turns on when the microcontroller sets the
AO3:AO0 bits to select that the external temperature voltage
be placed AO. As long as the AO3:AO0 bits point to the
external temperature the TEMP3V output remains on.
508ms
I2C
CHARGE OC
DISCHARGE OC
DISCHARGE SC
I2C
REGISTERS
The external temperature is monitored by using a voltage
divider consisting of a fixed resistor and a thermistor. This
divider is powered by the ISL9216 TEMP3V output. This
output is normally controlled so it is on for only short periods
to minimize current consumption.
VSS
TEMP FAIL
INDICATOR
FIGURE 20. EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE MONITORING
AND CONTROL (ISL9216 ONLY)
While in an over-temperature condition, the ISL9216,
ISL9217 prevents cell balancing and the power FETs are
held off. This continues until the temperature drops back
below the temperature recovery threshold. During a
temperature shutdown, the microcontroller can monitor the
internal temperature through the analog output pin (AO), but
any writes to the CFET bit, DFET bit, or cell balancing bits
are ignored.
The automatic response for the ISL9216, ISL9217 was
chosen to prevent damage to the IC, the cells, and the pack.
If the internal temperature reaches the internal temperature
limit, it is most likely due to heating from cell balancing,
perhaps as a result of a faulty microcontroller or runaway
code. Keeping the cell balance resistors on when the
ISL9216, ISL9217 internal temperature is above the
threshold temperature is not advised.
If the ISL9216 detects the external temperature is reaching
its limit, it is possible that the cells are over heating due to a
fast charge or discharge. The external temperature
protection circuit turns the power FETs off to prevent further
heating, which can lead to thermal runaway in some cells.
Turning off the cell balance also limits the discharge from the
cells to minimize heating.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
If this automatic response is not desired, the microcontroller
can prevent an automatic shutdown of the power FETs and
cell balancing operation after either an internal or external
over-temperature by setting the DISITSD bit to “1” (internal
temperature) or the DISXTSD bit to “1” (external
temperature). In either of these cases, the IOT and XOT bits
continue to indicate an over-temperature condition, but it is
up to the microcontroller to detect the condition and respond.
Analog Multiplexer Selection
The ISL9216 and ISL9217 devices individually provide
battery cell voltages and temperatures on the AO pin. Using
the I2C interface, the microcontroller selects the voltage to
be monitored, then uses its internal A/D converter to monitor
the AO voltage. See Figure 21.
ISL9217
I2C
LEVEL
SHIFT
VC7/VCC
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL6
Voltage Monitoring
Since the voltage on each of the Li-ion Cells is normally higher
than the regulated supply voltage, the ISL9216 and ISL9217
devices both level shifts and divide the voltage from the cells.
To get into the voltage range required by the external A/D
converter, the voltage level shifter divides the cell voltage by 2
(with the exception of the ISL9216 VCELL6 input). Therefore, a
Li-ion cell with a voltage of 4.2V is reported via the AO pin to be
2.1V. Since the ISL9217 is not ground referenced, its AO output
connects to the ISL9216 VCELL6 input and this voltage is level
shifted to a ground reference.
The variation in the cell voltage from cell-to-cell is typically less
than the variation from device to device. The variation of any
cell voltage over the voltage range of the cells is less than the
variation of the cell to cell voltage, and the variation of the
output of any one cell over-temperature is even less. As such,
the addition of a calibration step when testing the PCB can
significantly improve the performance of the design. Following
is characterization data showing the accuracy of the ISL9216
and ISL9217 individually. This data was taken over 30 units.
REGS
AO3:AO0
DECODE
AO
÷2
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL2
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL1
MUX
VSS
Figure 22 and Figure 23 show absolute error for the ISL9216
with the results of each cell compared to the input voltage. The
data shows the minimum and maximum extremes of error for
each cell. These figures show the device to device variation.
Error = ( Cell N Voltage – ( AO × 2 ) ) – Cell N Voltage
Error = ( Cell 6 Voltage – ( AO ) ) – Cell 6 Voltage
(EQ. 11)
40
INT
TEMP
30
ERROR (mV)
÷1
MAX (-40°C)
0
VCELL6
MIN (+25°C)
-20
CELL1
I2C
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL5
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL4
REGS
AO3:AO0
MIN (-40°C)
MIN (+85°C)
-10
LEVEL
SHIFT
SCL
SDA
MAX (+25°C)
10
VCC
ISL9216
LEVEL
SHIFT
MAX (+85°C)
20
CELL2
CELL3
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 22. ISL9216 ANALOG OUTPUT MIN/MAX ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V.
40
DECODE
MAX (-40°C)
AO
LEVEL
SHIFT
2
VCELL1
VSS
MUX
EXT TEMP.
1
INT
TEMP
TEMPI
(ISL9216 ONLY)
ERROR (mV)
30
20
MAX (+85°C)
0
MAX (+85°C)
-10
MIN (-40°C)
-20
CELL1
FIGURE 21. ANALOG OUTPUT MONITORING DIAGRAM
16
MAX (+25°C)
10
CELL2
CELL3
MIN (+25°C)
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 23. ISL9216 ANALOG OUTPUT MIN/MAX ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
Figure 24 and Figure 25 show similar results for the ISL9217.
