Fuel gauges offer highest level of battery protection

Maxim’s MAX17301 and the MAX17311 1-cell fuel gauge devices allow fine tuning of voltage and current thresholds based on various temperature zones with a low quiescent current of 24μA

Maxim Integrated Products has developed a 1-cell battery fuel gauge that can provide counterfeit and cloning protection with low quiescent current.

The configurable setting in the MAX17301 and the MAX17311 allow fine tuning of voltage and current thresholds based on various temperature zones. These ICs also offer a first-of-its-kind secondary protection scheme in case the primary protection fails. This secondary protection scheme permanently disables the battery by overriding a secondary protector or blowing a fuse in severe fault conditions.

All the devices in the fuel gauge family are equipped with Maxim’s patented ModelGauge m5 EZ algorithm that delivers highest state-of-charge (SOC) accuracy that eliminates the need for battery characterization. These fuel gauges also have a quiescent current (IQ) of 24μA with the FETs enabled and 18µA in hibernate, up to 80 percent lower than the nearest competitor,

The devices also include SHA-256 authentication to safeguard the systems from counterfeit batteries.

Conventional battery protectors monitor voltage and current, and in some cases include temperature monitoring. These options make the system vulnerable to unexpected crashes because battery state-of-charge (SOC) isn’t factored in when triggering an undervoltage cut-off decision. There is a need for a simple, compact solution that protects from unsafe charging conditions that can lead to extensive battery damage including over-voltage, short circuit, over/under temperature and more.

While system and battery designers continue to push the limits of capacity-constrained batteries in order to provide the longest possible run-time without damaging the cell, there are few highly-configurable solutions that are still simple to implement. Designers are also looking for a way to protect the system by ensuring that only genuine batteries are used, which can eliminate unexpected shutdowns and crashes caused by potentially unsafe, counterfeit batteries.

The MAX17301 and MAX17311 1-cell fuel gauges offer 2-level Li-ion protection, providing an additional layer of security in case the primary protector fails and help system makers meet product safety standards such as IEC 62368-1/UL 62368-1.

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