DESIGN FEATURES Smart Battery Charger Is
Programmed via the SMBus by Mark Gurries Introduction
Smart Batteries are becoming prevalent in the laptop computer world
because they offer an industry-standard, high accuracy “gas gauge”
system. These batteries conform to a
set of specifications that define the
operation of all of the components in
a Smart Battery powered System
(SBS). The battery has an embedded
controller that tracks information
related to battery charging and use.
This information is provided to the
system via a serial, 2-wire SMBus
interface, a variant of the I2Cв„ў bus in
wide use today. The battery can be
queried for information on remaining
capacity, total capacity, time remaining at current rate of discharge,
discharge current, terminal voltage
and so on. Since most Smart Batteries can become a master on the bus,
the battery can control the Smart
Battery Charger for optimal charging.
The LTC1759 Smart Battery Charger
IC is designed to be controlled by this …