Battery boosters enhance performance, avoid waste

Complementing the company's expanding battery management solutions portfolio, the NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B battery boosters are ground-breaking battery life boosting ICs that extend the life of non-rechargeable Lithium primary batteries by up to 10x over competing solutions while also increasing peak output current by up to 25x compared to batteries without a battery booster.

When coupled with the NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B, Lithium primary batteries will not only have a longer life, but the batteries will achieve higher performance, avoid unwarranted waste and be a better, more sustainable power source for low-power IoT and other portable applications that, before, could only operate using AA- or AAA- batteries.

The battery boosters are equipped with two high-efficiency DC/DC conversion stages and an intelligent learning algorithm to help better control the relatively high internal resistance and chemical reaction rates typically found with 3 V CR2032 and CR2025 Lithium coin cell batteries.

The first conversion stage involves the slow energy transfer from the battery to a capacitive storage element. The second stage uses the conserved energy to provide a regulated (programmable from 1.8 V to 3.6 V) high-pulse output current (up to 200 mA).

The intelligent learning algorithm monitors the energy consumed during repetitive load pulse cycles and optimises the first DC/DC conversion stage to minimize the capacitor's residual charge.

When not undergoing a cycle of energy conversion (standby state), the NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B consume less than 50 nA.

Each device features a peripheral interface for host communications, configuration and control.

The NMB7100A and NBM5100A include an I²C interface, while the NMB7100B and NBM5100B offer a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). In addition, the NBM5100A/B incorporates a capacitor voltage balancing port for supercapacitor-based applications.

Other features of the NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B include a low battery indicator/integrated fuel gauge, an auxiliary regulated output pin and brownout protection to prevent the storage capacitor from charging when the battery is nearing its end of life.

Extending the lifetime of energy-dense Lithium primary batteries, such as coin cells, Lithium thionyl (i.e., LS14250 1/2 AA) and emerging paper-printed battery types, the Nexperia's NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B battery boosters are available in a compact, 16-pin DHVQFN package measuring 2.5 mm x 3.5 mm x 0.85 mm.

These ICs are specified over a temperature range of -40°C to +85°C, making them ideally suited for commercial indoor and industrial outdoor environments. Target applications include battery-powered wireless IoT nodes (Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, LTE-M, NB-IoT, Zigbee, etc.), wireless sensors, industrial devices, portable consumer devices, wearables and utility meters.