ERROR (mV)
30
MAX (-40°C)
20
MAX (+85°C)
10
MAX (+25°C)
MIN (+25°C)
MIN (+85°C)
MIN (-40°C)
ERROR (mV)
15
40
0
20
10
0
-5
-15
CELL1
CELL1 CELL2 CELL3 CELL4 CELL5 CELL6 CELL7
FIGURE 24. ISL9217 ANALOG OUTPUT MIN/MAX ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V.
60
50
ERROR (mV)
MAX (-40°C)
MAX (+25°C)
MAX (+85°C)
20
10
0
MAX (+85°C)
MIN (-40°C)
-10
FIGURE 25. ISL9217 ANALOG OUTPUT MIN/MAX ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V.
For Figure 26 and Figure 27, the error for the cells on each
device was compared with the error on cell3 of that same
device, according to Equation 12:
(EQ. 12)
Error = ErrorCell N – ErrorCell 3
Then, the graph shows the minimum, typical, and maximum
errors over the 30 units.
This gives the minimum and maximum variation of error for
any one device.
20
ERROR (mV)
15
10
-5
MIN
-15
CELL2
CELL6
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
TYP
MAX
MIN
CELL1 CELL2 CELL3 CELL4 CELL5 CELL6 CELL7
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
TYP
MAX
MIN
CELL1 CELL2 CELL3 CELL4 CELL5 CELL6 CELL7
FIGURE 29. ISL9217 TYP/MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND
4.3V CELL. ERROR RELATIVE TO CELL3.
For Figure 30, it is assumed that the error at room
temperature and 4.2V per cell for each device is zero. Then
the error for the cell inputs on each device at 2.3V were
compared with the error on the same cell at 4.3V, according
to Equation 13:
0
CELL1
CELL5
TYP
MAX
5
-10
CELL4
FIGURE 28. ISL9217 TYP/MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND
2.3V CELL. ERROR RELATIVE TO CELL3.
ERROR (mV)
CELL1 CELL2 CELL3 CELL4 CELL5 CELL6 CELL7
CELL3
Figure 27 and Figure 28 show similar results for the ISL9217.
MIN (+25°C)
-20
CELL2
FIGURE 27. ISL9216 TYP/MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND
4.3V CELL. ERROR RELATIVE TO CELL3.
ERROR (mV)
-20
30
MIN
-10
-10
40
TYP
MAX
5
CELL3
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 26. ISL9216 TYP/MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND
2.3V CELL. ERROR RELATIVE TO CELL3.
17
Error = ErrorCell N ( 2.3V ) – ErrorCell N ( 4.2V )
(EQ. 13)
The chart then shows the minimum and maximum errors
over 30 units.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
ERROR (mV)
5
10
CELL6 MAX
5
CELL6 MIN
ERROR (mV)
10
0
CELL3 MAX
-5
CELL3 MIN
CELL5 MAX
CELL5 MIN
-10
CELL2 MAX
CELL4 MAX
CELL4 MIN
CELL2 MIN
CELL1 MAX
CELL4 MAX
CELL4 MIN
0 CELL1 MIN
-5
CELL6 MAX
CELL2 MAX
CELL6 MIN
CELL2 MIN
-15
-40
4.3
CELL VOLTAGE (V)
Figure 31 shows similar results for the ISL9217.
Figure 34 and Figure 35 show similar results for the ISL9217.
10
CELL7 MIN
CELL6 MIN
5
ERROR (mV)
ERROR (mV)
0
CELL2 MIN
85
FIGURE 33. ISL9216 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
OVER-TEMPERATURE (4.3V), MIN/MAX ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS COMPARED TO ROOM
TEMPERATURE FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V.
CELL2 MAX CELL4 MAX CELL1 MAX CELL6 MAX
CELL7 MAX
-10
25
TEMPERATURE (°C)
FIGURE 30. ISL9216 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR OVER 2.3V
TO 4.3V/CELL, MIN/MAX ERROR FOR 30 UNITS
AT +25°C FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V
COMPARED TO 4.3V.
CELL1 MIN
CELL3 MAX CELL5 MAX
CELL5 MIN
-5 CELL3 MIN
CELL3 MIN
CELL3 MAX
-10
-15
2.3
5
CELL5 MAX
CELL5 MIN
0
4.3
CELL1 MAX CELL7 MIN CELL4 MAX
CELL7 MAX CELL4 MIN
CELL1 MIN
CELL3 MIN
-5
CELL4 MIN
-15
2.3
CELL3 MAX CELL2 MAX
CELL2 MIN CELL6 MAX CELL5 MAX
CELL6 MIN CELL5 MIN
-10
-40
CELL VOLTAGE (V)
FIGURE 31. ISL9217 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR OVER 2.3V
TO 4.3V/CELL, MIN/MAX ERROR FOR 30 UNITS
AT +25°C FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V
COMPARED TO 4.3V.
