Application Note 1891
Designing with the ISL94208 Analog Front End
Description
This application note reviews 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
ISL94208 analog front end.
A microcontroller provides the primary control of the operation of
the battery pack. However, the ISL94208 provides several major
elements in the multi-cell series Li-ion pack:
• The voltages involved in a multi-cell series battery pack (up to
26V for 6-cells in series), are far higher than most
microcontrollers are rated. So, the ISL94208 provides a
voltage regulator supplied from the full battery stack to power
the microcontroller. The microcontroller cannot just operate on
the voltage from one of the string of Li-ion cells (typically 2.0V
to 4.2V each) 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.
• The high voltage of the cells in the pack preclude the
microcontroller from directly reading the voltage of each cell
as needed to properly manage the charge and discharge limits
required of Li-ion cells. So the ISL94208 provides 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.
• Because the microcontroller is relatively slow to respond to
high speed overcurrent events, (such as a short circuit
condition) the ISL94208 provides circuits that shut down the
pack quickly and autonomously of the microcontroller to
protect the cells and the electronics in the pack.
• In order to balance the cells in the pack, the ISL94208
provides the microcontroller the cell balancing circuitry for
each cell. Most of these circuits are at a voltage too high for
direct microcontroller control.
• To control the current flow into and out of the battery pack, the
system typically uses N-channel FETs, one for charge control
and one for discharge control. These cannot normally be
controlled directly by the microcontroller, because of voltage
constraints. Instead, the ISL94208 provides the FET drive
circuits.
The ISL94208 supports battery pack configurations consisting of
4- to 6-cells in series and 1-cell or more in parallel.
ISL94208 Cell Connections
Pack Sizes
The ISL94208 supports multiple series connected Li-ion cells.
The bottom two inputs and the top two inputs, VCELL1, VCELL2,
VCELL5, and VCELL6 are always required. VCELL3 and VCELL4
are optional. This allows the ISL94208 to be used in battery
packs of 4- to 6-cells. Simplified connection guidelines for each
cell combination are shown in Figure 1.
6 CELLS
5 CELLS
4 CELLS
VCC
VCELL6
VCC
VCELL6
VCC
CB6
VCELL5
CB6
VCELL5
CB6
VCELL5
VCELL6
CB5
VCELL4
VFET2
CB5
VCELL4
VFET2
CB5
VCELL4
VFET2
CB4
VCELL3
VFET1
CB4
VCELL3
VFET1
CB4
VCELL3
VFET1
CB3
VCELL2
VBACK
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VCELL0
VSS
CB3
VCELL2
VBACK
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VCELL0
VSS
CB3
VCELL2
VBACK
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VCELL0
VSS
Note: Multiple cells can be connected in parallel.
FIGURE 1. BATTERY CONNECTION OPTIONS
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Application Note 1891
Connection Recommendations
The ISL94208 was designed for random connection of cells,
however, the following are some precautions and
recommendations to achieve the best performance.
• The cell input voltage differential VCELLn - VCELL(n-1) should
not be forced to greater than the specified limit, as shown in
the ISL94208 data sheet. This means, for example, do not
connect CELL1 to VCELL1 and CELL3 to VCELL2. It is OK to
connect CELL1 to VCELL1 and CELL3 to VCELL3 while VCELL2
is not connected.
• When initially connecting cells to the ISL94208, especially
when using a connector where there can be random
connection of the voltages, there can be an input surge current
large enough to damage the device. To minimize this current
and to prevent damage to the device, the best solutions are to
reduce or eliminate any input capacitors and add input series
resistors. It is not always possible to eliminate capacitors on
the input if filtering is needed. In this case, use larger value
input resistors. There is a trade-off in this case between hot
plug protection, cell balance current, and use of additional
external components. For a longer discussion on this topic, see
“External Balancing Elements” on page 3.
INPUT CURRENT
Cell voltage measurement occurs when the external
microcontroller writes a value to the AO3:AO0 bits. A value of 0
selects no output. A value of 1 through 6 selects CELL1 to CELL6
and places the cell voltage (divided by two) on the AO pin, relative
to the VSS ground reference.
The ISL94208 input multiplexer and level shifter mainly use a
balanced circuit when the cell voltage is being measured, with
identical current into or out of each measured input pin. When
the cell is not being measured, there is no VCELLn current.
Table 1 shows typical input currents for the ISL94208 level
shifter. In this table, each column shows the cell being monitored
(by writing to the AO3:AO0 bits) and the row shows the current
into (or out of each cell). A negative value indicates that current is
out of an input during measurement.
As shown in Table 1, the currents on most inputs are roughly
equal. In this way, equal resistors (even 1kΩ resistors) on both
inputs result in little or no voltage measurement error.
INPUT FILTERS
The use of input filters on each cell input as well as on the cell
balance inputs (see Figure 2) are optional and if not needed are
not recommended, but they can be useful in a number of ways.
• Input filters remove noise generated by motors or EMC events.
The input voltages can be filtered in software, but this usually
requires a more powerful and expensive controller.
• Input filters protect the device against high voltage transients,
during fast FET turn-off (for example).
• The resistor part of the filter can protect against hot plug surge
currents (although the capacitor part may create additional
surge currents as they may instantaneously charge during cell
connections).
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TABLE 1. VCELLn INPUT CURRENTS DURING CELL MONITORING
CELL BEING MONITORED (As selected by AO3:AO0)
INPUT CURRENT CELL1 CELL2 CELL3 CELL4 CELL5 CELL6 CELL7
BEING MEASURED (µA) (µA) (µA) (µA) (µA) (µA) (µA)
VCELL6
40
VCELL5
40
VCELL4
30
VCELL3
30
VCELL2
-20
VCELL1
-18
VCELL0
-18
40
40
40
30
30
-20
For VCELL1 to VCELL4, the difference in the VCELLn-VCELL(n-1)
measurement currents is ±2µA.
For VCELL5 and VCELL6, the difference in the VCELLn-VCELL(n-1)
measurement currents is ±4µA.
(From the Data Sheet.)
Input filters do pose some design challenges. The first challenge,
voltage drop across input resistors, is mitigated by the matched
input measurement currents of the ISL94208. However, because
of variations in the input resistors and the measurement current,
the microcontroller may need trim the measurements in-circuit
to obtain the best accuracy.
The second major problem arises when using the ISL94208
internal balancing FETs. Since the balancing current passes
through the input resistor, a large value resistor limits the
balancing current. For example, a 1kΩ input resistor limits the
balance current to 3-4mA.
An example circuit using both an input filter and internal
balancing FETs is shown in Figure 2. When using an input filter
resistor along with the on-chip balancing FETs, consider the
power dissipation in the resistors during balance. The input and
balance resistors need to be able to handle the cell balance
current. This is not a problem with the circuit of Figure 2, because
the balance current is relatively low. But if the input resistor and
cell balance resistor are both 20Ω, for example, then the power
dissipation in both the input and balance resistors would be
200mW. The resistors should be sized correctly to handle this.
Also, this dissipation can cause heating and affect the accuracy
of the voltage measurement.
Another consideration when using internal balance resistors is
the power dissipation on-chip. If balancing more than 90mA,
then it is not possible to balance five cells at the same time
without exceeding the power dissipation of the ISL94208
package.
For the VCELL and CB inputs in Figure 2, the values of 20Ω and
200Ω were chosen for the following reasons.
1. A cell balance resistor larger than 200Ω may impose to great
a limit on the cell balance current. For example, a 500Ω
resistor decreases the balance current to less than 8mA.
2. The input resistor was chosen to be about 10% of the balance
resistor. The reason for this is that, when balance turns on, the
voltage measured by the ISL94208 drops by the voltage
divider created by the CB and Input resistors. A 10% change
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Application Note 1891
in the input voltage is not normally a problem. But, if the CB
and input resistors are the same value, then the voltage of the
measured cell drops in half during cell balancing. If the
microcontroller does nothing, then this condition would likely
shut down the power FETs due to a perceived undervoltage
condition.
The microcontroller code could ignore the cell voltage during
balancing, but if balancing is on for a long time, then ignoring
the cell voltage might not be a good choice. Another option
for the microcontroller is to turn off balancing during cell
measurement, but turning balance on again after
measurement requires all conditions be re-verified. This
might take too long.
In Figure 2, filters are shown on the cell balance terminals as
well as the input terminals. The time constant of the filter on the
cell input and the cell balance inputs should match. This is
because, with filters only on the VCELLn inputs (or with different
time constants), the voltage on the CBn input can greatly exceed
the VCELL(n-1) input when the battery cell voltages change
rapidly, such as during power FET turnoff during a short circuit.
This can result in damage to the internal ESD structure.
external P-Channel FETs controlled by the CB outputs. These
extra FETs add some cost to the system, but they allow very high
balancing currents, all cells can be balanced at the same time,
the cell voltage measurements during the balance operation are
more accurate, and larger input resistors are able to be used to
protect against voltage spikes without significantly affecting
measurement accuracy.
