Strong demand for advanced lithium-ion batteries in portable computers has led to a new IEEE standard that adopts a systems approach to improve battery reliability. The standard, IEEE 1625, “Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Portable Computing”, sets the stage for the production of batteries to meet the greater demands placed on them in notebook computers, such as those for more power, greater energy density and more frequent charge-discharge cycles.
Battery manufacturers face an increasing challenge from micro fuel cells which promise up to five hour’s power for laptops on a squirt of methanol fuel. (See Electronics News 6 Nov 03 pg 16).
IEEE 1625 specifies minimum guidelines for the design, validation and manufacture of battery cells and packs, alone and together with the mobile computers they power. The standard provides for consistency in such areas as battery qualification, process control, chemistries, packaging and end-user notification. It also specifies multi-fault scenarios that consider combinations of factors that can cause battery failure. This should lead to the addition of protections that minimise risk from thermal and mechanical shock, vibration and other stresses.
“The push for better laptop batteries is unrelenting,” says Jeff Layton, IEEE 1625 Working Group Chair. “Combine the prevalence of more powerful mobile processors, wireless applications and advanced graphic capabilities with growing average daily use of mobile computers and it’s clear lithium-ion battery packs will have to become more reliable and robust over time.”
The standard is based on the collective experience of leading manufacturers of mobile computer cells, packs and mobile computer systems. IEEE P1625 is sponsored by the Stationary Battery Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society.