Maxim Integrated's MAX1720x and MAX1721x ModelGauge m5 battery fuel gauges. These ultra-low-power stand-alone fuel gauge ICs have low quiescent current and have programmable alarm functions for voltage, temperature, current, and state of charge. These ICs implement the Maxim ModelGauge m5 algorithm without host interaction to configure them, so these ICs are ideal for battery pack fuel gauges in smartphones, tablets, portable medical devices, e-readers and other handheld devices. As handheld devices become thinner and thinner, batteries become smaller and larger and larger. These high-precision battery fuel gauge ICs track battery usage to effectively use all available battery energy and extend battery life.
These battery fuel gauges determine how much power is left in the battery and how long the battery can continue to provide useful power under the current load. The device algorithm combines short-term accuracy and linearity, long-term stability, and temperature compensation to provide industry-leading fuel gauge accuracy. These ICs automatically compensate for battery aging, temperature, and discharge rate, and provide accurate charging states in milliamp hours or percentages under a variety of operating conditions. When the battery approaches a critical region that is about to run out, the algorithm will call a special error correction mechanism to eliminate any errors.
These ICs are designed to monitor a single battery pack and consume only 18µA in active mode. They can monitor a single cell in a two- or three-cell battery pack, or the entire stack voltage of any number of multi-series cells, and consume only 25µA in active mode. These ICs are available in a 3mm x 3mm lead-free, 14-pin TDFN package and are supported by fully assembled and tested evaluation kits.