BALANCE
CURRENT
~100mA @4V
ISL94208
27
27
10µF
D4
39
20
1µF
200
0.1µF
20
1µF
0.1µF
20
1µF
200
0.1µF
20
1µF
200
0.1µF
20
1µF
200
0.1µF
20
1µF
200
0.1µF
20
1µF
39
VCELL5
CB5
1µ
500k 1k
1µ
1µ
500k 1k
1µ
1µ
39
CB4
VCELL3
500k 1k
1µ
500k 1k
1k
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
CB4
VCELL3
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
1µ
1k
VCELL4
1µ
VCELL1
CB1
1µ
1µ
VCELL0
VSS
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
Capacitors (blue) are optional and used when filtering is needed
FIGURE 3. DIAGRAM OF INPUT FILTER/EXTERNAL P-CHANNEL
BALANCING FETS
CB1
VCELL0
Capacitors (blue) are optional and used when filtering is needed
FIGURE 2. ISL94208 INPUT FILTERS
External Balancing Elements
To allow larger input filter resistors or more filtering, plus provide
a high balance current, replace the internal balance FETs with
3
1µ
1k
VSS
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500k 1k
1k
VCELL6
39
200
1µ
1k
39
CB6
500k 1k
1µ
1k
VCC
30V
VSS
30V
1k
39
BALANCE
CURRENT
18mA @4V
VCC
10µF
The connection of input filters and external balancing FETs shown
in Figure 3 does have one potential problem. This involves the
voltage rating of the P-channel FETs used in the balancing circuit.
During a pack short circuit condition, the cell voltages can
collapse, due to the high current, and the voltages on the
balancing FET’s source and drain drop very fast. At the same
time, the gate voltage is being held high by the FET gate
capacitance. This results in a VGS for the upper balancing FETs
that can exceed the normal 20V maximum rating – depending
on the various time constants. Adding a diode across the 50k
resistor may help prevent this excess gate voltage.
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Application Note 1891
Another potential issue is that the cell balance FET body diode
can conduct in a reverse direction when the cell voltages collapse
during a pack short circuit. This current can be several hundred
mA for a very short time.
See “Cell Balancing” on page 20 for more information about cell
balance components and control algorithms.
Voltage Regulator Connection
The ISL94208 can provide 350µA of output current on the RGC
pin to drive an external NPN transistor. With a gain of 100 the
ISL94208 regulator can supply up to 35mA to an external load,
while maintaining the output at 3.3V ±10%. The external
transistor should have a VCE of greater than 26V (preferably
greater than 35V) for a 6-cell pack.
27Ω
To prevent inadvertent loss of data during a short circuit or heavy
load condition, in which the battery stack voltage drops to near
zero, filters can be used on RGO and VBACK to maintain the
voltage until the battery stack recovers following the short circuit
event.
FET Supply Pins
There are two FET supply pins, VFET1 and VFET2. VFET2 provides
the voltage and current for the CFET and DFET gate drives. VFET1
provides biasing for the gate drive circuits. Normally VFET2 would
be tied to the CELL3 voltage and VFET1 would be tied to the
CELL2 voltage. Each of these can use input filters to maintain the
FET drive during glitches on the Cell voltages.
Connecting VFET1 and VFET2 directly to the Cells (through a
filter) provides a low cost solution, however there are several
drawbacks to this configuration.
• When the charge FET is on, current for the CFET gate passes
through the CFET pull up resistor to ground (see Figure 5.) This
current from only some of the cells can lead to cell imbalance.
500Ω
VCC
VCC
RGC
ISL94208
C1
10µ
CFET
1k
C2
DFET
VSS
VFET2
VFET1
VSS
1k
3.3V
RGO
10µ
GND
FIGURE 4. VOLTAGE REGULATOR CIRCUIT
A 500 resistor is recommended in the collector of the NPN
transistor to minimize initial current surge when the regulator
turns on. Without the collector resistor, the initial turn-on current
surge could be large enough to damage the transistor.
The voltage at the emitter of the NPN transistor is monitored by
the ISL94208 and regulated to 3.3V by the control signal at RGC.
The RGO voltage also powers many of the ISL94208 internal
circuits.
Capacitor C2 in Figure 4 is optional, but can help to minimize
noise spikes on the RGO voltage regulator and reduce voltage
swings on the supply during initial power-up.
VBACK Connection
The ISL94208 VBACK pin provides a backup supply for the RAM
Registers when the RGO regulator turns off. An internal switch
detects when the RGO voltage drops too low and automatically
switches the supply to VBACK.
VBACK also provides a Power On Reset Circuit. The ISL94208
may power-up/power-down thresholds are based on a pack
voltage above 6.5V and the VBACK voltage greater than about
2.05V.
Normally, the VBACK pin is connected to CELL1, however, it could
also connect to an external regulator powered by the pack
voltage or from an external source.
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R1
GND
FIGURE 5. BVFET1, VFET2 CONNECTIONS TO CELL VOLTAGES
• The minimum differential between VFET2 and VFET1 for
optimal operation of the power FETs is 2.8V. If the cell voltages
drop below this level, then the FET control circuit does not have
enough headroom to rapidly turn on the FETs. As the voltage
drops, the drive capability also drops. At a voltage differential
of 2.3V, the ISL94208 does not have the drive capability to
keep the FETs on over the full temperature range.
An alternative connection for VFET1 and VFET2 includes a
voltage regulator (see Figure 6.) If the designer is concerned that
the cells become unbalanced by supplying the FET reference
from only one or two cells, then a regulator can be used that is
powered by the full stack. In this case, the VFET1 pin needs a
supply that is less than VFET2, but not zero. In Figure 6, a 4.3V
zener provides the desired reference.
This circuit also solves the second problem related to direct
connection of the VFETn pins to the CELLs. By using the external
regulator, the pack voltage can drop to 8.6V (or a little below) and
still provide adequate FET drive. For a 6-cell pack, this means
that the minimum cell voltage is 1.4V per cell. For a 4-cell pack,
it is 2.15V per cell.
According to the data sheet, the zener diode between VFET2 and
VFET1 would be 3.0V, instead of 4.3V as shown. However, to get a
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Application Note 1891
regulated 3V would require much more current. By using the
larger voltage diode with the 100k resistor can provide sufficient,
but limited voltage bias, while minimizing the current drain.
It is also important when using an external regulator for the
VFETn pins that the regulator have low quiescent voltage and can
be disabled when the ISL94208 goes to sleep. The Intersil
ISL80136 is an example of a regulator for this application.
ISL94208
ADJ
EN
0.47µF
16V
VFET2
The capacitor is added to the load connection so there is no
quiescent current during normal operation. The capacitor should
be large enough to bring WKUP below the threshold for at least
60ms.
VBAT
VBACK
300kΩ
RGO
50kΩ
4.3V
10µF
16V
200kΩ
RGO
0.22µF/35V
WKUP
VFET1
2N7002
VSS
ISL94208
D1
WKUP Pin Operation
15V
FIGURE 6. ISL94208 EXAMPLE ALTERNATIVE VFET POWER SUPPLY
10kΩ
3.3MΩ
100kΩ
200kΩ
VBAT
8.6V
ISL80136
When the FETs are off, connecting the pack to a load pulls up the
gate to the transistor, which turns on and pulls the WKUP pin low.
When the WKUP pin voltage goes below the WKUP threshold, the
ISL94208 wakes up and turns on the 3.3V voltage regulator.
R1
V
CFET DFET VSS
0.22µF/35V
Once the microcontroller puts the ISL94208 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.
DSC-
CHRGISL94208
WKUP
WKUP
(STATUS)
5V
360kΩ*
WAKE UP
CIRCUITS
WKPOL
(CONTROL)
FIGURE 8. WAKE THE ISL94208 WITH LOAD OR CHARGER
CONNECTION (WKPOL = LOW)
To wake the pack using a charger, an additional pin and
capacitor are added to the circuit of Figure 8. The charger could
have connected directly to the WKUP pin to pull it low when the
charger connects, however it is shown this way so that there is no
drain from VBACK, except during connection of the charger.
In the active low Wake up condition, the pack can also be waken
by a microcontroller pulling the WKUP pin low. This assumes that
the microcontroller has its own power supply, see Figure 9.
VBACK
CELL1
200kΩ
VSS
* Internal resistor
only connected when
WKPOL = 1.
WKUP
3.3V
(Not RGO)
2N7002
FIGURE 7. INTERNAL WAKE UP CONTROL CIRCUITS
ISL94208
MICROCONTROLLER
WAKE
Active LOW WKUP Pin Operation
In an active LOW connection (WKPOL bit = ‘0’ - default), the
device can be waken by connecting a load or a charger to the
pack (see Figure 8.)
When the pack is asleep, the FETs are off and the WKUP pin is
pulled high with a resistor external to the ISL94208. Pulling the
pin to the VBACK voltage is recommended. An external supply
could be used as long as WKUP is equal to or greater than
VCELL1 and less than VFET2.
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VSS
FIGURE 9. WAKE UP THE ISL94208 WITH MICROCONTROLLER.
