TI Drives Automotive

Texas Instruments Incorporated has introduced a battery management integrated circuit that increases the life of rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs and maximizes available energy for hybrid and electric vehicles, power tools and uninterruptible power source (UPS) applications. The stackable bq76PL536 battery monitor, balancer and protector incorporates analog-to-digital converters for independent cell voltage and temperature protection, cell balancing and isolated chip-to-chip communication. These banks of batteries represent a huge safety issue. With all that energy stored within the car, safety is a premium consideration. Managing these Lithium Ion cells needs precision and reliability - an area where TI has invested to succeed. Automotive manufacturers are now working actively on real EV designs. No longer is it a ‘concept car' but fast becoming a reality. TI is working closely with these manufacturers to develop a safe, reliable cost-effective and importantly, environmentally friendly new vehicle. The device intelligently measures battery cell voltages to 1-mV accuracy, which is needed for demanding new lithium chemistries. For the AEC-Q100 automotive-qualified products, Uwe explained that the industry is demanding a zero-defects environment - a really tough call for any manufacturer. For further reading on this product see www.ti.com/bq76pl536Q1-pr. The bq76PL536 also provides full secondary protection for over voltage, under voltage and over temperature conditions. When safety thresholds are exceeded, the device sets the fault and alert outputs independently of the normal communication channel. No external components are needed to configure or enable the protection features. Key features and benefits:

• ±1-mV typical voltage measurement accuracy increases battery gas gauging accuracy to determine remaining capacity, cell-balancing efficiency and system safety.
• Integrated secondary level of protection for over-voltage, under-voltage and over-temperature conditions increases safety without adding component cost.
• Vertically stackable to monitor up to 192 cells without additional isolation components between ICs.
• High-speed 1-Mb/s serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus operates between each bq76PL536 to provide reliable communication.
• AEC-100 production flow, reliability and testing for automotive applications.
• Cell-balancing drivers extend the available capacity and lifetime of the battery pack by maintaining state of charge and capacity balance.

• TI offers a variety of tools and support to help designers to speed the implementation of the bq76pl536 family of devices:
• bq76pl536EVM-3 evaluation module: www.ti.com/bq76pl536evm-preu
• bq76pl536EVM-3 evaluation software: www.ti.com/bq76pl536evm3software-pr.
• bq76536PGM-1 programmable board: www.ti.com/bq76pl536board-pr.
• bq76pl536-1 programmable software: www.ti.com/bq765pl536progsoft-pr.

Continuing on the vital theme of safety, TI has also introduced the TPIC71004-Q1 four-channel squib driver for airbag deployment, providing an optimized integrated catalog device that is reliable and cost-effective. The four-channel squib device is part of a family of multi-squib driver devices that allow flexibility for airbag designers to quickly and cost-effectively scale their design to the needs of their system. The family joins TI's product portfolio and comprehensive support network for automotive safety system designs encompassing airbags, braking, stability control, tire pressure monitoring systems and electronic power steering. For product details and samples, visit: www.ti.com/tpic71004-q1-pr Key features and benefits

• Designed for safety: The TPIC71004-Q1 is a four-channel squib driver. Each channel consists of a high side and low side switch with independent control logic for protection against inadvertent airbag deployment.
• Protection: Built-in diagnostics for loop monitoring and reporting, as well as two logic inputs to provide independent safety logic for enabling/disabling deployment.
• Design flexibility: TI's family of automotive safety products offers full scalability. The four-channel device, when coupled in pairs or with TI's TPIC71002-Q1 two-channel squib driver, allows for complete design flexibility, regardless of the number of channels required

. Availability, packaging and pricing The TPIC71004-Q1 is available for ordering now from TI and its authorized distributors. It is offered in a thermally-enhanced 48-Pin TSSOP DCA PowerPad™ package and is qualified to automotive grade. The TPIC71004-Q1 is priced at $3.25 in quantities of 100. Samples, evaluation modules and application notes are available. TI's expanding portfolio of products for the automotive market with over 1000 products to-date and launching over 100 devices per year presents a formidable force in the automotive industry. Truly a one-stop shop. www.ti.com