For Figure 32 and Figure 33, the error for the cells on each
device at hot and cold were compared with the error on the
same device at room temperature, according to Equation 14:
25
85
TEMPERATURE (°C)
FIGURE 34. ISL9217 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
OVER-TEMPERATURE (2.3V), MIN/MAX ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS COMPARED TO ROOM
TEMPERATURE FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V.
Error = ErrorCell N ( (Hot,Cold) ) – ErrorCell N ( Room )
(EQ. 14)
Then, the graph shows the minimum and maximum errors
over 30 units.
10
CELL1 MAX
CELL5 MAX
CELL5 MIN
ERROR (mV)
5
CELL2 MAX
CELL2 MIN
-10
-15
CELL3 MAX
CELL5 MAX
CELL7 MAX
CELL2 MAX
5
CELL7 MIN
CELL5 MIN
CELL2 MIN
0
CELL6 MAX
CELL6 MIN
CELL1 MAX
-5
CELL1 MIN
CELL3 MIN
-10
-40
25
CELL4 MAX
CELL4 MIN
85
TEMPERATURE (°C)
0
-5
ERROR (mV)
10
CELL6 MAX CELL4 MAX
CELL3 MIN
CELL4 MIN
CELL3 MAX
CELL6 MIN
CELL1 MIN
-40
CELL6 MIN
25
TEMPERATURE (°C)
85
CELL3 MIN
FIGURE 32. ISL9216 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
OVER-TEMPERATURE (2.3V), MIN/MAX ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS COMPARED TO ROOM
TEMPERATURE FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V.
18
FIGURE 35. ISL9217 ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR
OVER-TEMPERATURE (4.3V), MIN/MAX ERROR
FOR 30 UNITS COMPARED TO ROOM
TEMPERATURE FOR CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V.
Because the accuracy of the ISL9216 and ISL9217 is better
when looking at each device, rather than assuming all
devices are the same (and because the variation of the
voltage measurement is less over voltage and temperature),
the performance can be improved by performing a
calibration at room temperature when the board is
assembled.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
A calibration procedure might consist of the following steps:
3. Power the board and program the microcontroller with
standard pack code, using the microcontroller internal
Flash and a download interface. Next, power-down the
board, so on re-start the pack code is operational.
4. Apply a known voltage of 4.20V on every cell input (room
temperature is fine). This powers the board and starts the
microcontroller. The downloaded microcontroller code
runs normally, assuming that there are no errors in the
cell voltage readings. However, the code includes a
calibration mode that is activated through a debugger or
a dedicated pin.
5. Use the debugger or pin to start the calibration mode.
Inside the microcontroller, the code successively selects
each cell input. and compares the cell voltage reading
with the expected 4.20V input. Any differences are
temporarily stored in separate locations in RAM. Since
there is a difference between readings at 4.2V and 2.3V,
it is more important to calibrate at 4.2V, since accuracy is
more critical when the cells are fully charged.
6. After all cell voltages are read, the code writes the offset
values to Flash and uses these calibration values in
future scans of the cells.
The process of powering up the board, programming it, and
calibrating the inputs should take less than 15 seconds. Most
of this time is taken up by the initial download of the
microcontroller code and this process can be completed
before connection of the board to the battery cells.
Temperature Monitoring
The voltage representing the external temperature applied at
the TEMPI terminal is directed to the AO terminal through a
MUX, as selected by the AO control bits (see Figure 20 and
Figure 21). The external temperature voltage is not divided by 2
as are the cell voltages. Instead it is a direct reflection of the
external temperature voltage divider. The microcontroller takes
this monitored voltage and typically converts it to a temperature
using a table. To get resolution of less than +5°C, there typically
needs to be some interpolation between table set points. See
some sample code in Figure 36.
A similar hardware operation occurs when monitoring the
internal temperature through the AO output, except there is
no external “calibration” of the voltage associated with the
internal temperature. For internal temperature monitoring,
the voltage at the output is linear with respect to temperature
and has a slope and offset. (See the Operating
Specifications for information about the output voltage at
+25°C and the output slope relative to temperature). Based
on the data sheet FN6488, Equation 15 translates internal
temperature in volts to internal temperature in °C:
AO IntTemp – 1.31
IntTemp °C = --------------------------------------------------- + 25
– 0.0035
19
(EQ. 15)
Cell Balancing
Overview
A typical ISL9216, ISL9217 Li-ion battery pack consists of 8
to 12 cells in series, with one or more cells in parallel. This
combination gives both the voltage and power necessary for
power tool, e-bikes, electric wheel chairs, portable medical
equipment, and battery powered industrial applications.
While the series/parallel combination of Li-ion cells is
common, the configuration is not as efficient as it could be,
because any capacity mismatch between series connected
cells reduces the overall pack capacity. This mismatch is
greater as the number of series cells and the load current
increase. Cell balancing techniques increase the capacity,
and the operating time, of Li-ion battery packs.
There are two kinds of mismatch in the pack, State-ofCharge (SOC) and capacity/energy (C/E)3 mismatch, with
SOC mismatch being more common. Each problem limits
the pack capacity (mAh) to the capacity of the weakest cell.