(WKPOL = LOW)
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Application Note 1891
Active HIGH WKUP Pin Operation
In an active HIGH configuration (WKPOL = ’1’), the device was
designed to wake up when an external switch pulls the pin high.
See Figure 10. One of the problems with active high
configuration is that if there is a glitch and the contents of the
RAM is lost, then the WKPOL returns to 0, so the internal pull
down resistor is removed from the circuit. For this reason, even
though there is an internal resistor, an external resistor is
recommended. To minimize the quiescent current, a capacitor is
added to the pull up line.
PACK+
When WKPOL is 1, an external microcontroller can also wake the
pack. as shown in Figure 11.
PACK+
49.9kΩ
49.9kΩ
49.9k
WKUP
V
ISL94208
TUN ON, THEN OFF TO WAKE
(>60ms HIGH TIME)
R1 = 50kΩ
KUP
3.3M
DSC-
V
360kΩ*
CFET DFET
µC
CFET DFET VSS
0.47µF/35V
ISL94208
500kΩ
500k
CHRG-
VSS
FIGURE 11. WAKE UP THE ISL94208 WITH MICROCONTROLLER
(WKPOL = HIGH)
*Only connected when WKPOL = HIGH
Wake Up Precautions
DSC-
The circuit designer should consider the conditions listed in the
Electrical Characteristics section of the data sheet (see
Figure 12) when designing the wake up circuits.
CHRG-
FIGURE 10. WAKE UPTHE ISL94208 WITH EXTERNAL SWITCH
(WKPOL = HIGH)
In Figure 10, resistor, R1, combined with a resistor internal to the
ISL94208 (and the external parallel resistor,) forms a resistor
divider. When a charger or load is switched on, 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.
When the ISL94208 uses the WKUP pin in the active HIGH mode,
the external resistor needed to select the proper wake-up
threshold is shown in Figure 11 with Equation 1 used for
determining the value:
CellV min Numcells
R 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ – 1 R WKUP min 500k
V WKUP1 max
(EQ. 1)
Assuming a 6-cell pack and a minimum cell voltage of 2.0V, a
minimum internal resistance (RWKUP) of 250kΩ(from the data
sheet) and a maximum WKUP threshold of 7.5V, Equation 2 for
R1 is:
2.0 6
R 1 ----------------- – 1 168k = 100k
7.5
Under normal or sleep conditions, with WKPOL = “0”, the WKUP
pin should not stay low for long periods. In this condition, the
current into the WKUP pin is much higher. This can lead to cell
imbalances.
When the WKPOL bit is “1”, the VBACK pin draws significant
current when the WKUP voltage is near the detection threshold in
normal operating mode, and above the threshold in sleep mode.
So, the WKUP pin voltage should not remain at voltages above
the minimum WKUP threshold for long periods of time. Again,
this can lead to cell imbalance.
Another precaution relates to the recommended operating
conditions. The data sheet points out that when the WKPOL bit is
“1”, the WKUP pin can go as high as 27V, but when the WKPOL
bit is “0”, the maximum voltage on WKUP should be the VFET2
voltage. For this reason, it is probably not a good idea to
dynamically switch between the different WKPOL conditions.
There is no limit to this, but it may make the external circuits
more complicated.
(EQ. 2)
If the WKPOL bit is accidentally reset to 0, then the device does
not wake up until the capacitor charges and the WKUP voltage
drops back below the VWKUP2 (falling edge) threshold.
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Application Note 1891
PARAMETER
SYMBOL
VBACK Input Current
(Falling edge wake up; WKPOL = 0)
(Normal or Sleep Mode)
IVBACK01
WKUP ≤ VWKUP2(max)
IVBACK02
VBACK Input Current
(Rising edge wake up; WKPOL = 1)
(Normal Mode)
(Sleep Mode)
TEST CONDITION
MIN
TYP
MAX
UNIT
7
12
µA
VWKUP2(max) < WKUP < 5V
0.5
3
µA
IVBACK11
WKUP < VWKUP1(min) or;
WKUP > VWKUP1(max)
0.5
3
µA
IVBACK12
VWKUP1(min) ≤ WKUP ≤ VWKUP1(max)
120
300
µA
IVBACK13
WKUP ≥ VWKUP1(min)
180
500
µA
IVBACK14
WKUP < VWKUP1(min)
0.5
3
µA
FIGURE 12. VBACK CURRENT AND WAKE UP VOLTAGE RELATIONSHIP (EXCERPT FROM THE ISL94208 DATA SHEET)
Power Path Connections
The ISL94208 controls pack operation through one, two, or three
power FETs on the negative terminal of the pack. The power FETs
can connect in two basic different ways, a single charge/discharge
path and separate charge and discharge paths.
In a single charge/discharge path configuration, the charge and
discharge FETs connect back-to-back to provide both discharge
and charge protection for the pack (See Figure 13). This is the
connection necessary for a “two terminal” pack, in which there is
both charge and discharge protection. A variation of this
configuration provides the discharge control FET, but no charge
control FET.
The DFET output of the ISL94208 actively controls both the turn
on and turn off of the discharge FET. When the microcontroller
sets the DFET bit in the ISL94208, the ISL94208 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 ISL94208 continues to output the turn on current
until the voltage reaches the VFET2 voltage. It is clamped at this
level.
The CFET output of the ISL94208 actively turns the charge FET
on, the same as the DFET output, but the ISL94208 relies on an
external resistor to turn off the FET (see Figure 13). This is
because the charge FET VGS voltage may go well below the
ISL94208 ground voltage when connected to a charger,
preventing the ISL94208 from supplying the voltage necessary
to turn the FET off. Because of limits to the voltage on the CFET
pin, the CFET pin needs a series diode. Also, a zener diode should
be used to protect the gate of the charge FET from excessive
voltage.
The selection of the charge FET resistor (R1 in Figure 13) is
determined by the Cgs capacitance of the FET and how fast the
charge FET needs to turn off. A resistor value that is too large will
not turn the FET off fast enough. Alternatively, a resistor that is
too small will clamp the FET gate voltage below the FET turn on
threshold. For example, the output current of the ISL94208 CFET
pin is 80A minimum. For a FET with a Vgs of 3V, R1 needs to be
at lease 37.5k or the FET may never turn on.
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CFET
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
Single Charge/Discharge Path
ISREF
VSS
ISL94208
R1
18V
GND
FIGURE 13. BACK TO BACK POWER FETS IN SINGLE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH
Figure 13 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 12)
Another limitation in the single path configuration is that the
charge and discharge FET need to be the same size to handle
both the charge and discharge current, even if the charge current
is much lower than the discharge current.
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.
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July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
P+
CFET
DFET
DSENSE
CSENSE
ISREF
VSS
ISL94208
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
ISREF
VSS
ISL94208
Q2
Q3
R1
18V
CHARGE
Shown with parallel
discharge FETs
for higher current
applications
Q1
Another method of connecting the power FETs is to provide
separate charge and discharge paths. This is shown in Figure 15.
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.
As shown in Figure 15, the charge current passes through both
the charge and discharge sense resistors. The connection is such
that if the ISL94208 sees excessive discharge current through
the charge path, it will turn off the discharge FETs. With this
connection, the charge sense resistance is the sum of the two
resistors. However, usually the charge sense resistor is much
larger than the discharge sense resistor, so this connection
makes little difference.
By designing a separate charge and discharge path, the current
sense elements can be different sizes, so the overcurrent
threshold limits may be 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.
P+
ISL94208
CFET
Separate Charge/Discharge Path
An alternative connection is shown in Figure 17. In this case, the
discharge FET is used in both the separate charge and discharge
paths. Here again, there is only a single sense resistor, so this
limits the over current setting options.
DFET
• This configuration allows the pack to be charged, even if the
cell voltages drop too low for the ISL94208 to remain powered.
DSENSE
• 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.
CSENSE
• More of the cell voltage is applied directly to the load resulting
in less power loss in the pack.
So care must be taken when using smaller FETs for the charge
connection. An alternative is to replace Q2 with a diode to
prevent discharge of the pack by shorting the terminals (see
Figure 16.) However, the diode forward current capabilities would
need to handle the normal charge current. This requires a
relatively large diode that may heat up during charge. Examples
of diodes that can be used for D1 include the FYD0504SA from
Fairchild or the 1N5404 from various manufacturers.
ISREF
The major advantages of using only a discharge FET are:
FIGURE 15. POWER FETS IN A SEPARATE CHARGE/DISCHARGE
PATH CONNECTION
VSS
FIGURE 14. DISCHARGE POWER FET ONLY IN SINGLE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH
DISCHARGE
FYD0504SA
Q3
R1
18V
CHARGE
Q1
DISCHARGE
FIGURE 16. POWER FETS IN A SEPARATE CHARGE/DISCHARGE
PATH CONNECTION
The main problem with this connection (in addition to space and
cost) is that, small (lower cost) charge FETs may not survive the
power dissipation during a short circuit from the charge terminal
to the P+ terminal, since the time out is set to protect the higher
power discharge FETs.
