News & Events
Varta Microbatterie GmbH to utilize Xicor Battery Management Solutions
-- Company selects X3100 for Battery Pack Designs
MILPITAS, California November 19, 2003 Xicor, Inc. (Nasdaq: XICO), a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, today announced that Varta Microbatterie GmbH, a leading global manufacturer of power and performance optimized electrochemical energy storage systems, selected Xicor as a development partner for the company's battery pack designs.
The companies are collaborating on battery pack designs targeting OEM notebook computer applications as well as portable test and measurement equipment. The first implementation of the X3100 will be in battery packs for portable test equipment supporting the automotive market.
The X3100 is part of Xicors new family of battery management solutions that protect and monitor battery packs consisting of four Lithium- Ion battery cells in series. The X3101 is designed for three Lithium-Ion cells in series. Both devices provide internal overcharge, over-discharge, over-current protection circuitry, internal EEPROM memory, an internal voltage regulator and internal drive circuitry for external FET devices that control cell charge, discharge and cell voltage balancing.
Based on a proprietary cell-balancing algorithm acquired via the acquisition of PoweReady, Inc., the Xicor solution allows battery manufacturers of three and four cell batteries to increase the useable capacity of the Lithium-Ion battery packs when there is charge loss or capacity loss within a series string. This in turn improves the quality and life of the battery pack. The cell-balancing approach gives the battery pack designer the ability to use the latest cell technology and provides the flexibility to create a battery pack to meet the precise needs of the system.
We chose to implement the Xicor solution due to its superior cell-balancing features and external programming capabilities, commented Manfred Leimkuhler of Varta. The cell-balancing function improves the capacity while the external programming functions provide the ability to re-program the safety circuit fault voltage levels.
Other advanced performance capabilities of the X310x family include:
- Software selectable protection levels and variable protect detection/release times
- Integrated FET drive circuitry
- Cell voltage and current monitoring
- 0.5% accurate voltage regulator
- Integrated 4kbit EEPROM
- Flexible power management with 1uA sleep mode
- Cell balancing control
Varta Microbatterie GmbH Corporate Information
Varta Microbatterie GmbH, founded in August 2001, is a global manufacturer of power-and performance-optimized electrochemical energy storage systems. Rechargeable batteries based on stateof- the-art systems such as lithium polymer, lithium ion and nickel-metal-hydride play a major role in the companys activities. Products from Varta Microbatterie are used mostly in micro-systems technology.
Xicor Corporate Information
Xicor designs, develops and markets high performance analog mixed-signal integrated circuits used in communications, computing, networking and industrial applications. Xicors Mixed-Signal Products include data conversion products, power management integrated circuits, and application specific standard products and interface devices. Xicors programmable analog mixed-signal components regulate, control, convert and manage various voltages and currents with a serial interface and internal EEPROM. Xicor product, corporate and financial information are readily available on the World Wide Web at http://www.xicor.com
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