It is important to recognize that the cell mismatch results
more from limitations in process control and inspection than
from variations inherent in the Lithium Ion chemistry.
The use of cell balancing can improve the performance of
series connected Li-ion Cells by addressing both State-ofCharge and Capacity/Energy issues. SOC mismatch can be
remedied by balancing the cell during an initial conditioning
period and subsequently only during the charge phase. C/E
mismatch remedies are more difficult to implement and
harder to measure and require balancing during both charge
and discharge periods.
Definition of Cell Balancing
Cell balancing is defined as the application of differential
currents to individual cells (or combinations of cells) in a
series string. Normally, of course, cells in a series string
receive identical currents. A battery pack requires additional
components and circuitry to achieve cell balancing.
Battery pack cells are balanced when all the cells in the
battery pack meet two conditions:
1. If all cells have the same capacity, then they are balanced
when they have the same relative State of Charge (SOC).
In this case, the Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) is a good
measure of the SOC. If, in an out of balance pack, all cells
can be differentially charged to full capacity (balanced),
then they will subsequently cycle normally without any
additional adjustments. This is mostly a one shot fix.
3. In SOC mismatch, the cells all have the same inherent capacity, but
through charge and discharge inefficiencies, they have arrived at a
condition where the state of charge are different cell to cell. In C/E
mismatch, the cells begin with different inherent capacities. In this
type of mismatch, an imbalance between cells develops, even if there
are no charge/discharge inefficiencies. Because Li-ion manufacturing
is improving, the C/E mismatch is less common.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
2. If the cells have different capacities, they are also
considered balanced when the SOC is the same. But,
since SOC is a relative measure, the absolute amount of
capacity for each cell is different. To keep the cells with
different capacities at the same SOC, cell balancing must
provide differential amounts of current to cells in the
series string during both charge and discharge on every
cycle.
Manufactured cell capacities are usually matched within 3%.
If less than optimal Li-ion cells are introduced in to a series
string pack or cells have been on the shelf for a long period
prior to pack assembly, a 150mV difference at full charge is
possible. This could result in a 13 to18% reduction in battery
pack capacity.
In an unbalanced battery pack, during charging, one or more
cells will reach the maximum charge level before the rest of
the cells in the series string. During discharge the cells that
are not fully charged will be depleted before the other cells in
the string, causing early undervoltage shutdown of the pack.
These early charge and discharge limits reduce the usable
charge in the battery.
/***************************************************************************************************
This function converts voltage from the AO output to external temperature. It uses a table lookup based on the muRata
NCP03XH103J05RL thermistor */
short calculate_externaltemp(short voltage)
{
unsigned short Rtable[22]={
1963, 1768, 1577, 1393, 1219, 1061, 918, 793, 682, 585, 501, 429, 368, 316, 271, 233, 201, 174, 151, 131, 114, 100
};
char i,j;
short temperature;
short temp1, temp2;
for(i=0;i<22;i++){
if(scan_control.ISL9208Temp[0] > Rtable[i])
break;
}
temperature = (-20+i*5);
/* use the following formula to interpolate values inside a 5degree grid
temperature = (-20+i*5) + ((scan_control.ISL9208Temp[0]-Rtable[i]) * -5)/(Rtable[i-1]-Rtable[i]);
*/
temp1 = scan_control.ISL9208Temp[0]-Rtable[i];
temp1 = 5*temp1;
temp2 = Rtable[i-1]-Rtable[i];
for(j=0;j<5;j++){
if(temp1<(j+1)*temp2)
break;
}
temperature += (4-j);
return temperature;
}
FIGURE 36. SAMPLE CODE FOR CONVERTING EXTERNAL TEMP VOLTAGE TO °C
20
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
Soft Shorts
CELL2 (UNBALANCED)
CELL1 (UNBALANCED)
100
80
60
40
20
0
e
rg
ha
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Di h s
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on
3M
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ar
Ch rge
ha
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Di h s
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3m
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Di h s
t
on
3M
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Di
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Ch h s
nt
o
3M
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ar
St
Soft shorts are the primary cause of cell imbalance in Li-ion
cells. Due to tiny imperfections in cell construction the cell
can have very high resistance shorts on the order of
40,000Ω or more. The self discharge rate due to this higher
resistance is on the order of 0.1mA or 3% per month. Most
cells do not have this condition and can hold much of their
capacity for years. Some cells which meet specifications
when they leave the factory may sometimes exhibit this
condition later. This is strictly an electromechanical
condition. Used in a single cell pack, this cell can just be
recharged and shows no capacity loss. But, in a series pack,
a cell with soft sorts could lose 3% per month, while another
cell loses none at all. See Example 5.
STATE OF CHARGE (%)
120
CONDITION
FIGURE 38. WITHOUT CELL BALANCING
Example 5: Cell balancing benefits.
Cell Balance Operation
Assume a 2 cell pack.
Assume cell 1 discharges 3%/month.
Assume cell 2 does has negligible discharge.