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AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
circuit condition does not exceed the voltage (1.5V – VSC.) For the
value of VSC, see data sheet. If this condition is violated, the short
circuit detector in the ISL94208 may not work properly.
If it is possible to get a 120A short circuit current, then a 6 inch,
16 gauge wire may not be sufficiently large or the length
sufficiently short. A good option is to use a flat braided wire. At
smaller gauges these wires provide low resistance to the pack
current and offer flexibility for ease of pack assembly.
R1
18V
VCC
VCELL6
ISL94208
PACK CONNECTORS
CFET
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
ISREF
VSS
ISL94208
C1
0.47µ
There are several issues to keep in mind when designing the
power control circuit. One of these is the layout of the PCB.
In the recommended connection circuit of Figure 18 below, the
ISREF pin connects directly to the sense element and the VSS
and the VCELL0 pins connect to the battery negative terminal,
using a separate wire for each. There is a wide trace between the
current and voltage connections. In actuality, this wide trace will
most likely be off board.
The current sense voltage is referenced to the ISREF pin and the
cell voltage is referenced to the VCELL0 pin. VSS is connected
closer to VCELL0 than ISREF, because the voltage measurements
are more sensitive to offsets from ground. The reason for
connecting the cells to the board as shown in Figure 18 is
because large pack currents can create significant voltage
differentials across Wire A. For example, a 40A discharge current
creates a voltage drop of 80mV, or more, on a 6 inch, 16 gauge
wire segment (see Note 1). If the VSS/VCELL0 pin of the
ISL94208 is connected at the terminal of the sense resistor,
instead of at the Battery - terminal, the measurement of Cell1
would be off by this 80mV when the pack is discharging 40A of
current.
NOTE:
1. Based on resistance for 16 gauge wire of 4.016Ω/1000 feet as listed
in the Handbook of Electronic Tables and Formulas.
It is recommended that VCELL0 and VSS connect to the battery
stack with separate wires. That is because device operating
current returning on a combination VSS/VCELL0 wire can affect
the measurement by causing a voltage drop on the connecting
wire to the negative terminal of Cell1, while there is no
commensurate drop on the positive terminal of Cell1.
Since the discharge current is referenced to the ISREF pin
(Figure 18), the accuracy is not affected greatly by a high load
current. It is necessary, however, to minimize the resistance on
the wire as much as possible to prevent the voltage at the ISREF
pin from rising too high during a high current event. It is
important that the voltage applied at the ISREF pin in a short
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9
R2
49
A
C2
C3
1000p
R3
5k
CFET
DFET
Special Power Path Connection Guidelines
CSENSE
VCELL0
VSS
ISREF
FIGURE 17. BACK TO BACK POWER FETS IN SINGLE
CHARGE/DISCHARGE PATH
DSENSE
GND
R4
5k
R1
PCB
Connection wire (Short with large cross section)
FIGURE 18. PREFERRED BATTERY CONNECTION AND CURRENT
SENSE FILTERING
The circuit in Figure 18 also shows filtering for the current sense
pins. The ISREF input uses a smaller resistor and a larger overall
time constant than the sense input. The sense input resistance of
5kΩ slightly impacts the accuracy of the over current settings,
but is not significant. The input current on the discharge sense
pin is about 0.25µA, so a 5k input resistor changes the threshold
by about 1.25mV or about 1.25%.
High Current/Short Circuit
Events
When the ISL94208 turns off the DFET, either as a result of a
protection mechanism, or under microcontroller control, the
ISL94208 pulls the DFET gate low with a high current (>100mA).
This turns off the FET very fast. This fast turn off during a high
current discharge can cause a voltage spike on the battery cells
due to the inherent inductance of a Li-ion cell. To prevent this
voltage spike from damaging the ISL94208, the VCC pin should
have an RC filter and a zener diode clamp (see Figure 3.) The
diode is used. because the input resistor must necessarily be
small to avoid voltage drops on the VCC pin due to device
operating current.
The cell voltage inputs can also be affected by this voltage spike.
However, if the input resistors are large enough (1kΩ is
recommended), then the resistors limit the current through the
device input voltage clamps. If the input resistors are too small,
or non existent, then a voltage spike on the cell inputs can
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
generate enough current to damage the input clamps.
Capacitors on the input can be used to absorb some of the
energy from this voltage spike, but care should be taken that
these input capacitors do not cause hot plug problems. (See
“Input Filters” on page 2.)
DFET
CSENSE
DSENSE
DSREF
VSS
1µF
IRF1404 x 2
(for example)
FIGURE 20. DFET PIN PROTECTION DURING SHORT CIRCUIT
A second method of protecting the DFET pin is to use a blocking
diode. However, using a blocking diode on the DFET pin means
that the ISL94208 is no longer able to turn off the power FET.
This requires the addition of a PNP transistor. (See Figure 21.) In
this circuit, the DFET pin turns on the DFET directly, but the DFET
turns off indirectly through the PNP transistor. The 1k resistor in
the base of the PNP transistor limits any current flowing into the
DFET pin.
ISL94208
DFET
VSS
The cell balance inputs might see equal or relatively high voltage
spikes. These can also exceed the maximum input specifications
and can lead to damage of the ISL94208. So, it is recommended
that the cell balance pins have the same input filter time
constant as the VCELLn pins.
15V
DSENSE
CSENSE
In order to maintain operation during a very high load condition
that can draw the cells to near zero voltage, a large capacitor can
be added to the VCC, VBACK, and RGO pins. These capacitors
should maintain minimum voltage on the pins for the duration of
the low voltage condition. The calculation for the capacitors
should include discharge through the input resistors back to the
cells and the current into the device pin.
100
15V
DSREF
Another problem that can happen when there is a short circuit of
the pack terminals, or a very high load current, is that the
internal resistance of the battery cells causes the voltage on the
battery pack to drop, sometimes significantly. This varies based
on the cells chosen, but the cell voltages during a “dead short”
can drop to almost 0V for a brief period of time. If, during the
high current event, the cell voltages drop below the POR
threshold, or if VBACK and RGO both drop too low, then the
ISL94208 detects a power failure and reset the internal registers.
This has the effect of turning off the pack, since the CFET and
DFET registers are also reset to zero. Because the voltage drops
very fast, CFET and DFET turn off with a very short delay, perhaps
less than 5µs after the start of the short circuit event.
ISL94208
1k
100
1µF
Blue = PACK+ voltage (10V/DIV)
Purple = 5mΩ current sense voltage (100A/DIV)
Brown = ISL94208 RGO voltage (5V/DIV)
FIGURE 19. EXAMPLE VOLTAGE SPIKE FOLLOWING SHORT CIRCUIT
EVENT
Another potential problem when the pack outputs short circuit is
one where the voltage on the DFET pin rises above 18V and
damages the ISL94208. There are two potential ways to protect
this pin. First, through the use of a zener diode (see Figure 20.)
This diagram also shows a zener diode on the gate of the
transistor to prevent the same short circuit voltage from
damaging the DFET.
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10
15V
100
FIGURE 21. ALTERNATE DFET PIN PROTECTION DURING SHORT
CIRCUIT
Protection Functions
In the default condition, the ISL94208 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, starting with current protection mechanisms.
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July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
Overcurrent Protection Functions
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.
REGISTER 5
REGISTER 6
The ISL94208 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-.
TABLE 3. OVERCURRENT DELAY TIME SETTINGS
See Tables 2 and 3 for threshold and timing options. The powerup condition for all registers is “0”.
BIT 1
OCDT1
BIT 0
OCDT0
OVERCURRENT DISCHARGE TIMEOUT
0
0
tOCD = 160ms (2.5ms if DTDIV = 1)
0
1
tOCD = 320ms (5ms if DTDIV = 1)
1
0
tOCD = 640ms (10ms if DTDIV = 1)
1
1
tOCD = 1280ms (20ms if DTDIV = 1)
BIT 1
OCCT1
BIT 0
OCCT0
OVERCURRENT CHARGE TIMEOUT
0
0
tOCC = 80ms (2.5ms if CTDIV = 1)
0
1
tOCC = 160ms (5ms if CTDIV = 1)
1
0
tOCC = 320ms (10ms if CTDIV = 1)
1
1
tOCC = 640ms (20ms if CTDIV = 1)
SCLONG
Short circuit
long delay
BIT 3
When set to “1”, the charge overcurrent
CTDIV
Divide charge delay time is divided by 32.
When set to “0”, the charge overcurrent
time by 32
delay time is divided by 1.
BIT 2
DTDIV
Divide
discharge
time by 64
REGISTER 6
REGISTER 5
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
VSCD = 1.20V
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
REGISTER 6
REGISTER 5
TABLE 2. OVERCURRENT VOLTAGE THRESHOLD SETTINGS
BIT 6
OCDV1
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 4
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.
After the ISL94208 detects any overcurrent condition, and both
power FETs are turned off, the ISL94208 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.)
Current Monitoring
The ISL94208 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).
