Dallas Semiconductor Intros DS2751 Battery Gauge

Dallas Semiconductor Corp. (Dallas, TX) introduced the new DS2751 multi-chemistry battery fuel gauge IC, which integrates a 25-milliohm sense resistor, enabling it to measure continuous currents from 625µA to ±1.9A. Available as an eight-pin TSSOP, the IC can be integrated with existing protection circuitry to easily add fuel gauging to battery packs used by portable, wireless devices such as PDAs or mobile phones.

The DS2751 can directly monitor either a one-cell lithium-polymer or three-cell nickel-metal hydride battery packs. An external filtering capacitor allows peak currents of higher values to be integrated in the current-accumulation (fuel-gauging) measurement. All measured data is stored in on-chip EEPROM or SRAM memory and is reported to the host through its one-wire communication interface.