TI Unveils Battery Monitoring and Balancing IC for EVs
Capable of measuring voltage in high-voltage systems up to 800 V
Increased reliability by meeting ISO 26262/ASIL-D standards


Filtering out system-level noise to accurately measure battery cell voltage and temperature and reliably transmit this information to the MCU is a critical design challenge for automakers.

Texas Instruments (TI) unveiled the 'BQ79616-Q1', an automotive battery monitoring and balancing IC capable of accurate voltage measurement even in high-voltage systems of up to 800 V, on the 7th.

The BQ79616-Q1 features TI's "wake-up-at-fault" feature. When paired with the BQ79600-Q1 SPI/UART communication interface, it enables complete system shutdown when the vehicle is parked or the ignition is turned off. Design engineers can conserve battery power while improving cell balancing and meeting safety requirements.

Supporting monitoring of various battery materials, including lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), automakers can accurately monitor battery state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH), saving costs. Furthermore, the integrated digital low-pass filter and high-precision ADC enhance signal measurement accuracy, enabling cell voltage measurements with an error of less than 2 mV.

The BQ79616-Q1 meets the ISO 26262 standard and ASIL-D standards for voltage/temperature measurement and communication. It delivers a battery fault diagnosis speed of 100 ms and voltage measurement accuracy of less than 15 mV in 400 V systems, enhancing system reliability and battery safety.

Additionally, robust electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance ensures reliable daisy-chain communication, enabling it to withstand noisy hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicle (EV) environments. The device's pin ratings ensure it can withstand high-voltage transients and hot-plug situations, and its automatic cell balancing feature simplifies thermal management.

TI's new family of monitoring and balancing devices, available in the same package, offer a variety of channel options, are pin-to-pin compatible, and enable 100% reuse of existing software. In particular, the BQ79616-Q1 integrates bus-bar measurement capabilities to maximize channel utilization across battery module combinations of various sizes.

Combining the BQ79616-Q1 and BQ79600-Q1 allows designing a closed-loop battery management system with only a single communication interface, reducing component count.

The BQ79616-Q1 is available in a 16-channel, 10 mm × 10 mm, 64-pin HTQFP package on TI.com. Pricing starts at $6.90 in 1,000-unit quantities. The BQ79616-Q1EVM evaluation module is available for $399. The BQ79600-Q1 in a 6-pin TSSOP package is available now in volume quantities. Pricing starts at $4 in 1,000-unit quantities.

Meanwhile, TI.com offers a variety of payment and shipping options. New 12-channel and 14-channel battery monitoring and balancing products are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2021.