In battery powered portable solutions, due to increased integration and features, the demand and requirement for higher current power sources is increasing. To accommodate this increased demand, larger and more efficient rechargeable batteries are being used. Among these, Lithium Ion (Li or Li Ion) based batteries are perhaps the most important type because of their high power density both in terms of volume and in terms of weight.
Efficiency, power dissipation, fast charge rate, and signal noise are some of the key concerns in charging batteries designed for portable applications. Two types of chargers are most commonly used: linear chargers and switching chargers. Of the two, linear chargers provide the least noise and can be configured to produce accurately regulated charging voltages. Switching chargers tends to produce more noise, but offer higher efficiencies and the ability to provide a boosted (increased) charging voltage.
As shown in
In typical portable applications, an external adapter is used in series with an internal charger. If Vin is the input voltage for the charger (and the output voltage of the adapter) the power dissipation requirement across the charger during each of these phases is equal to:
P
diss=(Vin−Vbat)*Ichrg
In the constant current phase, where the charge current (Ichrg) is constant, power dissipation is proportional to voltage difference between the input voltage and battery voltage (i.e., Vin−Vbat). If it assumed that the input voltage is constant (i.e., linear charging), the power dissipation will be vary as function of increasing battery voltage (Vbat).
For example, if a typical adapter is used, an input voltage to the charger of 5.5V is common (i.e., Vin=5.5V). If a LiIon battery is depleted to 3.0 volts and fully charged at 4.2 volts and a 1.5 Amp current is used for the constant current charging phase then the power dissipation will be 1.5 A*(5.5V−3.0V)=3.75 W at the beginning of charge and 1.5 A*(5.5V−4.2V)=1.95 W at the end of charge.
In general, this relatively high power dissipation presents certain challenges for designers of portable electronic devices. This is increasingly true because there is continuous pressure to reduce the size of internal charging systems which can severely limit their ability to dissipate heat generating during the charging process. One solution has been to use an external high accuracy current limited adapter in series with an internal charger to transfer the power dissipation from the charger to adapter. As shown in
V
in
=V
bat
+V
ds
chrg
where Vds
In high volume applications, the cost of high accuracy current limited adapters is relatively high compare to standard adapters. And since most noise sensitive applications require linear chargers over switch mode charging, there is still a need for a relatively lower cost, low noise charging solution capable of supporting high charging currents (1.5 A to 2 A typical).
The objective of the recommended solution below is to provide a relatively lower cost system side solution which can provide a low noise, high current charging solution which can use a standard adapter and yet will have much lower power dissipation than the industry standard method.
The present invention includes a battery charger for portable electronic devices. For a typical implementation, the battery charger includes a linear charger and a switching voltage regulator. The linear charger typically includes a transistor with its source connected to supply power to the battery being charged. The switching regulator is connected to an external power supply, typically a wall adapter or similar device. The output of the switching voltage regulator controls the voltage at the drain of transistor in the linear charger.
In use, the linear charger controls the gate of its transistor so that the battery is supplied with a constant charging current. As the battery is being charged, a feedback circuit controls the switching voltage regulator so that the voltage at the transistor drain is maintained at an optimal level. Typically, this means that this voltage is equal to (or slightly higher) than the sum of the battery voltage and the drain-to-source voltage of the transistor. In this way, the amount of power that is dissipated by the transistor is minimized without requiring the use of a high accuracy current limited adaptor.
The present invention includes an apparatus and method for efficiently charging batteries in portable electronic devices. As shown in
The linear charger and switching regulator both receive a feedback voltage derived from the output voltage of the linear charger. As the battery is charged (and its voltage increases), the output voltage of the switching regulator is adjusted so that the input voltage to the linear charger is just enough to keep the keep the linear charger operating. This is shown, for example in
In
Switching/linear charger 500 also includes a linear charge control circuit that is connected to drive a third switch S3. The switch S3 is connected between a Vchg pin and a Vbat bin of the switching/linear charger 500.
A feedback control circuit is connected to provide a feedback voltage representative of the voltage at the Vbat pin to the linear charge control circuit and the switching control circuit. A current sense circuit is connected to provide a current sense voltage representative of the current passing from the input pin and the switch S1 to the linear charge control circuit and the switching control circuit.
In use, the input pin is connected to a power source such as a wall adapter. An inductor and reservoir capacitor are connected in series between the LX pin and the Vchg pin. The Vbat pin is connected to the battery to be charged. The switching control circuit operates switches SI and S2 as a buck switching regulator. Switch S1 is turned ON (and switch S2 is turned OFF) during a charging phase. This causes current to flow from the input pin through the inductor to charge the reservoir capacitor and store energy in the inductor in the form of a magnetic field. The charging phase is followed by a discharge phase where switch S1 is turned OFF and the switch S2 is turned ON. During the discharge phase current flows from the inductor to the capacitor and ground. The charging phase and the discharging phase are repeated to maintain the voltage at the Vchg pin at a desired level.
Using the voltage at the Vchg pin as its input, the linear charge control circuit operates the switch S3 as a linear charger. This means that the linear charge control circuit modulates the drive to switch S3 to control the current and voltage supplied to the battery being charged. During constant current mode, the linear charge control circuit modulates the drive to switch S3 so that a constant current is delivered to the battery being charged. The magnitude of the constant current is typically preset to a value such as 1.5 A and is measured by the current sense circuit.
In
The key to efficient operation of switching regulators 500 and 600 is making the input voltage to the linear charger (i.e., the voltage at the V_chg pin) just enough to keep the keep the linear battery charger ON while the output voltage (battery voltage) is increasing.
The feedback circuit also includes a current mirror composed of transistors Q1 and Q2 along with resistors R3, R4 and R5. Resistor R5, transistor Q1 and resistor R4 are connected in series between the battery input voltage (i.e., the output of the linear charger) and ground. Transistor Q2 and resistor R3 are connected in series between the node V1 and ground. A bias current flows from the battery voltage through transistor Q1 to ground. The bias current is mirrored by transistor Q2 forcing the voltage at the node V1 to be proportional to the voltage at the battery input. Since the voltage at V1 functions as the feedback voltage for the buck regulator, the natural operation of the buck regulator maintains the voltage at its output at the level required to operate the linear charger as a function of battery voltage.
More concretely, assuming that R3=R4, R4+R5=R1, and Q1 and Q2 are identical sizes, then
V
buck
=V
bat
+[V
ref*(R1+R2)/R2−Vbe]
where Vbe is the base-emitter junction voltage of Q1.
So, it is further assumed that if the output of the switching regulator (Vbuck) should be 300 mV higher than the battery voltage, the following component values may be used:
Vref=600 mV
Vbe=600 mV
R1=3 k ohms
R2=6 k ohms
R3=R4=300 ohms
R5=2.7 k ohms
V
ref*(R1+R2)/R2=1V
V
buck
=V
bat+(1V−0.6V)=Vbat+300 mV