Battery monitor IC with integrated current sense amplifier offers space savings

Designers of automotive battery management systems can now achieve the highest levels of safety for voltage, current, temperature and communication while also making space savings and decreasing solution cost, with the MAX17852 14-channel, high-voltage, ASIL-D data-acquisition system from Maxim Integrated Products. Created for integration within electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and other transportation systems, the IC is excellent for smart junction box, 48V and other automotive battery systems which can see voltages up to 400V and beyond.

OEMs and electric vehicle manufacturers necessitate that all battery systems satisfy the highest safety demands set by the ISO26262 guidelines. Through extensive diagnostics and a safety-driven architecture, the company designed and produced the device to allow customers to create their systems to satisfy the highest ASIL-D standards for voltage, current, temperature and communication. The small, cost-effective IC also provides the highest accuracy for achieving voltage, current and temperature data with tight time synchronisation. It enables a typical cell voltage measurement of ±0.45mV at room temperature and a maximum of ±2mV error in a temperature range of 5C to 40C, facilitating car OEMs to get the most mileage range out of their batteries. With a current sense amplifier ability of +/-300mV, and a gain setting up to 256 times and 0.3% current sense gain error, the device offers the fastest, most accurate data for calculating power management, state of health and state of charge. The 14-channel battery data acquisition system combines a current sense amplifier so that current information is received simultaneously as cell voltage and temperature. The device enables hall effect sensor and shunt resistors to be employed as sensing components.

“Enabling systems to achieve the highest level of safety (ASIL D) for a BMS system is really a must for consumers to feel safe in their electrified vehicles,” said Tamer Kira, executive director for the Automotive Business Unit at Maxim Integrated. “The MAX17852 is the fastest and most accurate in voltage, current and temperature measurements and that is why it is the first battery data acquisition system in the industry to achieve the highest safety rating for all the major components of a BMS system.”