Assume the cells start at the same 40% state of charge
(SOC)
Assume the pack remains on the shelf for 3 months
between charging, then it is charged, discharged and
charged again before again being placed on the shelf.
When choosing components for the cell balancing circuit,
care is needed in the selection of the external current limiting
resistor to keep the currents within reasonable limits. If
balancing current is too high, power dissipation can be
considerable, both internally to the IC and externally in the
limiting resistor. The result can be battery pack heating or
component stress. If balancing current is too low, balancing
takes too long or requires too many charge/discharge cycles
to return a benefit. The result is ineffective or non-existent
cell balancing.
Compare the pack performance with and without
balancing:
Results without balancing:
At 3 months: Cell1 = 31% SOC, Cell2 = 40% SOC
After charge cycle: Cell1 = 91% SOC, Cell2 = 100% SOC
After discharge cycle: Cell1 = 0% SOC, Cell2 = 9% SOC
3 month pack capacity loss = 9%.
12 month pack capacity loss = 36%. A pack that had a
3 hour run time when new, lasts only 1.9 hours after one
year.
Results with balancing:
At 3 months: Cell1 = 31% SOC, Cell2 = 40% SOC
After charge cycle: Cell1 = 100% SOC, Cell2 = 100%SOC
After discharge cycle: Cell1 = 0% SOC, Cell2 = 0% SOC
3 month pack capacity loss = 0%.
12 month pack capacity loss = 0%, with only minor,
recoverable, loss if not used for a long period.
STATE OF CHARGE (%)
120
The microcontroller manages cell balancing by setting a bit in
the Cell Balance Register. Each bit in the register corresponds
to one cell’s balancing control. With the bit set, an internal cell
balancing FET turns on. This shorts an external resistor
across the specified cell. The maximum current that can be
drawn from (or bypassed around) the cell is 200mA, based on
the ISL9216, ISL9217 limits. This current is set by selecting
the value of the external resistor. Figure 39 shows an example
with a 200mA (maximum) balancing current.
VC7/VCC
21Ω
1W
CB7
ISL9216, ISL9217
MUST ASSUME ZERO rDS(ON)
FOR MAX CURRENT
CALCULATION
200mA
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
VCELL1
CELL
BALANCE
REG
CELL1 (BALANCED)
CELL2 (BALANCED)
21Ω
1W
100
CB1
80
60
40
VSS
20
e
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ha
sc
Di
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th
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di
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th
on
3m
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di hs
t
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
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Di
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ar
Ch hs
t
on
3M
t
ar
St
0
FIGURE 39. CELL BALANCING CONTROL EXAMPLE WITH
100mA BALANCING CURRENT
CONDITION
FIGURE 37. WITH CELL BALANCING
21
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
To program a balancing current of 200mA, start with a cell
voltage of 4.2V and assume an internal resistance of 0Ω. This
internal resistance is a ideal minimum rDS(ON). It will likely be
higher, but to keep the maximum current at 200mA per cell,
start with this zero internal resistance. This balancing condition
calls for an external resistor of 21W. With these components,
the external resistor dissipates 0.84W and the power
dissipation inside the ISL9216, ISL9217 is zero. The external
resistor should be sized to handle this power dissipation.
(Ideally, to minimize heating, the goal is to use a 4Ω or greater
resistor, but more realistically, because of board space and
cost, the choice would be the use of a 2Ω resistor).
50k
10
50k
10
50k
10
50k
Next, to make sure the device does not dissipate too much
power through the internal FET, assume an external resistor of
21Ω and an internal FET resistance of 7Ω. This gives a
balancing current of 150mA (4.2V/28Ω). The external resistor in
this case dissipates 0.55W and the IC FET dissipates 158mW.
The ISL9216 and ISL9217 packages have a power dissipation
limit of 400mW. So, because of the heat generated internally
from this aggressive balancing, there should be a software limit
to balance only one or two cells at a time.
With lower balancing current, more balancing FETs can be
turned on at once, without exceeding the device power
dissipation limits or generating excessive balancing current. A
reasonable compromise between aggressive balancing and
power dissipation uses a balancing current of 100mA. A
42Ω/2W cell balancing resistor sets this maximum balancing
current and has a maximum power dissipation of 420mW. The
internal balancing FET has a maximum dissipation of 70mW,
allowing 4 to 5 cell balancing FETs to be on at the same time.
The above calculations are for maximum cell voltages. But, as
the cell voltage drops, the overall power dissipation also drops.
The ISL9216, ISL9217 devices support battery packs with
multiple cells in parallel. With more than 2 cells in parallel,
however, cell balancing becomes more difficult due to the
higher pack capacities. At these higher capacities, the
maximum 200mA balancing current limits the rate of balancing.
To deal with this, an external P-Channel FET can be used to
provide higher currents. Figure 40 shows an example of such a
circuit. In this case it is even more important to separate the
voltage monitoring and cell balancing paths to get accurate
readings of the cell voltage while cell balancing is on. This
connection of cell balancing components completely isolates
the cell balancing from the cell monitoring, so in this case
monitoring and balancing can be performed simultaneously.
