Linear introduces multi-cell battery monitor LTC2944

Linear introduces the multi-cell battery monitor LTC2944, which can be used to directly measure 3.6V to 60V battery packs. Level shifting circuitry is absolutely not required on the power and measurement pins to connect multiple battery voltages, thus minimizing total current consumption while maintaining measurement accuracy. The LTC2944 is a true high voltage battery monitor that measures charge, voltage, current and temperature with 1% accuracy. These parameters are essential to accurately evaluate battery charge status (SoC).

The LTC2944 is ideal for multi-cell applications including electric vehicles, electric bikes/motorcycles/light motorcycles, wheelchairs, golf carts and battery backup systems. The device measures battery current by monitoring the voltage across an external high side sensing resistor and integrating this information to infer the amount of charge. The bidirectional analog integrator is suitable for any current polarity (battery charging or discharging) and a programmable prescaler can support multiple battery capacities. Charge, voltage, current, and temperature information is sent to the host system via an I2C/SMBus-compatible two-wire interface, which is also used to configure the battery monitor. The main system can set high and low thresholds for all measurement parameters. If the threshold is exceeded, an alarm signal is sent using the SMBus alarm protocol or by setting a register flag.

Available in commercial and industrial temperature versions, the LTC2944 supports an operating temperature range of 0°C to 70°C and –40°C to 85°C.

Relevant LTC2944 series products

Author：Brittany Antonia （The author of article owns the copyright.）