Tradeoffs in implementing intelligent battery management

The users of portable equipment demand intelligent battery management. This is a challenge for designers of portable equipment. For many engineers, battery technology is a traditionally analog design problem whose technology is not widely known. The requirements for intelligent battery management are accuracy, battery information, flexibility/programmability, inexpensive system implementation, and development tools support. Designers of portable computers, video camcorders and smart battery packs require many features, including charge control, battery capacity monitoring, remaining run time information, compensation due to environmental conditions, charge cycle counting and error condition logging. Here, the author details how one designs to achieve the requirements for intelligent battery management, examines whether all these requirements need to be met and describes how an engineer designs for more than one battery chemistry.