Semiconductor specialist Nexperia has introduced the NBM7100 and NBM5100, innovative battery life-enhancing ICs designed to extend the life of a typical non-rechargeable lithium coin cell battery by up to 10x (compared to competitors). They also increase peak output current capability by up to 25x compared to what a typical coin cell can deliver without a battery amplifier.
This lifespan extension will significantly reduce the amount of battery waste in low-power Internet of Things (IoT) and other portable applications, while making coin cells a viable power source for applications that previously could only Run on AA or AAA batteries.
“The introduction of this battery life-enhancing product signals Nexperia’s further expansion into battery management solutions,” according to Dan Jensen, general manager of Nexperia’s BG Analog and Logic ICs. “We are excited to unveil these innovative products, complementary to our existing analog and logic products. The NBM7100 and NBM5100 significantly improve coin cell performance, which helps reduce battery waste in IoT, wearables and other consumer applications.”
CR2032 and CR2025 lithium coin cells have higher energy density and longer lifespan. As a result, they are commonly used in low-power applications, including devices with low-power Wi-Fi, LoRa, Sigfox, Zigbee, LTE-M1, and NB-IoT transceivers.
However, these batteries have relatively high internal resistance and chemical reaction rates that reduce their usable capacity when under pulsed charging conditions. To overcome this limitation, the NBM7100 and NBM5100 contain two high-efficiency DC/DC conversion stages and an intelligent learning algorithm.
The first conversion stage transfers energy from the battery to a capacitive storage element at a low rate. The second stage utilizes the stored energy to provide a high-pulse (up to 200 mA) regulated current output (programmable from 1.8 to 3.6 V). The intelligent learning algorithm monitors the energy used during repetitive charge pulse cycles and optimizes the first stage DC/DC conversion to minimize residual charge on the storage capacitor. When they do not perform a power conversion cycle (standby state), these devices consume less than 50 nA.
Both devices are specified above -40° to 85° C, making them suitable for indoor commercial and outdoor industrial environments. A “low battery” indicator alerts the system when the battery reaches its functional limit. Additionally, brownout protection inhibits storage capacitor charging when the battery is near the end of its useful life.
A serial interface is included for configuration and control by a system microcontroller: I 2 C on NMB7100A and NBM5100A and serial peripheral interface (SPI) on NMB7100B and NBM5100B versions. Both devices can extend the life of high-energy-density lithium primary batteries, including coin cells, lithium thionyl (ex: LS14250 1/2 AA), and emerging types of paper printing, reducing maintenance by extending the time interval between battery replacements.
Additionally, the NBM5100A/B includes a capacitor voltage balancing pin for supercapacitor-based implementations.