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 4 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 15.) This determines the settings for the ISL94208
discharge thresholds.
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Application Note 1891
TABLE 4. SHORT CIRCUIT TO OVERCURRENT RATIOS
SETTING
SHORT CIRCUIT
THRESHOLD
OVERCURRENT
THRESHOLD
RATIO
1
1.20V
0.10V
12.0
2
1.20V
0.12V
10.0
3
1.20V
0.14V
8.6
4
1.20V
0.16V
7.5
5
0.65V
0.10V
6.5
6
0.65V
0.12V
5.4
7
0.65V
0.14V
4.6
8
0.65V
0.16V
4.1
9
0.35V
0.10V
3.5
10
0.35V
0.12V
2.9
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
Example 1: Designing discharge current limits.
Using the circuit of Figure 13.
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Discharge Overcurrent Level:
Ratio (SC/OC):
15A
5A
3.0
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.35V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.12V
2.9
Pick a sense resistor of 0.12V/5A = ~0.025.
Results:
Overcurrent threshold = 4.8A
Short circuit threshold = 14A.
Overcurrent (charge) options: 4A, 4.8A, 5.6A, 6.4A.
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 23).
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.
14.0
12.0
10.0
RATIO
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.
8.00
6.00
ISL94208
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
CFET
DFET
CSENSE
DSREF
0.00
VSS
2.00
DSENSE
4.00
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
SC/OC SETTING
FIGURE 22. SHORT CIRCUIT TO OVERCURRENT RATIO
Current Sense Elements
R2
R1
R3
R1
CURRENT SENSE RESISTOR
Sense resistors (Figure 23) 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 a high power sense resistor or a parallel
combination of multiple sense resistors. 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.
FIGURE 23. USING A RESISTOR DIVIDER TO SELECT CHARGE AND
DISCHARGE OVERCURRENT LEVELS
In the simplest solution, a sense resistor is used for a relatively
low current application (See Example 1 on page 12). In this
solution, first select the thresholds and external sense resistor for
a pack by using Table 4 to select the closest ratio to the desired
short circuit/overcurrent ratio. Use the settings in the table to
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Application Note 1891
Example 2: Designing discharge and charge current limits
using a sense resistor and resistor divider.
Example 3: Using a sense resistor in a high current
application.
Using the circuit of Figure 23.
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Overcurrent Level:
Ratio (SC/OC):
120A
20A
6.0
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.65V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.1V
6.5
Desired Short Circuit Current Level:
Desired Overcurrent Level (discharge):
Desired Overcurrent (charge):
Ratio (SC/OC):
Choose lowest charge O.C. threshold:
Choose sense resistor:
Determine the short circuit to overcurrent ratio:
Choose Table setting 10:
Short circuit threshold = 0.35V
Overcurrent threshold = 0.12V
15A
5A
2A
3.0
0.1V
0.05Ω
2.9
Pick a resistor divider of (2A/5A)*(0.12/0.1) = 0.48.
Select the divider resistors:
R
2
------------------ = 0.48
R2 + R3
(EQ. 3)
Pick a sense resistor of 0.1V/20A = ~0.005Ohm.
Results:
Overcurrent threshold = 20A
Short circuit threshold = 130A.
Power dissipation in resistor at 20A: 2W
(could be continuous)
Select 5W resistor to minimize heating.
Power dissipation at 120A:
(until SC shutdown)
72W
Overriding Automatic Overcurrent Response
Results:
Overcurrent threshold (charge) =
Overcurrent threshold (discharge)=
Short circuit threshold =
2A
5A
14.6A
While the technique in Example 2 provides a flexible method of
addressing the charge and discharge overcurrent settings, it has
some limitations. 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. Also,
adding the divider resistors can increase the noise of the current
measurement circuit.
TABLE 5. AUTOMATIC CURRENT RESPONSE OVERRIDE SETTINGS
REGISTER 6
REGISTER 5
Consider the next example that does not include the resistor
divider, but shows the consequences of using a sense resistor in
a high current design.
An alternative method of providing the protection function, if
desired by the designer, is to turn off the individual automatic
overcurrent responses in the ISL94208. See Table 5 for control
bits that turn off the automatic control. In this case, the
ISL94208 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 ISL94208 to turn off
the FETs.
REGISTER 5
R2 = 96kΩ
R3 = 104kΩ
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.
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 ISL94208 TEMP3V output to
turn on and pull high (see Figure 25 on page 16). This output can be
used as an external interrupt by the microcontroller to wake-up
quickly to handle the overcurrent condition.
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AN1891.0
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Application Note 1891
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 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.
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 ISL94208 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.
been released enough to allow the power FETs to be turned on
again. The circuit operates shown as in Figure 24.
In operation, when an overcurrent or short circuit event happens,
the discharge and charge FETs turn off. At this time, the RL
resistance is small and the load monitor is off. As such, the
voltage at VMON rises to nearly the pack voltage.
Once the power FETs turn off, the microcontroller activates the
load monitor by setting the LDMONEN bit. This turns on a FET
that activates the current sink in the load monitor circuit. While
still in the overload condition, the combination of the load
resistor, an external adjustment resistor (R1), and the internal
resistor form a voltage divider. R1 is chosen so that when the
load is released to a sufficient level, the LDFAIL condition resets.
For the ISL94208, the value of R1 can be zero.
Diode D4 is optional and prevents the voltage at the VMON pin
from going higher than the maximum rated voltage if there is a
voltage spike on the pack pine and it prevents the voltage from
going negative when the charger is connected. The pin is rated at
VSS - 22V, so the device should not be affected by the negative
voltage, but if there is concern about the pin, the diode will
protect VMON, while not affecting the performance of the circuit.
P+
VSS
SENSE
OPEN
RESISTOR
RL
OPEN
PDFET
CFET
R1
ISL94208
VMON
Load Monitoring
Once the power FETs turn off as a result of an overcurrent
condition, they are not automatically turned back on by the
ISL94208. They are turned on again by the external
microcontroller. The micro 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 ISL94208 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 ISL94208.
The load monitor function is normally inactive to minimize
current consumption. To use it, the microcontroller must activate
the circuit. It works by internally connecting the VMON pin to VSS
through a resistor. This internal resistor 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 reference, then the pack load is still present.
If the voltage at VMON is below the threshold, then the load has
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14
VREF
LDFAIL
= 1 if VMON > VVMON
= 0 if VMON VVMON-VVMONH
R2
~36k
60µA
(max)
D4
30V
LDMONEN
VSS
VSS
FIGURE 24. LOAD MONITOR CIRCUIT
Load Monitor Example:
Removing an overcurrent or short circuit condition results in the
value of RL increasing. Use Equation 4 to determine at what
resistance the load monitor will detect the release of the load.
This allows the calculation of the value for R1.
CellV Numcells – V VMON max
R L + R 1 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I VMON max
(EQ. 4)
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Application Note 1891
For a 6-cell pack, the minimum combined resistance at a pack
voltage of 25.2V (ISL94208: 6-cells) is:
25.2 – 1.8V
R L + R 1 ------------------------------ = 390k
60A
(EQ. 5)
At a depleted pack voltage of 2.5V per cell, P+ is 15V and the
RL+ R1 resistance is 220kΩ.
At the opposite extreme, for a fully charged pack (based on
ISL94208 parameter variations):
CellV Numcells – V VMON min
R L + R 1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I VMON min
(EQ. 6)
25.2 – 1.1V
R L + R 1 = ------------------------------ = 1.205M
20A
(EQ. 7)
[
The RL+R1 for a fully depleted pack 695kΩ. These values are
summarized in Table Table 6.
TABLE 6. RL+R1 OVERCURRENT RECOVERY RESISTANCE
FULLY CHARGED
PACK
FULLY DEPLETED
PACK
Max VMON current
Max VMON threshold
390kΩ
220kΩ
Min VMON current
Min VMON threshold
1.205MΩ
695kΩ
RL + R1
The value of R1 is set to be anything from 0Ω to 262kΩ. Using
262kΩ is not desired, because in a fully depleted system, under
worst case conditions, the RL + R1 resistance could always
indicate that the over current condition is released, even if it is not.
Using an R1 resistance value of 0Ω is also not desired, because
high voltage transitions (>36V) on the VMON pin, due to any
voltage spikes, would have no input current limiting into the pin
ESD structure. A minimum of 1kΩ is recommended for R1.
CHARGE LOAD MONITORING
The ISL94208 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 be 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.
Over-Temperature Safety Functions
EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE MONITORING
The external temperature is monitored by using a voltage divider
consisting of a fixed resistor and a thermistor. This divider is
powered by the ISL94208 TEMP3V output. This output is
normally controlled so it is on for only short periods to minimize
current consumption.
Without microcontroller intervention, the ISL94208 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.
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.
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:
3.54k
Calculate RX value (see Figure 25):
3.54k*12 = 42.48k
Pick an RX resistor:
42.2k
Results:
Calculated temperature threshold: 42.2k/12 = 3.517V
Temperature limit (MuRata table look up): +55.17°C
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.
