Battery boosters extend battery life and performance for IoT apps

Mouser now stocks the NBM5100A/B and NBM7100A/B battery boosters from Nexperia. Complementing the company's growing battery management solutions portfolio, the new battery boosters are ground-breaking battery life boosting ICs that lengthen the life of non-rechargeable Lithium primary batteries by up to 10x over competing solutions while also improving peak output current by up to 25x compared to batteries without a battery booster. When coupled with the boosters, Lithium primary batteries will not only have a longer life but the batteries will attain higher performance, avoid unwarranted waste and be a better, more sustainable power source for low-power IoT and other portable applications that could only operate employing AA- or AAA- batteries.

The battery boosters are supplied with two high-efficiency DC-DC conversion stages, and an intelligent learning algorithm to help better control the relatively high internal resistance and chemical reaction rates typically found with 3V CR2032 and CR2025 Lithium coin cell batteries. The first conversion stage involves the slow energy transfer from the battery to a capacitive storage element. The second stage uses conserved energy to provide a regulated (programmable from 1.8V to 3.6V) high-pulse output current (up to 200mA). The intelligent learning algorithm monitors the energy consumed during repetitive load pulse cycles and optimises the first DC-DC conversion stage to minimise the capacitor's residual charge. When not undergoing a cycle of energy conversion (standby state), the devices consume less than 50nA.

Each device features a peripheral interface for host communications, configuration and control. The NMB7100A and NBM5100A include an I2C interface, while the NMB7100B and NBM5100B provide a SPI. In addition, the NBM5100A/B incorporates a capacitor voltage balancing port for supercapacitor-based applications. Other features of the boosters include a low battery indicator/integrated fuel gauge, an auxiliary regulated output pin and brownout protection to stop the storage capacitor from charging when the battery is nearing its end of life.

Extending the lifetime of energy-dense Lithium primary batteries, such as coin cells, Lithium thionyl (i.e., LS14250 1/2 AA) and emerging paper-printed battery types, the company's battery boosters are offered in a compact, 16-pin DHVQFN package measuring 2.5mm x 3.5mm x 0.85mm. These ICs are specified over a temperature range of -40C to +85C, making them ideal for commercial indoor and industrial outdoor environments. Target applications include battery-powered wireless IoT nodes (Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, LTE-M, NB-IoT, Zigbee, etc.), wireless sensors, industrial devices, portable consumer devices, wearables and utility meters.