Another design consideration is to choose an external
P-Channel FET with a gate turn on voltage below the minimum
cell voltage that balancing will take place. For example, if the
cells will be balanced down to 2.5V, then the FET turn on
voltage needs to be less than 2.5V. The circuit of Figure 40
provides up to 400mA of balancing current. This requires the
use of 5W balancing resistors and 1W cell balancing
transistors.
22
10
50k
10
50k
CB7
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
10
50k
10
VCELL7
VCELL1
CB1
VSS
FIGURE 40. HIGH CURRENT CELL BALANCING CIRCUIT
Cell Balance Control Algorithm
Designing the software for cell balancing can become quite
difficult as there are several limitations that should be
considered and several difficult obstacles to overcome.
Some of the design elements of cell balancing are listed in
the following:
1. Maximum voltage differential between cells. If the
difference between the cells is too great, it could indicate
that there is a bad cell. In this case, the decision by the
microcontroller code might be to shut down the pack.
2. Minimum voltage differential between cells. If the cell
voltage differential is too small, then it could be said the
cells are already balanced. The decision about what
voltage differential is too small is primarily based on the
accuracy of the voltage measurement system. If the error
in the measurement system is greater than the minimum
cell balance differential, then a cell could be balanced
that did not need to be, and the cell imbalance can
increase.
3. Temperature limits on balancing. It is usually desirable
to refrain from balancing when the cells are too hot or too
cold. When cells are too hot, balancing them could
increase the temperature of the cells. When cells are too
cold charging should be restricted, limiting the
opportunities for balancing.
AN1336.0
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Application Note 1336
4. Maximum and minimum voltage on the individual
cells being balanced. This is not usually a problem and
cells can be balanced all the way from the under charge
level to the over charge level. However, if the balancing
operation affects the cell measurement, then operating
the cell balancing algorithm at the capacity extremes may
cause significant changes in the observed cell voltage,
leading to pack shut down or resulting in the attempted
balance of cells that do not need balancing. Also, as the
cell voltages near their maximum, it is necessary to keep
a close watch on the voltage, to avoid over charging the
cells. It may not be possible to balance at the same time
as closely monitor the cells near the over charge limit.
5. Balancing on-time vs off-time. Ideally, there would not
need to be a balancing on and off time. However, without
using external balancing FETs, any significant balancing
current will affect the voltage at the ISL9216, ISL9217
VCELLN pins when the balancing is turned on. Adding a
separate “Kelvin” connection from the terminal of the cell
to the VCELLN pin (see Figure 1 and Figure 40),
minimizing resistance in the cell to board connections,
and balancing with less current all reduce the
measurement error. But, in general, the cell balance
circuit must turn off periodically for the microcontroller to
get a good reading of the cell voltages for managing the
over charge and under charge condition of the cells as
well as to determine the continuing need for cell
balancing.
6. Maximum number of cells balanced at a time. As
mentioned earlier, the total number of cells balanced at
any one time may be limited by the package power
dissipation levels. This needs to be comprehended in the
algorithm.
7. Balancing order. The algorithm normally sorts the cell
voltages in order from high to low. Then, if the difference
between any higher voltage cell and the minimum voltage
cell exceeds the minimum balancing differential, then that
cell balance is turned on. The algorithm starts by turning
on the highest voltage cell, then the next highest, and so
on until the maximum number of balanced cells is
reached or no additional cells have a high enough voltage
differential.
8. Balance during charge or discharge or both.
Balancing cells during discharge conditions is not
common. In this case charge from the pack is “burned” in
the balancing resistors during a period where maximum
energy is required. Balancing during discharge reduces
the pack capacity in the short term. It could be that this
short term loss results in a long term gain, if the cells can
be balanced quickly, but it is not obvious that this is the
case.
Balancing cells during the charge condition is the more
common technique, since there is energy available from
the charger to replenish that lost through the cell
balance resistors. By balancing during charge, it is
necessary to increase the charge current slightly to keep
the overall charge time from increasing.
pack microcontroller and the charger. This
communication path allows the charger to monitor
individual cell voltages, but it also allows the charger to
let the pack know that a charger is present so balancing
can commence.
Without a charger communication path, in a two terminal
pack for example, the microcontroller code inside the
pack needs to detect the presence of a charging current
or use the pack voltage and cell voltages to determine if
a charger is connected or not. This is not a trivial
solution.
A modification of the FET desaturation current circuit in
Figure 17 on page 12 could be used to provide the
microcontroller an indication of charge current. In this
case, the microcontroller would monitor the voltage at
point A. When this voltage drops significantly from the
voltage when there is no current, then the
microcontroller concludes that a charge is in progress.
Without this hardware indication, the pack can use an
instantaneous change in the pack voltage to detect that
a charger is connected. This instantaneous change can
be several hundred millivolts when the charger
connects. However, this change in pack voltage can be
indistinguishable from the change in pack voltage
caused by the instantaneous drop in the load current.