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Application Note 1891
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 overtemperature detect 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 be set, to
indicate an over-temperature condition, but it is up to the
microcontroller to detect the condition and respond.
4ms
ATMPOFF
TMP3ON
ISL94208
CHARGE OC
DISCHARGE OC
DISCHARGE SC
OSC
OVERCURRENT
PROTECTION CIRCUITS
508ms
I2C
REGISTERS
I2C
Analog Multiplexer Selection
RGO
AO3:AO0
To
µC
DECODE
EXT TEMP
The ISL94208 individually provides 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 26).
AO
MUX
VSS (ON)
12R
TEMP3V
RX
TEMPI
SCL
SDA
I2C
1ms
DELAY
XOT
VCC
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL6
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL2
LEVEL
SHIFT
VCELL1
REGS
R
EXTERNAL
TEMP
MONITOR
LEVEL
SHIFT
AO3:AO0
VSS
DECODE
TEMP FAIL
INDICATOR
AO
FIGURE 25. EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROL
2
MUX
VCELL0
VSS
PROTECTION
When the ISL94208 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.
While in an over-temperature condition, the ISL94208 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 ISL94208 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 ISL94208 internal temperature is above
the threshold temperature is not advised.
If the ISL94208 detects the external temperature 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.
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EXT TEMP.
TEMPI
INT
TEMP
FIGURE 26. ANALOG OUTPUT MONITORING DIAGRAM
The output of the AO pin is sensitive to noise in the system, but
the ability to filter the output is minimal. First, a resistor in series
with the AO pin and the A/D input can result in a voltage drop, if
the input impedance of the A/D converter is low. Second, the
ISL94208 AO amplifier does not handle large capacitance loads
very well.
There are two ways to approach this. First, the use of a A/D
converter provides some inherent filtering, so the noise showing
up on AO is inconsequential. If using a successive approximation
A/D, then an RC filter may be required. For this filter, the
recommendation is a series resistor of 500Ω and a filter
capacitor of 1000pF.
The ISL94208 evaluation board uses a 500Ω resistor in series
with the NXP (formerly Freescale) microcontroller A/D input,
which results in a voltage drop of 0.5mV at an AO voltage of
1.75V. The RC combination reduces the noise significantly and
has little ringing. However, the AO output does have a longer
settling period after a large jump in the AO voltage, so a delay of
10µs is recommended between changing the AO output and
sampling with the A/D converter. This is usually shorter than the
time required to terminate the I2C communication that selects
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July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
the AO source, so usually no extra code or delay timing is
required.
and maximum extremes of error for each cell. These figures
show the device-to-device variation.
Operating Performance (RGO)
Error = AppliedCellVoltage – AO 2
30
85°C
-40°C
20
10
ERROR (mV)
Following are some characterization data gathered over 30 units.
This shows the regulation accuracy from no load to a load of 500µA
on the RGC pin (this would be 50mA on RGO when using a 100 gain
NPN transistor). Typically, the load will be much less than the
maximum load, so the 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 for the
microcontroller A/D converter is recommended.
(EQ. 8)
0
25°C
110°C
-10
110°C
85°C
-20
3.40
-30
4.3V, 25°C
3.35
2V, 25°C
RGO VOLTAGE (V)
3.30
4.3V, -40°C
2V, -40°C
-40°C
4.3V, 85°C
-40
CELL1
4.3V, 110°C
CELL2
CELL3
CELL4
25°C
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 28. MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V
3.25
3.20
2V, 85°C
3.15
30
110°C
20
2V, 110°C
3.10
85°C
10
3.05
-40°C
25°C
3.00
0
100
200
300
RGC LOAD CURRENT (µA)
400
500
FIGURE 27. RGO VOLTAGE OVER LOAD, TEMPERATURE, AND CELL
VOLTAGE (4.3V AND 2V)
ERROR (mV)
0
-10
-20
110°C
-30
85°C
-40
Voltage Monitoring
Since the voltage on each of the Li-ion Cells are normally higher
than the regulated supply voltage, the ISL94208 both level shifts
and divides 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. Therefore, a Li-ion cell with a
voltage of 4.2V is reported via the AO pin to be 2.1V.
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. Below are
characterization data showing the accuracy of the ISL94208. The
following data was taken over 30 units.
-40°C
-50
-60
CELL1
25°C
CELL2
CELL3
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 29. MIN/MAX ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V
For Figures 30 and 31, the error for the cells on each device was
compared with the error on cell3 of that same device according
to Equation 9:
Error = ErrorCell N – ErrorCell 3
(EQ. 9)
Then, the graph shows the minimum and maximum errors over
the 30 units. This gives the minimum and maximum variation of
error for any one device.
Figures 28 and 29 show absolute error with the results of each
cell compared to the input voltage. The data shows the minimum
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Application Note 1891
15
20
-40°C
15
85°C
10
ERROR (mV)
5
0
25°C
25°C
110°C
-5
-10
110°C
-15
5
0
85°C
-40°C
-20
ERROR (mV)
10
-5
-25
-30
CELL1
CELL2
CELL3
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 30. MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 2.3V, RELATIVE TO 2.3V
15
25°C
5
ERROR (mV)
0
3.3
4.3
CELL VOLTAGE (V)
FIGURE 32. ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR 30 UNITS AT CELL
VOLTAGES FROM 2.3V TO 4.3 (RELATIVE TO 4.3V)
For Figures 33 and 34, the error for the cells on each device over
temperature are compared with the error on same device at
room temperature, according to the Equation 11:
-40°C
85°C
10
-10
2.3
Error = ErrorCell N OverTemp – ErrorCell N Room
25°C
(EQ. 11)
110°C
-5
Then, the graph shows the minimum and maximum errors over
the 30 units at two different cell voltages.
110°C
85°C
-10
-15
15
-40°C
-20
10
-30
CELL1
CELL2
CELL3
CELL4
CELL5
CELL6
FIGURE 31. MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR
30 UNITS AT CELL VOLTAGES OF 4.3V RELATIVE TO 4.3V
For Figure 32, it is assumed that the error at room temperature
and 4.3V per cell for each device and for each cell is zero. Then
the error at 2.3V is compared with the error at 4.3V for the same
device and same cell inputs on that device. The comparison uses
the Equation 10:
Error = ErrorCell N 2.3V – ErrorCell N 4.3V
(EQ. 10)
The chart in Figure 32 shows all of the errors over the 30 units
and all cell inputs.
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ERROR (mV)
-25
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-40
-20
0
60
20
40
TEMPERATURE (°C)
80
100
120
FIGURE 33. ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR 30 UNITS AT CELL
VOLTAGES OF 2.3V RELATIVE TO 25°C
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Application Note 1891
code and this process can be completed before connection of the
board to the battery cells.
15
Below is an example of the calibration accuracy over cell
voltages based on the ISL94208EVAL2Z board. The board was
calibrated one time at room temperature, with cell voltages of
about 3.3V. The board used 1kΩ series input resistors on the
VCELLn pins. In this case, the microcontroller has a 10-bit ADC. A
10-bit ADC has a minimum resolution of about 3.2mV, so this
limits the accuracy of the initial calibration and subsequent
measurements. Better calibration could be done using a higher
resolution ADC monitoring the AO pin on the board. Figure 35
shows the absolute error measured for each cell. Figure 36
shows the error over voltage after trimming at 3.6V.
10
ERROR (mV)
5
0
-5
-10
8
-15
-40
-20
0
60
20
40
TEMPERATURE (°C)
80
100
120
ERROR (mV)
2
3. 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 3.30V input. Any differences are temporarily stored
in separate locations in RAM. It is more important to calibrate
at 3.3V than other values, because this is in the flat part of the
discharge curve and accuracy is more critical in this area.
4. 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.
An alternative technique does not require accurate voltage
sources, but instead uses an accurate measurement of the
inputs. In this case, the A/D conversion results are compared
with the meter readings of each input and the delta is saved to
Flash.
CELL1
CELL4
CELL2
-2
-6
-8
CELL5
-10
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
FIGURE 35. CELL VOLTAGE ACCURACY AFTER CALIBRATION AT 3.3V
(ROOM TEMP)
10
8
6
CELL6
4
ERROR (mV)
2. Power-up again with a known voltage of 3.300V on every cell
input (room temperature is OK). This powers the board and
starts the microcontroller. The downloaded microcontroller
code runs normally, and assumes 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.
0
-4
A calibration procedure might consist of the following steps:
1. 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.
CELL3
4
FIGURE 34. ANALOG OUTPUT ERROR FOR 30 UNITS AT CELL
VOLTAGES OF 4.3V RELATIVE TO 25°C
Because the accuracy of the ISL94208 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 of the ISL94208 can
be improved by performing a calibration at room temperature
after the board is assembled.
