Charger-Circuit Designs Fulfill Consumer Needs

摘要

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have taken the portable-electronics world by storm. Tony Armstrong, the power-products marketing manager at Linear Technology Corp. recently told me that he bought his son a radio-controlled all-terrain vehicle. About half of the RC models and transmitters he exam-ined came with lithium-ion or lithium-poly-mer batteries. Just two years ago, Armstrong found that almost all models relied on nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride batteries. Now that designers can take advantage of the high energy density of lithium-ion batter-ies, they also must figure out how to change them. Fortunately, a number of semiconductor suppliers provide charger ICs and complete reference designs. In some cases, designers can choose a reference design, test it, make minor changes and go into production.