The pack can use an average dV/dt of the pack voltage
to determine if the pack is charging or discharging. A
pack being discharged generates a negative dV/dt; a
pack being charged creates a positive value. However,
in this case the pack voltage needs to be filtered to avoid
noise in the measurements and to smooth out short term
variations in the load. The dV/dt value also needs to be
averaged over a period of time, because in the middle of
the cell voltage range there can be a lot of capacity
change with very little corresponding voltage change. In
this case, cell balancing could automatically stop if the
dV/dt detection returns a zero charge rate.
Pack Communications
If it is important to communicate with the pack
microcontroller from the outside world, the easiest method is
with a two wire interface such as the SMBus or I2C bus.
Most microcontrollers have one of these interfaces
implemented in hardware. Alternatively, a one-wire interface
could be developed, using microcontroller code.
Another design consideration for communication is that the
microcontroller is ground referenced at the same point as
the ISL9216. When the power FETs are off, this ground
reference is different from the PACK- point. So,
communication between the pack and outside are only
possible in the following conditions:
1. The power FETs are on. In this case, the PACK- terminal
is roughly the same potential as the microcontroller
ground.
The best method of implementing cell balancing during
charge is to include a communication path between the
23
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
2. The 2-wire external communication connector also
provides the microcontroller ground voltage, so it is not
necessary that the power FETs be on. CAUTION: In this
case, the unit communicating with the pack cannot also
use the PACK- terminal as a ground connection. The
PACK- terminal should be floating. Otherwise, when the
power FETs turn off, either an unsafe voltage differential
occurs between the microcontroller ground and the
PACK- pin, potentially damaging the microcontroller, or
the monitoring device provides a discharge path around
the power FETs. Neither condition is desired.
Keep in mind also that a PC (for monitoring) and a
power supply (for charging) may have their grounds
connected together through their chassis and the AC
power connection. The same is true if a scope is
connected to the board. This may not be obvious. So
using both of these units in the second configuration
may require extra attention.
If monitoring of the pack is desired in production, then option
2 is normally sufficient. If a charger needs to communicate
with the pack, then option 1 is required and the pack
microcontroller needs to turn on the power FETs before
communication is possible. If the pack shuts down because
of an over charge condition, the over charge condition must
be resolved before communication is re-established.
Other Design Ideas
The following design ideas are proposed implementations
and have not been thoroughly tested and will likely require
additional software control.
Input Filtering
In some applications it is required that the cell inputs be
filtered before being monitored by the ISL9216, ISL9217. As
mentioned earlier, this will add an offset error to the
monitored input voltage. However, if the microcontroller can
perform a calibration on initial assembly and can store this
value in non-volatile memory, then it is possible to add filters
to the inputs.
Adding a series resistance to each input, as part of the input
filter, has one other negative. It adds resistance to the cell
balance path. This both reduces the available cell balance
current and creates an even larger measurement error when
the cells are being balanced. As such, this design option
requires the addition of external P-Channel FETs for
balancing. These extra FETs add some cost to the system,
but will allow higher balancing current.
24
The combined input filter and external cell balancing input
are shown in Figure 41. In this case, the 1kΩ resistors add
about 120mV error to the readings for cell2 through cell6
(depending on the input), about 60mV error on cell1 input,
and about 6mV error on cell7.
This error on the inputs is due to a current that flows when
sampling the cell voltage. The current varies cell to cell, but it
is consistent for any specific cell input.
The cell7 input poses a more difficult problem, because the
error varies according to the current consumption of the
ISL9216 and ISL9217 device. However, if the series resistor
is kept small, then there will likely be very little variation in
the current consumption (for any specific device) at the time
when a measurement is being made.
There is one additional advantage to this input connection.
That is, the ISL9216, ISL9217 is protected against input
surge currents, so it is possible to connect the cells to the
PCB in any sequence.
Positive Edge Wakeup Variations
When used in a power tool application, the positive edge
wake up might be used to power down the pack when it is
removed from the tool or the charger.
Positive edge wake up might also be used such that the
WKUP pin is connected directly to the power tool switch so
the pack is always asleep until the switch is pulled. In this
case, care should be taken with the microcontroller software
so the code wakes up quickly enough that there is no
perceived lag on the trigger pull. This connection will also
cause the FETs to turn on during a condition of maximum
current.
In some other applications, the WKUP pin could be
connected to a system control signal. In this case, the pack
is powered down when not needed, for example when the
unit is taken off-line. Then, when the unit is again placed in
service, a signal can be sent to the battery pack to wake it
up. This provides maximum life of the battery when the
system does not require battery operation.