CELL6
6
2
CELL2
0
CELL1
-2
CELL5
-4
-6
CELL4
-8
-10
CELL3
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
FIGURE 36. CELL VOLTAGE ACCURACY AFTER CALIBRATION AT 3.6V
(ROOM TEMP)
The process of powering up the board, programming it, and
calibrating the inputs should take less than 15s. Most of this
time is taken up by the initial download of the microcontroller
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AN1891.0
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Application Note 1891
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 39. In this code, the table values are
the voltage, in mV for each 5°C step applied to the input (based
on an external 46.4k resistor and the specified Murata
thermistor.)
8
6
4
2
ERROR (mV)
CELL1
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 Operating Specifications for information about
the output voltage at +25°C and the output slope relative to
temperature.) Based on the data sheet, an equation that
translates internal temperature in volts to internal temperature
in °C is:
0
CELL2
-2
CELL5
-4
CELL6
CELL4
-6
-8
-10
-12
CELL3
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
FIGURE 37. CELL VOLTAGE ACCURACY WITH 20Ω SERIES
RESISTORS AFTER CALIBRATION AT 3.3V, ROOM TEMP,
AND WITH 1K SERIES RESISTORS
By trimming at room temperature and a specific voltage, the
battery management circuit can provide better results than the
absolute accuracy, un-calibrated numbers shown above. For the
30 units tested, the results were analyzed assuming a trim at
4.3V and room temperature. From this data, the worst case high
and low errors over both temperature (-40°C to +85°C) and
voltage (2.3V to 4.3V) were recorded. These errors were binned to
provide a histogram. These data are shown in Figure 38.
NUMBER OF OCCURANCES
160
93
55
25
0
<-20
17
6
-20
to
-15
-15
to
-10
-10
to
-5
-5
to
<0
=0
to
5
5
to
10
3
1
0
10
to
15
15
to
20
>20
AOIntTemp – 1.31
IntTemp C = --------------------------------------------------- + 25
– 0.0035
(EQ.12)
where AOIntTemp is measured in volts.
Cell Balancing
Overview
A typical ISL94208 Li-ion battery pack consists of four to six cells
in series, with one or more cells in parallel. This combination
gives both the voltage and power necessary for power tools, ebikes, 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-of-Charge
(SOC) and capacity/energy (C/E) ( Note 2) 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.
Temperature Monitoring
NOTE:
2. 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 is inherent in the
pack, even if there are no charge/discharge inefficiencies. Because
Li-ion manufacturing is improving, the C/E mismatch is less
common.
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 Figures 25 and 26.) 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
The use of cell balancing can improve the performance of series
connected Li-ion Cells by addressing both State-of-Charge 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.
ERROR AFTER CALIBRATION (mV)
FIGURE 38. MAX/MIN ERROR OVER VOLTAGE AND TEMPERATURE
FOR 30 UNITS, ALL CELLS (AFTER CALIBRATION)
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Application Note 1891
/***************************************************************************************************
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.ISL94208Temp[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.ISL94208Temp[0]-Rtable[i]) * -5)/(Rtable[i-1]-Rtable[i]);
*/
temp1 = scan_control.ISL94208Temp[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 39. SAMPLE CODE FOR CONVERTING EXTERNAL TEMP VOLTAGE TO °C
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. For the
ISL94208, the only external components required are balancing
resistors.
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.
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.
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21
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.
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% to 18% reduction in battery pack
capacity.
Soft-shorts
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
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
cell with soft sorts could lose 3% per month, while another cell
loses none at all. See Example 5.
VC7/VCC
21Ω
1W
Example 5: Cell balancing benefits.
Assume a 2 cell pack.
Assume cell 1 discharges 3%/month.
Assume cell 2 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.
ISL94208
CB7
200mA
MUST ASSUME ZERO rDS(ON)
FOR MAX CURRENT
CALCULATION
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
VCELL1
21Ω
1W
CELL
BALANCE
REG
CB1
Compare the pack performance with and without balancing:
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.
VSS
FIGURE 40. CELL BALANCING CONTROL EXAMPLE WITH 100MA
BALANCING CURRENT
120
STATE OF CHARGE (%)
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
CELL2 (UNBALANCED)
100
CELL1 (UNBALANCED)
80
60
40
20
0
e
rg
ha
sc
Di hs
t
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch ge
r
ha
sc
Di
s
th
on
3m
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di hs
t
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di
ge
ar
Ch hs
nt
o
3M
t
ar
St
Cell Balance Operation
22
120
100
CELL2 (BALANCED)
CELL1 (BALANCED)
80
60
40
20
0
e
rg
ha
sc
Di h s
t
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch ge
r
ha
sc
Di
s
th
on
3m
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di h s
t
on
3M
ge
ar
Ch rge
ha
sc
Di
ge
ar
Ch h s
nt
Submit Document Feedback
FIGURE 41. WITHOUT CELL BALANCING
o
3M
t
ar
St
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 ISL94208
limits. This current is set by selecting the value of the external
resistor. Figure 40 shows an example with a 200mA (maximum)
balancing current.
CONDITION
STATE OF CHARGE (%)
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 internal 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.
CONDITION
FIGURE 42. WITH CELL BALANCING
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
To program a balancing current of 200mA, start with a cell
voltage of 4.2V and assume an internal resistance of 0. This
internal resistance is an ideal minimum rDS(ON). It will be nonzero, but to keep the maximum current at 200mA per cell, start
by assuming this zero internal resistance. This balancing
condition calls for an external resistor of 21Ω. With this value
resistor, the external resistor dissipates 0.84W and the power
dissipation inside the ISL94208 is zero. The external resistor
should be sized to handle this power dissipation. (Ideally, to
minimize heating, the goal is to use a 4W or greater resistor, but
more realistically, because of board space and cost, the choice
would be the use of a 2W resistor.)
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 ISL94208
package has 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 is a balancing current of about 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
four to five 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 ISL94208 supports battery packs with multiple cells in
parallel. With more than 2 cells in parallel 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 43
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
isolates the cell balancing from the cell monitoring, so
monitoring and balancing can be performed simultaneously
(although there may be some affect due to voltage drops on the
connecting wires and in the cell voltage itself due to internal
resistance.)
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 43 provides up to 400mA of
balancing current. This requires the use of 3 to 5W balancing
resistors and 1W cell balancing transistors.
27
50k
1k
1k
10
50k
1k
1k
10
50k
VCELL6
CB6
VCELL5
CB5
VCELL4
1k
10
50k
1k
CB4
VCELL3
1k
10
50k
1k
1k
10
50k
10
1k
VCC
1k
1k
1k
CB3
VCELL2
CB2
VCELL1
CB1
VCELL0
VSS
FIGURE 43. 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 a cell balancing algorithm are listed below:
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. Alternatively, it could turn off
discharge, but allow charging in an attempt to rebalance the
cells.
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.
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
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23
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
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 when closely
monitoring 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, there are two
benefits. First, using an on and off time allows management
of the heat dissipated during balance. Second, without using
external balancing FETs, any significant balancing current will
affect the voltage at the ISL94208 VCELLn pin 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 43), minimizing resistance in the cell to board
connection, and balancing with less current all reduce the
voltage 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.
The decision to balance a cell or not should be made before
a balance cycle begins. Then, the balancing continues on the
same cells for the duration of the on time. If any of the cells
start the cycle as one of the “over charged” cells, but end as
the least charged cell, then either the minimum voltage delta
is too small or the balancing on time is too long.
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.
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. Alternatively, if the
pack does not have a signal that there is a charger, then the
pack needs to be able to detect the presence of a charger (or
a load) in order to make a decision about balancing.
Current direction detection
For cell balancing or power management, if there is no charger
communication path (as in a two terminal pack for example), the
microcontroller code inside the pack needs to detect the
presence of a charging or discharging current or use the pack
voltage and cell voltages to determine if a charger or load is
connected or not. This is not a trivial solution.
Additional hardware can be used to monitor the current direction
and can even monitor current amplitude, but this external
circuitry adds cost. This additional hardware may also have
difficulty monitoring very low current.
An example of a low cost solution for detecting charge and
discharge current is shown in Figure 44. In this circuit a dual
P-channel FET is used to provide an offset to the op amp for the
charge current detection. This is the most difficult condition,
because the voltage goes negative relative to the microcontroller
ground. In this case, the voltage on the non-inverting input to the
op amp goes down as the charge current increases. The 1kΩ
resistor provides some offset, so the positive terminal is normally
higher than the negative terminal and the comparator output is
high. This turns on the NPN transistor and the charge indicator is
low. As the charge current increases, the voltage on the positive
terminal decreases until the threshold is reached and the output
turns off. This sets the charge indicator high. The microcontroller
reads this input to detect the presence of charge current.
RGO
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 FET 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 lost in the balancing resistors instead
of the load during a period of time when 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.
The best method of implementing cell balancing during
charge is to include a communication path between the pack
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24
ISL28214(LM358)
1M
1 of 2
1M
1M
Charge
indicator
1k
4.75k
FMMT619
GND
BSS84DW
Charge
0.05
0.005
Discharge
RGO
2 of 2
1.8M
680
Discharge
indicator
FIGURE 44. USING OP AMP AND FETS TO DETECT CHARGE AND
DISCHARGE CURRENT
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
on the circuit to determine the zero current output voltage. These
circuits may also need some calibration at a higher current
condition to adjust for any gain errors.
