In the News
March 1, 2008 - Electronic Products: Using Li-Polymer Batteries for Military Apps
Li-polymer-based batteries have been the “next big thing” in portable power for the last 10 years. They started appearing in small consumer electronics applications, such as wireless headsets, several years ago, but these battery cells are finally becoming mainstream.
January 31, 2008 - Electronic Design: Look Past the Misconceptions and Myths Surrounding Li-Polymer
Batteries based on lithium polymer (Li-polymer) have been “the next big thing” in portable power for the last 10 years. Li-polymer batteries started appearing in small consumer electronics applications, such as wireless headsets, several years ago. But these cells are finally becoming mainstream, as they are now designed into everything from laptop computers to medical monitors.
January 2, 2008 - EDN: DOT’s Ruling on Lithium Ion Batteries and Airlines: Size Matters
Whenever I have a question about the nitty gritty of lithium ion batteries, the folks at Micro Power Electronics are among the first I contact. They came up with a great synopsis of the new regulations on lithium ion batteries and airport carry-on luggage. So, without further ado, here’s Micro Power’s summary article.
November 11, 2007 - EDN: Portable Power: New Lithium-Ion Battery Chemistries Allow Designers to Trade Off Energy Capacity and Power
Things are changing in the usually stodgy world of lithium-ion batteries. Two years ago, the laptop-battery market was the driving force in energy- and power-usage profiles for lithium-ion-battery packs. Now, cordless power tools rival laptops in lithium-ion-battery-market share. In 2005, judging by laptop features, laptop-computer vendors ranked the four main characteristics of a lithium-ion battery in descending order: energy storage, speed of power delivery, cost, and safety. A fifth, environmental impact, or “greenness,” didn’t even make the cut.
November 1, 2007 - IEC: Initiative Brings Energy to Lithium-ion Battery Safety
By any measure, the photograph of an exploding laptop at a conference in Japan was dramatic. The Inquirer, an online technology publication, posted the photo and an accompanying story on 21 June 2006. In the picture, conference attendees watched as flames reached higher than the backs of nearby chairs, obscuring the laptop and stretching down the tablecloth. A few months later that incident and others prompted a voluntary recall by Dell Computer Company of 4.1 million Dell-branded lithium-ion batteries with cells manufactured by Sony.
October 1, 2007 - Electronic Products & Technology: Demand Rises for Power Systems in Mobile Medical Devices
The demand for mobile medical devices is on the rise. Advances in battery powered systems have allowed traditionally tethered devices to become mobile. Usage of such medical devices as, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), X-ray, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound, has gone beyond hospitals to the field.
October 1, 2007 - Power Electronics Technology: Fast Charge Becomes a Reality for Li-Ion Batteries
Consumers of frequent-use products, such as mobile phones, bar-code scanners and military radios, have been clamoring for fast battery charging since the introduction of rechargeable batteries. The adoption of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in portable systems has decreased charge time significantly compared to nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH)-based systems, but traditional Li-ion cells still can only accept a 0.7-C charge rate.
October 11, 2007 - NW Innovation: Micro Power Earns 13485 Certification
Micro Power announced that it earned IS0 13485:2003 certification – a stringent, globally-recognized standard of quality management for medical device manufacturers.
October 8, 2007 - NW Innovation: Micro Power Gets Medical Device Certification
Beaverton, Oregon-based Micro Power Electronics said Monday that it has earned certification for the firm's medical device manufacturing.
October 8, 2007 - EDN: Battery Fuel-Gauge Chip Provides 99% Accuracy
Battery-gauge ICs for lithium-ion-battery packs have always involved complex algorithms. For example, battery gauges in laptop computers and cell phone measure current, voltage, and temperature and integrate the current over time to find the charge. They must model the cell’s reaction to discharge rate, temperature, age, and self-discharge rate, and they must relearn the full-charge capacity over time. They also must predict and accumulate the error for all of these numbers.