ROHM’s New Ultra-High Efficiency Battery Management Solution Evaluation Board for Thin, Compact IoT Devices

4 February, 2022

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Nano Energy™ power supply IC contributes to longer operation in IoT devices

ROHM announced the availability of a new evaluation board: the REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 it facilitates the verification of the operation of ultra-efficient battery management solutions for the expanding IoT field.

Recent years have seen the proliferation of battery-driven electronic devices, including wearables, industrial IoT such as smart cards and electronic shelf labels, and portables. These devices not only need to be made smaller and thinner to improve design and functionality, but also have to support larger battery capacities and lower power consumption to improve usability and convenience.

In response, ROHM has developed a variety of low consumption analog ICs, including both power supply ICs that incorporate original Nano Energy™ ultra-low current technology as well as charge control ICs compatible with a wide range of rechargeable batteries. Providing optimized power solutions to meet market challenges allows ROHM to contribute to long-term operation of battery-powered applications. The newly released evaluation board REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 provides an ultra-high efficiency battery management solution for thin compact IoT devices by combining these technologies.

The REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 is equipped with a power supply IC (buck DC/DC converter IC) and reset IC (voltage detector IC) utilizing original Nano Energy™ ultra-low current consumption technology. In addition, it consists of a battery charger IC that supports low voltage rechargeable batteries, along with the NGK INSULATORS’s thin, large capacity EnerCera® li-ion rechargeable battery. The ultra-low current consumption of the power supply IC (quiescent current 180nA) minimizes loss. The battery charger IC is suitable for a wide range of charge voltages; it is capable of charging, monitoring, and discharging batteries making it ideally suitable for compact IoT devices. The result is a low profile, ultra-efficient battery management solution that achieves a thickness of just 0.60mm for mounted components (including the thin rechargeable battery).

Going forward, ROHM will continue to develop high-performance, power saving analog ICs such as power supply ICs that contribute to greater power efficiency in a wide range of applications.

ROHM’s Ultra-High Efficiency Battery Management Solution

This solution is made possible using ROHM’s Nano Energy™ ultra-low current consumption power supply IC that minimizes loss together with a battery charger IC that provides optimal charging for a variety of rechargeable batteries.

The evaluation board REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 consists of an EnerCera® EC382704P-C rechargeable battery featuring a thickness of 0.45mm and capacity of 27mAh, Nano Energy™ IC BD70522GUL which has a quiescent current of 180nA ensuring ultra-low power consumption, and battery charger IC BD71631QWZ for charging batteries in the voltage range of 2.0V to 4.7V which is suitable for monitoring, charging, and discharging batteries, allowing configuration of an optimized energy storage unit. In addition, reset IC BD5230NVX-2C is used for detecting abnormal voltages as standby current of 270nA, while ultra-low standby current minimizes loss as solution. This makes it possible to extend the overall standby by a factor of 60 in comparison with existing solutions, and enables proper, evaluation of an ultra-efficient battery management system. All mounted components are less than 0.60mm thick (1.60mm when including the board) – thus allowing use as a reference design for ultra-thin IoT applications such as smart cards.

Application Examples

Wearables such as smart watches, keyless entry
Compact industrial IoT devices, including electronic shelf labels, smart cards, smart meters, and alarms
And other IoT equipment requiring smaller, thinner form factors and longer battery life

Product Lineup

*For more information on EnerCera® battery from NGK INSULATORS, LTD., please visit: https://www.ngk-insulators.com/en/product/enercera.html

REFLVBMS001-EVK-001 Sales Information

Sales Launch Date: January 2022
Online Distributors: Digi-Key, Mouser, and Farnell
Pricing: $143/unit (evaluation board, excluding tax)

Nano Energy™ Technology – The Core of ROHM’s Ultra-Efficient Battery Management Solution

Nano Energy™ refers to ultra-low current consumption technology that achieves 10-year drive for a single coin-sized (key in the IoT field) by combining analog circuit design, layout, and processes utilizing ROHM’s vertically integrated production system.

The Nano Energy™ technology is integrated in the BD70522GUL buck DC/DC converter; it has a quiescent current of 180nA ensuring 1.4 times increased battery life compared to standard products in the market. This results in longer operating times in compact battery equipped devices used in applications such as wearables and IoT solutions.

Click on the URL below for more information

https://www.rohm.com/support/nano