RGO
In the circuit of Figure 44, the discharge current is detected with
a simple comparator circuit. This can be simple, because the
voltages are all positive. In this case, the 1.8M resistor and the
1k resistor set the offset of the op amp. As the discharge current
increases, the voltage at the non-inverting terminal increases
until the threshold is reached and the output turns on. This is
monitored by the microcontroller.
There are two problems with this circuit. The first is the op amp
input offset voltage. If the offset is higher than the applied
reference offset, then the output will be active all the time. The
specified values set an offset of about 2mV. Assuming no input
offset, the minimum detectable discharge current is about
360mA.
The second problem with this circuit is that (with the LM358), the
output does not swing all the way to the positive rail. Depending
on the selection of the microcontroller, a high on the output of
the LM358 may not be high enough to always register as a “1”
with the microcontroller. The Intersil ISL28214 does not have this
problem, the output does go rail to rail.
If an analog representation of the current is needed, the circuit of
Figure 44 could be used by adding feedback to reduce the gain.
Another alternative is the use of a voltage reference and a
resistor divider. In the variation shown in Figure 45, the voltage
on the input of the op amp is level shifted, so the output is always
positive and, even though the Pack- pin goes negative with
respect to ground, the inverting input to the op amp is always
positive.
RGO
Vref
100k
LM358
50k
10k
10k
100k
100k
1M
0.005
PACK-
FIGURE 45. USING OP AMP AND VOLTAGE REFERENCE TO DETECT
CHARGE/DISCHARGE CURRENT
For more performance, at a higher cost, an instrumentation
amplifier can be used to get a current monitor output that
provides a single signal that is referenced at half the RGO
voltage. See Figure 46.
In both the solutions of Figures 45 and 46, there is additional
software overhead to convert the analog current signal to a
digital value. There is also additional test time to do a calibration
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25
EN
ISL28270
210k
3
VIN
2
8
VREF
5
+
7
-
1
CurSens
+
-
4
BAT-
10k
BAT-
RG = 10k
One of the problems with this circuit is the input offset of the
op amp. If this offset is 2mV, then a current across the charge
sense resistor could be as high as 36mA and not be detected.
Using an op amp with lower offsets can allow detection of lower
charge currents, but at higher cost.
RF = 90k
PACKRsense
RF
RF
CurSens = 1 + -------- VIN + 1 + -------- VREF
R G
R G
90k
90k
CurSens = 1 + ---------- VIN + 1 + ---------- VREF
10k
10k
CurSens = 10 VIN + 1.5V
FIGURE 46. SAMPLE CURRENT SENSE AMPLIFIER USING THE
INTERSIL ISL28270
Without a direct hardware/software indication of current
direction, a software only algorithm might make use the 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. Charge current may also be detectable in this way,
however, the pack can be far from the end of charge when the
voltage reaches its constant voltage point. This may be
acceptable for cell balance, if balancing is not desired at the very
end of charge.
When using dV/dt measurements, the pack voltage may need 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.
Another problem with using the pack voltage for detecting a
discharge condition is that it requires each cell voltage to be
added together to get the pack voltage. When adding the
individual cell voltages, the error and the noise on each input is
also added. If there is an error of 5mV on each input, the pack
voltage could show a total error of more than 35mV. This may not
allow sufficient accuracy to detect charge current above the
noise level.
An external circuit like the one shown in Figure 47 can be used to
allow the microcontroller to directly monitor the pack voltage.
The microcontroller turns on the circuit only during measurement
to minimize current from the cells. The voltage at the output of
this circuit is the pack voltage divided by 16. With the direct
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
measurement of the pack voltage, noise and variation in the
measurement may be much less than simply adding the cell
voltages and should allow detection of discharge current in
software. The capacitor on the A/D input can help to reduce the
noise, but the microcontroller will need to allow sufficient time
for the voltage on the capacitor to settle prior to taking a
measurement.
PACK+
100k
PackV
16
TO µC
A/D INPUT
1.21M
368k
80.6k
GND
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. Then, if the pack shuts down because of an over charge
condition, the over charge condition must be resolved before
communication is re-established.
Communication Port Reset
GND
TO µC
OUTPUT
50k
GND
FIGURE 47. DIRECT MONITOR OF THE PACK VOLTAGE
The circuit in Figure 47 has another advantage. The software can
monitor the sum of the cell voltages and compare them to the
pack voltage from this circuit. If there is a large error, it could
indicate some problem in the pack.
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.
Ground Referencing
If, during a communication between the microcontroller and the
ISL94208, the microcontroller stops communication due to a
reset condition or noise, there is the possibility that the
communication port can hang up. This happens if the ISL94208
is outputting a “0” on the SDA line when the microcontroller
stops communication. In this state, the ISL94208 is awaiting a
response from the microcontroller and the microcontroller is
waiting for the SDA line to be released. To resolve this “stand-off”,
use the following procedure before initial communication with
the ISL94208 following a reset.
1. Examine the SCL and SDA pins
2. If SCL is high and SDA is low, perform steps 3 through 6
repeatedly to a maximum 9 times. After 9 loops of steps 3
through 6, if SDA is still stuck low, then this is an
unrecoverable bus error.
3. Assert SCL low
4. Pause a few ms
5. Assert SCL high
6. Examine SDA. If it is now high, break out of the loop, and
continue normal operation.
7. (Normal Operation) – Assert I2C START condition, etc.
Another design consideration for communication is that the
microcontroller is ground referenced at the same point as the
ISL94208. When the power FETs are off, this ground reference is
different from the PACK negative terminal. 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.
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 PACKpin, potentially damaging the microcontroller, or the
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monitoring device provides a discharge path around the
power FETs. Neither condition is desired.
26
Other Hardware Design
Information
Packs with More than 7-Series Connected
Cells
For applications that require more than 6-series connected cells,
look at the ISL94212 .
Device Reset
The ISL94208 does not have a reset and a reset is not normally
needed. However, if an external reset is desired, to clear any
unknown condition with the part, the circuit of Figure 48 is
suggested. This circuit, when activated by the microcontroller,
pulls the VBACK input below the minimum POR voltage of about
1.5V, but not below about 0.9V. (Note: Pulling VBACK down to 0V
also generates a reset, but the reset happens only when VBACK
is released. This generates a short pulse on RGO, but the
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014
Application Note 1891
duration of the RGO off period is based on the rise time of the
VBACK input, so it requires an additional capacitor to control the
RGO off duration.)
This circuit requires a series input resistor on VBACK and the
microcontroller needs to hold the FET on long enough to force a
reset (see Figure 49) and the time depends on the RGO capacitor
and current.
There are several ways to avoid this initial power down.
• Connect all cells fast enough to have all connections made
prior to the RGO powering the microcontroller. This likely
requires the use of a connector on the board and not soldering
individual wires.
• Provide software code that waits a while before shutting down
in response to a low cell voltage.
Production Board Testing
0.9V to 1.5V
1k
2.5V - 4.3V
VBACK
550
VSS
TO µC OUTPUT PORT
(NORMALLY LOW)
FIGURE 48. DIAGRAM OF EXTERNAL RESET CIRCUIT
When using an automated tester to test the ISL94208 board it is
important to make sure that the power supply turn on is clean
and does not stress the part. This means that there should be no
over voltage spikes (ringing) and that there are no negative
voltage spikes.
Figure 50 shows a negative 5V spike on VCELL1 with an input
current of 10mA. Since, in this case, the PCB had a 1k series
resistor on VCELL1 and on VBACK (both connect to the CELL1 of
the tester), a negative 5V would have generated 5mA on each
lead. The 10mA measured current indicates that the input
resistors provided a limit to the current. If the PCB had used
smaller input resistors, the current pulse and voltage spike would
have been higher.
RGO
VBACK
FIGURE 50. ISL94208 TESTER NEGATIVE VOLTAGE SPIKE
FIGURE 49. VBACK RESET PULSE
Power-Up Considerations
• When connecting the cells sequentially (from the bottom up,)
there may be enough voltage on VBAT to power the RGO
regulator when only a few cells are connected. If so, then the
microcontroller is powered and the microcode starts running. 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 partial connection of the cells.
While the negative pulse in Figure 50 is not likely to damage the
ISL94208, it is not a desired test condition and it would certainly
be worse with smaller value input resistors. The tester hardware
and software should be designed to avoid these conditions.
The best way to design the tester software is to:
• Whenever voltage is applied to and removed from the part it
should be ramped up and ramped down (this can be done in
multiple steps.)
• If there is a relay in the power path, switch it only when the
voltage across the relay contacts is 0V.
• Avoid plugging the board into a socket that already has power
applied, since it is difficult to control the connection sequence
and the voltages/current applied to the board.
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 document is current before proceeding.
For information regarding Intersil Corporation and its products, see www.intersil.com
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27
AN1891.0
July 31, 2014