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
50k
10
0.1µ
10
50k
1k
0.1µ
10
50k
1k
CB6
VCELL5
0.1µ
CB5
VCELL4
10
50k
1k
50k
1k
0.1µ
10
CB4
VCELL3
ISL9217
0.1µ
10
50k
1k
CB3
VCELL2
0.1µ
CB2
VCELL1
10
50k
1k
0.1µ
10
4.7µ
CB1
VSS
50k
VCELL5
1k
0.1µ
CB5
VCELL4
10
50k
1k
50k
1k
0.1µ
10
CB4
VCELL3
ISL9216
0.1µ
10
50k
1k
CB3
VCELL2
0.1µ
CB2
VCELL1
10
50k
10
1k
0.1µ
4.7µ
CB1
VSS
FIGURE 41. SIMPLIFIED DIAGRAM OF INPUT FILTER/EXTERNAL BALANCING FETS
25
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
Packs with more than 12 Series Connected Cells
In a second method of implementing a 14-cell series
connected pack, an ISL9208 is used with an ISL9217 and
only one microcontroller (See Figure 44). The ISL9217 was
selected in this case, because it has a “split” I2C interface
with an SDAOUT and an SDAIN. This is easier to handle
when level shifting than a bidirectional port. The ISL9217
also does not include the FET control functions which are
not needed on the upper cascaded devices. The ISL9208
was selected over the ISL9216, because the ISL9216 only
monitors up to 5-cells.
For applications that require more than 12-series connected
cells, the ISL9216, ISL9217 chip set needs to be connected
with additional level shifters or isolation circuits to allow
cascading multiple battery modules in a single pack. For
example, a pack with 24 series connected cells could use
two ISL9216, ISL9217 modules (See Figure 42). This
example shows optical isolation, which will work with many
modules, but for 2 modules only, this pack can be also be
done with FET level shifters.
This circuit also shows a mechanism for level shifting the
analog output of the ISL9217 to a ground reference so it can
be monitored by the ISL9208 microcontroller. The AO level
shifter has three main sources for error. The op amp offset
error translates to an offset error at the microcontroller
analog input. A current mirror mismatch and a mismatch
between resistors R1 and R2 each translates to a gain error
at the microcontroller.
12-CELLS IN SERIES
The ISL9216, ISL9217 cannot support a pack with 14-series
connected cells in its normal configuration. However, there
are two possible approaches to this pack. In the first, two
ISL9208 devices are cascaded (See Figure 43). Each of
these support 7 cells and each has a microcontroller
managing the module operation. The microcontroller for the
lower ISL9208 also includes communication with the upper
module through level shifting circuitry. In this case, the level
shifter is implemented with several FETs. This technique
could be used with multiple cascaded ISL9208s, but there is
a limit due to voltage ratings of the FETs. The level shifter
could be replaced with an optical isolator for virtually
unlimited cascading.
These 14-cell design ideas have not been implemented and
are presented here for purposes of discussion only.
RGO2
DO2
DI
ISL9216, ISL9217
WITH SPI SERIAL
LINK FROM MODULE
TO EXTERNAL µC
SCK
1
3
2
12-CELLS IN SERIES
RGO
ISL9216, ISL9217
WITH SPI SERIAL
LINK FROM MODULE DO1
TO EXTERNAL µC
DI
1
DO2
µC
SCK
2
3
FIGURE 42. 24-CELL SERIES BATTERY PACK USING TWO ISL9216, ISL9217 MODULES AND OPTICAL ISOLATION
26
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
ISL9208
VCELL7
CB7
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
RGO
CB5
VCELL4
5k
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
5k
20k
20k
SDAIN
SDA
SCL
AO
µC
A0
SDAOUT
SCL
CB1
VSS
50k
50k
ISL9208
VCELL7
GND
RGO
CB7
VCELL6
5k
CB6
VCELL5
PHILLIPS
P82B96
CB5
VCELL4
Tx
Rx
Sx
50k
20k
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
SDA
SCL
µC
SCL
SDA
AO
A0
CB1
VSS
SHOWN WITH TWO PARALLEL CELLS.
GND
FIGURE 43. USING TWO ISL9208 DEVICES TO IMPLEMENT A 14-CELL SERIES CONNECTED PACK
27
AN1336.0
August 31, 2007
Application Note 1336
ISL9217
CURRENT MIRROR MISMATCH ERROR
TRANSLATES TO A1 GAIN ERROR
VCELL7
CB7
VCELL6
RGO
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
5k
5k
20k
20k
SDA IN
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
SDA Out
CB2
VCELL1
SCL
AO
50k
CB1
VSS
50k
R1
ISL9208
VCELL7
GND
RGO
CB7
VCELL6
5k
OP AMP
OFFSET ERROR
TRANSLATES TO
A1 OFFSET ERROR
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
PHILLIPS
P82B96
Tx
Rx
Sx
50k
20k
GND
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
SDA
SCL
CB2
VCELL1
AO
CB1
VSS
µC
A1
A0
R2
SCL
SDA
R1 = R2. ANY MISMATCH ERROR
TRANSLATES TO A1 GAIN ERROR
Shown with two parallel cells.
FIGURE 44. USING AN ISL9208 AND ISL9217 TO IMPLEMENT A 14-CELL SERIES CONNECTED PACK
Battery Pack Software
There are many things to consider when writing the software
for a battery pack controller. Please see the ISL9216EVAL1
Software user guide for more detailed information about
battery pack code implementation.
Intersil Corporation reserves the right to make changes in circuit design, software and/or specifications at any time without notice. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned to
verify that the Application Note or Technical Brief is current before proceeding.
For information regarding Intersil Corporation and its products, see www.intersil.com
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